Consultant - Credit Guarantee Scheme and Revolving Loan Fund Partnership Review - Iraq - Mosul, Nineveh Governorate

Job Description

+ Study of the secondary information related to agriculture and financial sector development in Iraq in general including constraints and opportunities and microfinance in Ninewa in particular. + Study of the project documents including the credit guarantee scheme and revolving loan fund concepts and strategies, program description, and partnership agreements. + Review the partners reports and partnership progress, and disbursement and repayment data from partners MIS. + Review the partners products and internal processes intended to identify opportunities for further enhancement. + Review of partners communication strategy about their existing products and the CGS/RLF products. + Review credit processes and policies including credit administration cycle (client identification, loan appraisal, loan monitoring, supervision, loan recovery), credit risk assessment methods, and risk-based pricing) + Review of the collateral requirements for the different products + Conduct interviews with PERMA staff + Conduct interviews with partner staff to discuss their partnership with Mercy Corps and to understand more about the services they are providing, their target participants and market, their experience of the partnership so far and of setting up and managing the CGS and RLF, and their hopes and expectations for future collaboration + Conduct KII and/or focus group discussions with the borrowers to understand their experience of receiving and repaying the loans, the impact the loans have had on their lives and livelihoods, any challenges they have faced, and their future plans and needs. + Document the findings of the above studies and the results of the pilot testing. - Inception Meeting - - Desk study of PERMA I and II proposals, reports, credit guarantee scheme, and RLF concepts, agreements, program description, and partner progress reports - - Discussion session with program team - - Design tools for MFI assessment, FGD/KII with borrowers, MFI staff, and program staff - - KII program staff - - FGD with potential/borrowers - - Assessment of MFIs - - Documentation of review, lesson learned, and technical assistance plan - Submission of draft consultancy report - - Incorporate comments/inputs from the program team/TSU - - Conduct result dissemination workshop - - Finalize and submit the consultancy report - * Minimum of 7 years previous relevant experience in banking, conducting consultancies in the sector of banking, financial inclusion, especially in the microfinance sector. * At least bachelors degree in banking, finance, business administration, social science or equivalent, Masters degree preferred, * Good knowledge and understanding of financial instruments such as credit guarantee and revolving loan funds, * Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of Arabic will be added advantage, * Technical knowledge on carrying out capacity assessments, design, and delivery of technical assistance for financial institutions: especially, microfinance institutions, * Demonstrated exceptional technical statistical knowledge of data collection and analysis, both quantitative and qualitative * Familiarity with the local context, security situation, and financial sector development in Iraq, * Cultural sensitivity, facilitation skills, and ability to work in a low profile

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