Access to Finance Specialist (Open to Internal & External Applicants)

Tiered Approach

In line with the commitment to safeguard capacity and support personnel already in the Organization, a majority of UNDP UNCDF/UNV vacancies are advertised using a tiered application process whereby:

• Tier 0: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV IP staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments, whose posts will be abolished, or contracts will be terminated or not renewed during 2026.
• Tier 1: Other UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding permanent (PA) and fixed-term (FTA) appointments
• Tier 2: UNDP/UNCDF/UNV staff holding temporary appointments (TA), personnel on regular PSA contracts, and Expert and Specialist UN Volunteers
• Tier 3 or no tier indicated: All other contract types from UNDP/UNCDF/UNV and other agencies, and other external candidates

Please make note of the Tier(s) indicated in the vacancy title, if any, and ensure that you satisfy the eligibility to apply.

Background

With the launch of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), UNDP has committed to leveraging its presence in 46 African countries, to play its part in facilitating regional integration and intra-African Trade. Through its Africa Promise, UNDP recognizes that increasing intra-African trade will accelerate opportunities to empower youth and women creating alternative livelihood options for young people in particular, who account for three-quarters of the African population. UNDP will therefore, work with African countries and institutions to turn this demographic dividend into a driving force for economic change, including through entrepreneurship, employment, and economic empowerment.  

The Enhancing Capacities of Young Women and Youth-Led Enterprises for Regional Trade (ECoWYERT) project builds on this commitment and is aimed at building resilience and alleviating poverty by enhancing capacities of women and youth-led MSMEs to leverage AfCFTA opportunities. The project seeks to unlock the challenge of income generation and job creation by building the entrepreneurship, innovation, financial, and market-readiness capacities of youth - especially young women - in enterprise. These interventions will be in the form of access to finance, business development support, digital inclusion, and market access, along with enhancement of the policy, regulatory and collaborative environment while amplifying the youth voice.  

Interventions seek to increase the productivity of women and youth-led businesses, helping them tap into regional value chains while facilitating provision of youth-friendly financial and ecosystem services particularly targeted at young women. Funded by the Mastercard Foundation and coordinated by UNDP, the project will be co-implemented by UNDP, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the COMESA Federation of Women in Business (...