Chief Executive Officer

Agricultural Leasing Company Zambia Limited (AgLeaseCo)

The Agricultural Leasing Company Zambia Limited (“AgLeaseCo”, “the Company”), is a Zambian registered company with the current shareholders being KfW (German Development Bank) and the AATIF Innovation Facility Foundation. The Company was issued a Non-Banking Financial Institution (Non-Deposit Taking) licence in 2018 by the Bank of Zambia and is focused on providing financial leasing solutions to qualifying small-scale farmers and agroprocessors for the acquisition of agricultural equipment with the overall goal being to increase mechanization levels and thus the productivity of the small-scale agricultural sector in Zambia.

Operations

AgLeaseCo currently offers its financial services to farmers in every chiefdom, district and Province of Zambia and closed the financial year 2021 with over 500 live finance lease contracts and no overdue rentals. During 2022 the aim is to double the number of contracts and to launch its agricultural services division. The company currently employs 14 field officers across Zambia who are supported by the management, administration and operations team based in Lusaka.

About the Role

• Role Title: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) designate
• Location: Lusaka, Zambia
• Compensation: Competitive

Job Summary

AgLeaseCo is in the process of a leadership transition with the current CEO’s tenure coming to an end on 30th November 2022. To ensure a smooth transition process, the Shareholders and Board of Directors of AgLeaseCo therefore desire to identify a suitable and qualified individual who will join AgLeaseCo by 1st September 2022 as the General Manager cum Chief Executive Officer designate and then finally take over as the Chief Executive Officer on 1st December 2022.

The new CEO will be responsible for all day-to-day activities of the company: finance, risk, sales and marketing but will be aided by the three heads of department i.e., (a) Finance & Accounting, (b) Risk & Operations and (c) Sales. S/he will report to the Board of Directors and will also be required to regularly liaise with the representatives of the shareholders and third-party partners including the local equipment suppliers. The CEO will furthermore actively network in the sector and represent the organization at events, including those organized by the German Development Cooperation.

The new CEO will in addition be responsible for developing the strategies required to achieve the objectives set by the shareholders which for 2023 and onwards will include, but not be limited to:

• growing the portfolio to 5,000 active contracts;
• building on the initial phase of agricultural services provision;
• further developing the lease receivables management solution to include point-of-sale functionality; and
• maintaining a low-default portfolio generating acceptable profitability.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Ultimately responsible for all sales, marketing and operational activities of ALC in Zambia;
• Development and implementation of a growth strategy for ALC – both for activities in Zambia and potentially in the future also in other markets;
• Management and development of the local management team and extended operational team existing at ALC Zambia;
• Development of a strategy to further promote the knowledge, features and benefits of financial leasing to small scale farmers in Zambia;
• Development of a partnership strategy to combine the financial leasing solutions with other related parties in the Zambian agricultural sector to improve the level of food security;
• Development and maintenance of high-level relationships with Zambian, pan-African and international partner organizations. Further promote cooperation of ALC with German public institutions in Zambia such as the GIZ;
• Reporting to the Board of Directors;
• Reporting to the Bank of Zambia as ALC is licensed as a non-banking financial institution (non-deposit taking);
• Support KfW (shareholder) on progress and impact reporting to the BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Education Qualifications

• Degree in Commerce or comparable from an (internationally) recognized University.

Job Related Experience and Knowledge

• Minimum of 5 years of experience operating in the agricultural sector, preferably in Zambia or similar markets;
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in equipment leasing and/or in asset finance at Senior Management level;
• Proven experience & leadership skills in successfully leading and directing an organization;
• Demonstrated experience of working with the board and international development partners will be an added advantage.

Demonstrated Competence

• Strategic Thinking & Problem Analysis;
• Relationship Building & Management;
• Integrity & Commitment;
• Learning, Adaptability & Innovation.

Application Guidelines

Please note that the cover letter should be no more than two pages long and should detail why you are interested in this role as well as how your skills and experience are the best fit for the role. Both the CV and cover letter should be in MS Word format and named as “YYYY-MM-DD_FirstName-LastName_CV_AgLeaseCo” and “YYYY-MM-DD_FirstName-LastName_Cover Letter_AgLeaseCo” respectively.

Timeline

Closing Date: 12th June 2022

Communication

Please note that any communication regarding the above role and/or questions regarding the recruitment process should strictly be directed to agleaseco@samawaticapital.com in the first instance.

Candidates are advised to add the above email address to their safe senders list and regularly check their spam folder to avoid missing out on any communication.