Technical Assistance to the Rural Impulse Fund II

Rural Impulse Fund I (RIF I), the pioneer fund in rural microfinance and the fund precedent to RIF II, was the first commercial microfinance fund to identify the emergence of financially sustainable MFIs in rural areas. The pace and quality of investments made by RIF I proved that the demand for rural microfinance is largely unmet by traditional microfinance lenders. RIF I did not report a single delinquency or non-performance on any of its investments. Despite the negative effects of the financial crisis, all RIF I clients continue to operate on a sustainable and financially responsible basis. The inclusion of a technical assistance facility in RIF II will be a critical success factor for the Fund. The RIF IITA facility has two objectives: (i) to support the overall development of the targeted microfinance institutions(MFIs) and to facilitate their improvement on operational, strategic, financial, organizational or other areas; and(ii) to promote innovation in rural microfinance and help introduce best practices with regard to product designand outreach methodologies for rural MFIs. The Project Manager will head the TA team and represent the Consultant towards Incofin IM, the MFIs and the EIB. He/she will be responsible for the management of the TA operations and for the delivery of all outputs foreseen under the specific TA assignments. While being responsible for overall management of the TA operations, he/she will also directly work on the constitution of specific expert teams for each TA assignment and on TA operations monitoring and appraisals. He/she will have to travel regularly to the ACP region as required in the context of the specific activities related to each TA assignment. He/she will have the following minimum background/experience: