Position Description

Review of a Core Banking System
Location Tanzania
Department Programs
Employment Type Volunteer
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The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project 

Scope of Work

Review of a Core Banking System  

 

Program Description:

The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project is an access to finance project working to improve access to finance for smallholders, women, youth, and micro, small, medium (including large) enterprises (MSMiLs) in Tanzania by improving the agri-finance ecosystem and strengthening the capacity of both borrowers and lenders. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will prioritize interventions that increase availability and adoption of priority technologies, including climate-smart technology, and create more inclusive agricultural finance ecosystems, enable expanded and sustained lending and investment, and increase productivity and incomes. 

Project interventions will support 20 financial institutions, 15 demand-side institutions including agricultural enterprises and women and youth groups, train 300 financial institution staff, and reach 18,000 borrowers with $21 million in agricultural finance facilitated in Tanzania. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will utilize a system-driven, private sector-led approach to target agricultural market coordination failures and develop commercially oriented solutions that will sustain and scale agri-financing. The project includes two interconnected strategic objectives to achieve tangible, positive impact for smallholder farmers, women, youth, agro-enterprises, and financial institutions. 

Objective 1: Improve income and bankability of smallholders, women, youth and micro, small and medium (including large) enterprises.  

The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will deliver targeted technical capacity strengthening and direct training and coaching to smallholders, women, youth, and MSMiLs beneficiaries in financial and money management skills and tools, business planning, finance and investment, development of business funding proposals, records keeping, loan applications, and loan repayment and/or savings strategies.  

Objective 2: Strengthen financial institution operational capacity to expand agri- lending. 

The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project will provide targeted support to supply side financial institutions to develop new agri-finance products and improve operational capabilities and efficiencies, build capacity and strengthening their motivation to expand agri-lending to smallholders, women, youth, and MSMiLs – with a focus on priority and climate-smart technologies such as irrigation, inputs, storage, and value addition. The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri Finance Project is an access to finance project working to improve access to finance for smallholders, women, youth, and micro, small, medium (including large) enterprises (MSMiLs) in Tanzania by improving the Agri finance ecosystem and strengthening the capacity of borrowers and lenders. With a particular emphasis on priority technologies, including climate- smart technologies. The Feed the Future project is working to create more inclusive agricultural finance ecosystems, enable expanded and sustained lending and investment, and increase productivity and incomes. The Recipient interventions will increase supported financial institutions from 9 to 20, train 300 financial institution staff, and reach 18,000 borrowers with $21 million in agricultural finance. The project will utilize a system-driven, private sector-led approach to target agricultural market coordination failures and develop commercially oriented solutions that will sustain and scale agri-financing. 

 

Problem Statement: 

The Core Banking System (CBS) of a bank is very important, as it stores vital information for the bank's range of services and products. Along with the CBS, it is imperative that banks have a comprehensive system that efficiently captures applications, underwriting and decision applications.This system should include all relevant data for analysis and seamlessly provide necessary information upon request. Additionally, it must incorporate robust analytical tools to facilitate in-depth analysis of stored data, thereby enhancing informed decision-making capabilities.  Moreover, the system should seamlessly integrate with existing bank systems and be scalable to accommodate future expansions or modifications in services.  One commercial bank in Tanzania faces limitations with its current system, particularly concerning the timely provision of essential information to decision-makers, especially regarding credit issues. The system lacks the capability to promptly provide crucial data required for analyzing information necessary for informed decision-making processes. This deficiency hampers the bank's ability to assess credit-related matters swiftly and accurately, potentially leading to delays or suboptimal decisions. 

The Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project is recruiting an international volunteer expert to assess the core banking system and provide recommendations to the bank regarding necessary enhancements. The assignment’s focus will be to expand the system's capacity to accommodate a broader range of loan information with emphasis on agricultural loan data for analysis and reporting purposes.  Moreover, the volunteer expert will identify any shortcomings and make recommendations on improvements to ensure the core banking system effectively supports informed decision-making, particularly as it relates to agricultural lending. 

 

Objectives of the Assignment:   

  • Conduct a thorough assessment of the bank’s core banking system including examining the system's architecture, functionalities, and data handling capabilities to identify any shortcomings or areas for improvement. 

  • Identify specific enhancements required to augment the system's capacity to accommodate a broader range of loan underwriting information with a particular emphasis on agricultural loans. This involves analyzing current limitations and proposing solutions to address them effectively. 

