Senior Associate, Rwanda
Company Description
Aceli Africa is a market catalyst that unlocks private sector lending for agricultural enterprises. Drawing upon new data that explains the credit gap for small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector, Aceli offers financial incentives to a marketplace of 50+ commercial banks and innovative finance companies to share in the risk and defray the high transaction costs of lending to agricultural SMEs.
Since launching in 2020, Aceli has mobilized $500M in lending to 6,000+ agricultural enterprises providing market access for 2.6M smallholder farmers across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. With access to finance, Agri-SMEs - more than 60% of which are accessing loans for the first time - are growing at an annual rate of 20%+, increasing their purchases from farmers, and creating more jobs. Building on learning to date, Aceli plans to mobilize $2 billion in financing for Agri-SMEs and improve livelihoods for 5 million farmers and workers by 2030.
Job Description
Reporting directly to the Manager, Rwanda and working closely with Aceli colleagues across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and the United States, the Senior Associate will provide operational, coordination, and administrative support that amplifies Aceli’s impact and learning with lenders, technical assistance providers, data and learning organisations, industry associations, donors, and policymakers. The ideal candidate has experience in project coordination, stakeholder engagement, data management, and program reporting in agricultural development, financial inclusion, or SME finance.
Key Responsibilities
1. Partner and Stakeholder Support
Lead outreach and communication with lending partners across Aceli’s financial incentive and capacity building programs in Rwanda.
Coordinate onboarding of Rwandan Lenders into the Aceli Network and relationship management.
Support branch-level activation with partner banks, extending lender engagement beyond head office to the branch networks that originate agricultural loans.
Coordinate follow-up with agricultural SMEs in Aceli's Technical Assistance (TA) programs.
Maintain updated contact lists, meeting notes, and records of partner engagement.
Plan and support lender and SME engagement activities, training sessions, and workshops.
Liaise with TA referral partners and maintain documentation of referrals and outcomes.
2. Program Coordination and Implementation
Support the execution of TA events, investor pitch sessions, and lender-SME matchmaking.
Collect and verify SME and lender data for monitoring and reporting.
Support impact assessments, site visits, and partner learning activities.
Coordinate Gender Lens Investing (GLI) initiatives and capacity building sessions with partners.
Plan and execute Aceli Rwanda events, including guest lists, invitations, confirmations, and logistics.
Support local team retreats, field visits, and partner meetings.
3. Data Management and Reporting
Enter and update partner data in Aceli’s systems, including Salesforce and Power BI, while ensuring data accuracy.
Troubleshoot system issues with the Product and Operations teams.
Compile data and inputs for donor and internal reports.
Maintain records of project activities, event attendance, and partner interactions.
4. Policy and regulatory reforms
Coordinate scheduling, logistics, and documentation for Rwanda policy engagements, including working group meetings, National Bank of Rwanda consultations, technical dialogues, and stakeholder convenings.
Support Aceli’s partnership with the Rwanda Bankers Association, including coordination of the agricultural roundtable and of validation meetings on agri-finance policy work.
Lead stakeholder engagement preparation through background research, briefing notes, presentations, speaking points, and meeting summaries.
Track regulatory developments across Rwanda’s three priority reform areas (agriculture-specific loan classification and provisioning, the treatment of credit guarantees, and collateral requirements and valuation for agri-SMEs) and provide timely updates on the implications for Aceli’s Rwanda work.
Ensure timely follow-up on agreed actions with internal teams and external stakeholders, including maintaining action trackers and escalating delays or risks where needed.
Support coordination of internal evidence, data, and program learning to inform policy engagements, reporting, and progress against the Rwanda policy workplan.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Development Studies, Economics, Business Administration, or related field.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in SME finance, project coordination, stakeholder engagement, relationship management or donor-funded program implementation.
Experience in lending within the banking industry, agricultural finance, SME development, or financial inclusion programs in Rwanda or the wider East African region is an advantage.
Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
Proficiency in MS Office Suite; experience with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) or data dashboards (e.g., Power BI).
Excellent written and verbal English communication skills. Working proficiency in Kinyarwanda is required; French is an advantage.
Team-oriented, proactive, and able to work effectively with minimal supervision.
Right to live and work in Rwanda.
Additional Information
Aceli is an equal opportunity employer. Please share an updated CV and cover letter by 16 October , 2026. Applications without a Cover Letter will not be considered.
