International Consultant: South Sudan: Green and Resilient Agriculture and Climate Economy (GRACE)

• by June 15, 2026 (Output 1): Submit the first draft report to ITC, including desk research on value chain finance, a needs assessment, and analysis of potential innovative financing mechanisms. Additionally, submit a report on consultations held with at least 20 private sector participants, MSMEs within the project’s value chains, and trade and business associations. • by July 06, 2026 (Output 2): Deliver the second draft report covering policy incentives and institutional roles, along with a report summarizing consultations with at least 10 public sector institutions. • By July 30, 2026 (Output 3): Deliver a first roundtable to present the findings of the strategy paper and gather stakeholder’s feedback. • by August 15, 2026 (Output 4): Submit the consolidated report to ITC in both MS Word and MS PowerPoint formats. • by September 01, 2026 (Output 5): Submit the final report to ITC in both MS Word and MS PowerPoint formats with all stakeholder feedback incorporated • By November 05, 2026 (output 6): Submit an implementation roadmap including activities and implementing partners roles to ITC • by November 30, 2026 (Output 7): Organize the second validation workshop for the roadmap and submit the corresponding event report to ITC.

home-based

7 months from ASAP

The GRACE project is funded by the European Union (EU) under the Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI and is implemented by ITC, FAO and WFP over a period of 48 months in four states, namely: Central Equatoria State, Lakes State, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, and Western Equatoria State. It will support small holder farmers, producers cooperatives, micro, small and medium sized enterprises that operate businesses in the various target product sectors, such as honey, horticulture, groundnuts and sorghum. ITC’s role will focus on providing support aimed at enhancing the business enabling environment; supporting market development, value addition and quality compliance capacities through training, advisory, and experience sharing; creating market linkages; and building capacities to facilitate regional, continental and global trade integration for South Sudan. The access to finance (A2F) intervention will focus on strengthening the MSME finance ecosystem in South Sudan’s trade-potential sectors by developing a strategic paper on innovative financing and policy incentives that could be implemented by relevant bodies. The second focus will be to facilitate structured public–private dialogues to build consensus on implementation. ITC is therefore looking for a finance and policy expert with extensive experience and a strong network of actors in South Sudan agriculture financing and trade finance landscape. The expert will proceed with a combination of evidence-based research, inclusive consultation with key stakeholders, and structured dialogue to drive public-private dialogue and action towards SME finance and enabling policies and initiatives. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Under the direct supervision of the Access to finance officer and the overall guidance of the Senior Access to finance officer, Sector and Enterprise Competitiveness Section (SEC), Division of Enterprises Competitiveness and Institutions (DECI), the responsibilities of the consultant will include the following: 1. Desk research and data collection on the South Sudan access to finance landscape for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural value chain and the potential innovative financing solution and policy incentives 2. Identification, mapping and analysis of existing financial institutions supporting agricultural finance and value chain modalities 3. Identification of opportunities, existing gaps and constraints to effective value-chain financing modalities, this may include limited product innovation, policy and regulation, sector bias. 4. Provide evidence-based recommendations on financing instruments and policy measures that can unlock private capital and support MSMEs in trade-related agricultural value chains. 5. Conduct stakeholder consultations to collect additional input and inform the strategic paper. A standard questionnaire will be prepared. 6. Produce a comprehensive report in both word and PowerPoint, including all of the above and covering the project’s value chains. 7. Organise two stakeholders’ validation workshops to validate the findings and roadmap for implementation. Copyright Clause: The consultant has to ensure that she/he has obtained the necessary permissions with regard to intellectual property rights required to perform his/her services under this consultancy contract and for the subsequent dissemination by ITC in any form. Documentary proof is to be submitted to ITC. Should any license fee be due for the use of copyrighted materials of third parties, the consultant shall request the prior written permission from ITC. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, gender equality and gender parity and considers all qualified persons - of all genders - equally, including those with disabilities, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.

 Postgraduate degree (MA/MSc/MBA, PHD or other) banking, finance, economics, business management, international trade, economic development or similar disciplines.  10+ years relevant experience may be accepted in lieu of the Postgraduate university degree.  At least 7 years of experience in development sustainable finance and working in a developing country.  Strong understanding of agribusiness, agri finance, trade finance instruments and related regulatory issues.  Strong network in the finance and trade industry  Experience in collecting, analysing, and synthesizing both qualitative and quantitative data from secondary sources, including reports, policy documents, academic papers, and financial statements.  Familiarity with the challenges facing agriculture value chains including supply chain actors and financing of SMEs, exporters, and importers in developing countries.  Strong written and verbal communication skills to present complex research findings clearly and effectively to diverse audiences, including policymakers, financial institutions, and business leaders. SKILLS  Self-organisation and planning;  Excellent written and oral communication;  Clear presentation competence;  Excellent analytical skills  Capacity to understand, assess, and summarize financial, business and regulatory information.  Clarity in report writing and presentation.

 Fluent in written and spoken English and Arabic

Not available.