  • Provide several recommendations  to enhance access to finance for the bank’s customers and allow for informed decisions related to loans with special attention to Agri- loan information. 

 

Deliverables:  

  • Assessment findings  

  • PowerPoint Presentation describing the assignment findings and outlining the findings of the desktop research. The presentation will highlight key areas of the soft and hard copy aspects of the current core banking system. 

  • Key areas for system strengthening and recommendations for prioritized areas of improvement or innovation to enhance operational efficiency, security, and customer satisfaction. 

  • Final trip report   

Anticipated In-Country Schedule for Assignment:  

Day  

Activity  

Location  

Estimated days 

Pre-departure  

  • Hold a call with the Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project team and the institution to discuss needs of assignment and strategy.  

  • Review of the host organization's current core banking system includes an assessment of the associated credit information to be filled in. 

  • Develop tools and questions for data collection, validation, and analysis for assessment.   

 

 U.S.A 

  

Day 1 

  • Depart to Tanzania from the US  

U.S. A  

1  

 Day 2-3

  • Arrival Dar es Salaam  

  • Attend orientation hosted by Feed the Future Tanzania Agri-Finance Project team to review assignment objectives and plan.   

Dar es Salaam  

2  

Day 4 

  • Present tools and questions developed for data collection, validation, and analysis for assessment and obtain feedback from the institution.   

  • Finalize tools and questions for data collection, validation, and analysis.  

Dar es Salaam 

1  

Day 5-7

  • Conduct interviews or discussions with IT professionals, banking executives, or experts in the field to gather firsthand insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities associated with the existing core banking system.  

Dar es Salaam 

3 

Day 8- 14 

  • Review the core banking system and advise the bank on necessary improvements to accommodate more agricultural loan information for analysis. Attention to: Software Infrastructure, Hardware Infrastructure, Data Management: Security Measures, Integration Capabilities: Scalability and Performance, User Experience (user experience for bank staff) 

 

Dar es Salaam 

7 

Day 15-17 

  • On-the-job training for IT Staff to implement practical solutions for core banking system technicalities 

Dar es Salaam 

3 

 Day 18

  • Hold debriefing session with the institutions management share findings, cCore bank system improvement plan and recommendations.   

Dar es Salaam 

1 

 Day 19-20

  • Develop final report for assignment.

 

Dar es Salaam 

2

 Day 21

  • Hold briefing session with USAID/Tanzania.

  • Hold debriefing with the Feed the Future Agri-Finance Project Staff.

Dar es Salaam 

1  

 Day 22

  • Departure to the U.S.

 

1  

 Day 23

  • Arrival in the U.S.  

 

1  

  Total number of days 

  

23

 

Volunteer Engagement:  

USAID and IESC encourage all volunteers to participate in public outreach. An important objective of the program is to increase awareness of Americans’ good work in developing countries. If you would like to share your experience, IESC can offer support if needed. 

 

Expertise of Volunteer Expert Requested:  

  • At least 10 years of professional experience in agriculture, agricultural finance, digital finance, access to finance and/or agricultural economics.
  • University degree or higher in financial management, credit management, agriculture finance and risk control and mitigation, business, economics, or other relevant field; advanced degree preferred.
  • Knowledge of and experience in banking, digital finance, credit management and agricultural access to finance in sub-Saharan Africa preferred. Higher university degree in finance, agribusiness, agro lending, agricultural science, or a related field
  • Highly developed financial operations skills with the ability to comprehensively understand business models as they relate to operations (with an emphasis on credit), risk mitigation, loan recovery and financial reporting.
  • Strong leadership and communication skills with capacity to plan strategically and flexibly.
  • At least 8 years of professional experience in leadership or executive role with lending institutions or large/medium sized business in agriculture, agricultural finance, access to finance and/or agricultural economics   
  • Independence and strong interpersonal skills  
  • Creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.  
  • Goal-oriented mindset and hands-on approach.  
  • Good written and verbal communication skills.  
  • Experience of working in sub-Sahara African countries would be an added advantage.  
  • Good writing and analytical skills, interpersonal communication, and presentation  
  • This is a United States government funded program. Therefore, for the purpose of achieving desired results in accordance with the work plan and submitting requisite reports requires deliberation and sensitivity to cultural issues in communication, written and spoken is essential.  
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