Role Overview
The Credit and Business Development Officer supports the Financing for Impactful Youth and Women in Agribusiness (FIYMA) Programme. The core objective is to expand sustainable access to finance for youth, women, and MSMEs by originating, appraising, structuring, and monitoring credit facilities delivered through partner financial institutions and Market Actors. This role integrates both business development and credit execution functions, ensuring that financed clients are viable, repayment capacity is sound, and the credit portfolio quality is maintained strictly in line with FIYMA credit guidelines and MESPT Credit Policies.
Key Responsibilities
1. Credit Origination, Appraisal & Loan Structuring
- Receive, screen, register, and process credit applications in line with FIYMA eligibility criteria, MESPT credit policies, and approval workflows.
- Identify and mobilize eligible SACCOs, cooperatives, MSMEs, and organised youth/women groups for access to programme credit facilities.
- Conduct comprehensive credit appraisal and due diligence, including: borrower financial analysis, business viability assessment, governance and management capability review, market assessment, value chain mapping, and value chain risk analysis.
- Undertake field verification visits to confirm client operations and risk exposure, including site visits to business premises, farms/production sites, and related value chain actors.
- Assess suitability, adequacy, and enforceability of proposed security structures (collateral, guarantees, risk-sharing arrangements) and recommend appropriate mitigants.
- Structure facilities based on borrower cashflow cycles (including seasonal/agricultural cycles), recommending optimal pricing, tenor, grace periods, repayment schedules, and covenants.
- Prepare high-quality credit proposals/appraisal memos with clear risk analysis and recommendations for submission to the relevant approval committees in line with the delegated authority matrix.
- Ensure full compliance with maker-checker controls, KYC requirements, and documentation standards prior to submission and approval.
- Coordinate preparation of offer letters and required facility documents, and support timely loan disbursement in line with approved terms and conditions.
2. Business Development & Pipeline Development
- Identify, map, and develop a pipeline of eligible financing opportunities aligned with FIYMA target segments (youth-led enterprises, women-owned MSMEs, agri-SMEs, cooperatives and SACCO-linked enterprises).
- Conduct finance partner engagement and market outreach to create demand for FIYMA financing and related support services.
- Promote uptake of FIYMA loan products through structured field activations, sensitization forums, and stakeholder meetings.
- Coordinate with Capacity Building teams to ensure clients/partners receive necessary technical assistance for bankability and sustainability.
- Prepare and submit pipeline reports, opportunity trackers, and weekly/monthly BD progress updates.
3. Credit Administration & Disbursement Readiness
- Coordinate pre-disbursement conditions and ensure all legal documentation is complete and verified.
- Confirm fulfillment of conditions precedent (CPs) including insurance, collateral perfection, guarantees, partner confirmations, and borrower compliance requirements.
- Support loan booking and ensure correct facility set-up in the credit systems (repayment schedules, interest rates, penalty configuration, grace periods).
- Participate in loan disbursement controls to ensure proceeds are applied to intended purposes (especially for credit-linked productive investments).
4. Portfolio Monitoring, Collections Support & Credit Relationship Management
- Manage an assigned credit portfolio and maintain strong, professional relationships with partners and funded clients to support performance, compliance, and retention.
- Conduct post-disbursement monitoring (PDM) and portfolio reviews to confirm appropriate facility utilization and track borrower performance.
- Monitor repayment behavior, arrears trends, and Portfolio-at-Risk (PAR) indicators; identify emerging default risks and initiate timely corrective action.
- Support early arrears management through proactive partner engagement, development of joint recovery plans, and implementation of agreed remedial actions.
- Trigger escalation workflows for distressed accounts, recommend restructuring/rescheduling options where justified, and ensure interventions are policy-compliant and properly documented.
- Maintain updated and audit-ready facility files, loan registers, monitoring tools/databases, and credit documentation (both hard and soft copy) in line with FIYMA guidelines and MESPT Policy.
- Prepare periodic portfolio performance and monitoring reports, including PAR analysis, risk insights by sector/segment, and key portfolio trends.
- Capture and document lessons learned, case studies, and best practices from credit interventions to strengthen programme learning and portfolio improvement.
- Provide technical input to the design/refinement of inclusive credit approaches and tailored products that enhance access for women, youth, PWDs, and refugee groups.
5. Partnerships, Stakeholder Engagement & Agri-Finance Technical Advisory
- Collaborate with the Capacity Building and Gender & Youth Inclusion Officers to deliver integrated enterprise support that strengthens borrower readiness, inclusion outcomes, and portfolio quality.
- Liaise and coordinate with SACCOs, cooperatives, county governments, and consortium/implementation partners to support effective portfolio management, delivery alignment, and issue resolution.
- Provide technical advisory support to SACCOs, cooperatives, and implementing partners on agri-finance lending models, including: credit structuring for agri-enterprises and value chain actors; cashflow-based lending methodologies; seasonal/agricultural repayment schedule design; risk mitigation approaches (e.g., insurance, diversification, aggregation/anchor models).
- Work jointly with partners to strengthen credit discipline, repayment culture, and portfolio performance across FIYMA-supported lending.
- Participate in partner trainings, technical clinics, and capacity building activities for partners and relevant value chain actors, providing practical guidance to improve lending practices and risk management.
6. Compliance, ESG, Inclusion & Safeguarding Integration
- Ensure all financed activities comply with FIYMA guidelines and safeguarding requirements and do not fund prohibited activities.
- Screen facilities for environmental and social risks and apply mitigation measures in line with MESPT ESG Guidelines.
- Promote inclusive credit access ensuring fair treatment, accessibility for marginalized groups, and adherence to consumer protection principles.
- Ensure client data confidentiality and compliance with data protection requirements.
7. Reporting, Documentation & Continuous Improvement
- Prepare credit appraisal reports, monitoring reports, facility review reports, and partner performance trackers.
- Contribute to portfolio analytics, lessons learned, and improvement of credit processes and tools.
- Provide timely information for audits, donor reporting, management reviews, and programme evaluations.
- Maintain accurate records in systems including application status, approvals, disbursements, and monitoring schedules.
- Perform any other duties assigned by the FIYMA Credit and Business Development Manager.
Key Deliverables (KPIs)
- Number and quality of viable financing opportunities sourced (pipeline).
- Disbursement volume and number of facilities booked within approved turnaround time (TAT).
- Portfolio quality indicators: PAR 30/60/90, default rate & NPL ratio.
- Quality of credit appraisals (accuracy, completeness, minimal exceptions).
- Monitoring compliance rate.
- Inclusion targets achieved (youth/women/PWD participation).
- Partner satisfaction and retention / repeat business.
- Documentation quality and audit outcomes (minimal documentation gaps).
Knowledge, Experience & Skills
- Minimum 2 years’ experience in credit management, MSME financing, or cooperative/SACCO lending.
- Strong knowledge of agricultural finance, value chains, and green financing.
- Credit structuring and documentation.
- Portfolio monitoring and early warning detection.
- Knowledge of agricultural finance dynamics (seasonality, price volatility, production risks).
- Practical experience in loan processing, portfolio monitoring, and recovery.
- Excellent negotiation, communication, and customer relationship skills.
- Good report writing and presentation skills.
