USAID Africa Trade and Investment Activity

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program is designed to bolster the U.S. Government’s ability to boost trade and investment to, from, and within the African continent. The continent-wide program is USAID’s flagship effort in support of the Prosper Africa initiative and will expand and accelerate two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.  

Driven by market demand, ATI embraces innovative approaches to achieve its goals. ATI is designed as a small, core set of centrally coordinated technical and institutional support activities, and a large, flexible performance-based subcontracting and grants under contract facility designed to support the needs and opportunities that USAID Missions and the private sector identify.  

ACTIVITY BACKGROUND

The USAID ATI trade objective seeks to mobilize trade, including two-way between the U.S. and Africa, through a proactive approach that identifies and/or improves private sector awareness of opportunities, information sharing, and direct facilitation of new and existing business relationships. Building on almost two decades of successful Trade Hub work, the mechanism will have a particular focus on supporting African exports, intra-Africa and to the U.S. Activities must also accelerate the implementation of the existing Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) export strategies and trade preferences with the U.S.

In Southern Africa, USAID Southern Africa seeks to sustain the significant progress made on the USAID Southern Africa Trade and Investment (USAID TradeHub) through a buy-in program activity under ATI from October 2022 to September 2026, titled the USAID Africa Trade and Investment Southern Africa Buy-in Activity (the Project). Specifically, the Project will focus on increasing exports from targeted Southern African countries to South Africa and boosting sustainable utilization of AGOA opportunities by targeted Southern African countries, including South Africa. To do this, the Project will deepen the market systems approach initiated under USAID TradeHub to tackle the root causes that limit Southern Africa’s agricultural and non-agricultural market systems - addressing incentives, behaviors, and relationships that impede the region’s trade competitiveness in three market systems:

  • Trade promotion system refers to mechanisms linking supply with demand and helping exporters identify and meet these demands. Trade promotion activities are about raising awareness of agricultural trade opportunities among market actors;
  • Trade enhancing services system, encompasses the sets of services that increase export competitiveness and functional ability to export. Trade enhancing service include all activities that build the export firms’ capacity to respond to the demand in the end markets in South Africa and the U.S.; and
  • Supply chain management system deals with linking buyers to a robust supplier/exporter base and support to meet buyer needs. The activities in this market system relate to the core market functions of linking export firms to buyers with their products and services.

While the Project will initially focus on these three market systems, this list may be modified as opportunities and needs emerge and as USAID funding allows. The activity will operate primarily in the following Southern African countries: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia.

SCOPE OF WORK  

Project: USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program

Position Title: Activity Intern – Ghana

Place of Performance: Ghana (onsite 100%) 

Maximum Level of Effort (LOE): 4 months

The position is open to Ghanian citizens and permanent residents or those with valid work permits at the time of application.

ROLE’S PURPOSE:

The Activity Intern will support the Activity team with managing several large multi-years buy-in activities with support from technical advisors and the ATI team. Responsibilities include providing general support to buy-in activities, working with the activity, technical and operational teams to support implementation, and supporting USAID clients. The Intern - Activity will support generating buy-in activity scopes of work, supporting procurement for events, coordinating events and travel, supporting the co- design of grants activities, and other activity support tasks as needed across ATI’s West Africa portfolio.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

  • Support the team in the organization of training, workshops, and project events in collaboration with appropriate staff and partners.
  • Provide logistics services related to travel itineraries including flights, accommodation, catering, and car rental services and making timely and necessary booking updates to accommodate changes (s) to travel itineraries.
  • Assist in preparing budgets for various activities, including workshops, meetings, and field visits.
  • Support procurement and logistics deliverables and support the payment process in collaboration with Finance and Operations Coordinator,
  • Provide onsite assistance during events as required including registration and attendee management.
  • Support the coordination of office maintenance and repairs as directed.
  • Conducting searches to gather necessary information to organize an event in West Africa
  • Provide general administrative support to staff as needed.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics, project management Agriculture or trade related field.
  • Ability to identify time sensitive demands & inquiries and respond effectively.
  • Demonstrated report writing skills in English is required.
  • An articulate individual who possesses excellent communications and personnel management skills and who can relate to diverse teams, private sector and to people at all levels of an organization.
  • An extremely well organized and self-directed individual with sound technical skills, analytical ability, good judgment, and strong operational focus
  • Must possess basic computer skills - Microsoft Office Suite: Proficiency in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook12.
  • Ability to speak French is a plus.

REPORTING: The Activity Intern will report to the Senior Activity Specialist.

ABOUT DAI

DAI is a global development company with corporate offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, EU, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Palestine and project operations worldwide. We tackle fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

DAI and its employees are committed to confronting racism and holding ourselves accountable for positive change within the company and in the communities, cultures, and countries in which we live and work.  DAI is committed to attracting and retaining the best employees from all races and backgrounds in our continued effort to become a better development partner.

DAI upholds the highest ethical standards. We are committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment as well as other ethical breaches. All of our positions are therefore subject to stringent vetting and reference checks.

What is the highest level of education you have? *
What year did you graduate? *
Do you have experience working in a similar position on a USAID-funded project or for an NGO or an international organization? *
Do you have experience with report writing skills in English? *
Please rank your computer skills. *
Do you possess excellent communications and personnel management skills and can equally relate to diverse teams, private sector and to people at all levels of an organization? *
Are you willing to be onsite for in office work 100%? *
Which Country are you based in? *
 
Are you a Ghanian citizen, permanent resident or hold a valid work permit at the time of application? *
Are you willing to be onsite for in office work 100%? *
Have you ever been recruited or hired by DAI? *

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