Economic Specialist

About Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi II

The Government of Malawi signed a five-year agreement (‘Compact) with the Millennium Chaffenge Corporation (“MCC”) to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. MCC is a U.S. government agency focused on assisting countries dedicated to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in people. An Accountable Entity called the Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi II (“MCA-Malawi II”) has been created and designated by the Government of Malawi to implement the Compact.

Malawi Compact

The Compact consists of three projects, namely:

1. The Accelerated Growth Corridors Project (AGC) will focus on reducing transport costs in targeted rural areas. Under the AGC Project, the Road Corridor Improvement (RCI) Activity will target investment in physical upgrades and improvements across different classes of roads within four selected Accelerated Growth Corridors (AGCs) to improve rural access by addressing road conditions and reducing transport costs. The Policy and Institutional Reform and Capacity Building (PIR) Activity will focus on assisting the Government to address policy, legislative, institutional, and funding issues to ensure that road transport in AGC areas is well-maintained and managed.
2. The Increased Land Productivity Project will focus on improving land services, strengthening conditions for increased investment in land and better-functioning land markets through two main activities: the Land Administration Resourcing and Institutions Activity – which will support development, adoption, and implementation of reforms to expand national land-based revenues and address institutional change – and the City Council Land-Based Revenue Modernization Activity, which will expand coverage and collection of land-based revenues, to increase resources for key services and increase investment in land and finally.
   The American Catalyst Facility for Development Project will focus on facilitating U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) investment in Malawi to catalyse increased private investment consistent with Compact objectives and increase the scale and impact of the Compact.

 

Economic Specialist

Position Objective

The Economic Specialist, who works under the Manager of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Economic Analysis (MEE) and the Director of MEE, focuses on the economic analysis aspect of the MEE unit.

This role is central to generating accurate and actionable economic insights for the Malawi Transport and Land Compact projects. Responsibilities include conducting economic analyses, contributing to the monitoring and evaluation of compact targets, supporting independent evaluations, and assisting in managing the M&E budget and related activities. Collaborating with MCC’s M&E Leads, reporting results analysts. The position is key to ensuring the success and impact of compact programs through data-driven decisions.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Assisting in building on the Compact M&E Framework in the program agreement, contribute to the development and periodic updates of the MCA-Malawi II M&E Plan, in accordance with MCC policies and guidelines and in coordination with MCC and relevant stakeholders.
• Assist in refining the M&E Plan based on the Compact agreement, ensuring it aligns with MCC policies and effectively coordinates with MCC and stakeholders.
• Assist in the execution of the monitoring aspect of the M&E Plan, including defining performance indicators, establishing baselines and targets, and addressing data quality issues
• Collaborating with project implementers and entities to integrate M&E requirements into agreements and ensuring a mutual understanding of indicators.
• Generating and updating the Indicator Tracking Table (ITT), conducting quarterly data reviews, and validating data accuracy.
• Undertaking Data Quality Reviews of reported monitoring data, identifying and rectifying any weaknesses.
• Conducting field assessments to verify progress towards outputs and outcomes, especially where data quality concerns exist.
• Ensuring effective communication with MCA-Malawi II leadership and MCC M&E staff about MEE activities, risks, and implementation progress.
• Assist in managing the M&E budget, including quarterly updates on financial commitments and disbursements.
• Perform any other duties assigned by the MCA-Malawi Il management, as needed, to support the overall success of the M&E and economic analysis functions and MCA projects.

Education

• Advanced degree (master’s or higher) in Social Sciences, Business Management, Development Studies or a related field of study.
• Five (5) or more years’ experience, conducting quantitative and qualitative analyses of programs, including a minimum of three (3) years of experience in Monitoring & Evaluation.
• Experience applying economic concepts to real-world problems, using data and analysis to reach conclusions and provide recommendations. Experience conducting this type of work in Malawi is desired but not required. Demonstrated competency in cost-benefit analysis of projects is desired but not required
• Strong understanding of international and local policies, guidelines, and best practices relevant to monitoring, evaluation, and economic analysis.
• Experience in working with government counterparts, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, international donor organizations and other stakeholders in the implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following statistical analysis software and databases, such as STATA, SPSS, SAS, CSPRO, Excel and strong proficiency with MS Word and PowerPoint.
• Excellent organizational skills related to data and document management.
• Fluency in the local language(s) of the MCA-Malawi Il country and strong English language skills. both written and spoken, are highly desirable.

How to apply

Applications for these positions should be sent to: recruitment@mca-malawi2.gov.mw

Applications should be accompanied by the following documents:

1. Curriculum vitae containing detailed work experience.
2. Cover letter confirming interest and availability.
3. Soft copies of education and professional certificates (if available).

The closing date for receiving applications is 28th June 2024. Please note that only applications received through recruitment@mca-malawi2.gov.mw will be considered. Any applications received through other channels will not be considered. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interviews. Interested applicants should indicate the position title in the subject line of the email.