ABOUT SKYQUEST

SkyQuest Technology Consulting is a rapidly expanding global advisory firm specialising in market intelligence, innovation management, and commercialisation strategy. We partner with corporates, governments, and development organisations to turn insights into implementation.

Learn more: https://www.skyquestt.com

THE PROGRAMME

SkyQuest is delivering a 24-month technical assistance programme to strengthen a national agricultural development finance institution in Nigeria. The programme aims to improve access to finance for agricultural enterprises and organisations serving smallholder farmers, particularly women and underserved producers. The embedded Technical Support Unit (TSU) works alongside the Institution's teams to strengthen institutional capabilities, improve operational effectiveness, and embed sustainable systems and practices.

THE ROLE

The Senior Consultant – Agricultural Finance & Credit Risk will lead the agricultural finance, credit, and risk workstream. The role involves assessing existing lending capabilities, designing agricultural financing products, strengthening credit and portfolio-risk frameworks, and piloting solutions before transferring them to the Institution's teams.

Location: Nigeria, with in-country travel

THE OPPORTUNITY

This is an opportunity for an experienced agricultural finance professional to strengthen agricultural lending, develop cutting-edge value-chain financing solutions, and improve credit and risk-management practices within a national development finance institution in Nigeria.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Assess existing credit policies, loan portfolios, and institutional capabilities in agricultural lending and risk management.

• Engage with credit, risk, branch teams, and value-chain stakeholders to identify financing opportunities and constraints.





• Design agricultural finance products with repayment structures aligned to crop cycles and value-chain requirements.

• Develop financing solutions for input suppliers, seed companies, growers, aggregators, and off-takers, including warehouse-receipt finance, off-take-backed lending, alternative collateral, and guarantee mechanisms.

• Strengthen credit appraisal methodologies, risk-rating systems, provisioning frameworks, and portfolio-monitoring practices.

• Integrate climate-risk considerations and digital credit-scoring solutions into lending processes.

• Pilot and refine financing products across selected agricultural value chains and branches.

• Strengthen early-warning systems, loan recovery, and non-performing-loan management.

• Embed validated frameworks into institutional policies and SOPs, train teams, and facilitate knowledge transfer and handover.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Agricultural Economics, Banking, or a related field. A Master's degree or professional banking qualification is an advantage.

Professional Experience

• 15+ years of experience in agricultural lending, credit risk, or value-chain finance within a bank or Development Finance Institution (DFI).

• Hands-on experience in agricultural finance product design, warehouse-receipt financing, off-take structures, and guarantee mechanisms.

• Strong expertise in credit-risk modelling, portfolio management, and lending frameworks.

• Demonstrated ability to design, pilot, and scale financing products for agricultural enterprises and small-scale producers.

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE

• Knowledge of Nigerian or Sub-Saharan African agricultural value chains and financial institutions.

• Experience working on development-partner-funded programmes.

• Working knowledge of Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo is an advantage.

📌 Senior Consultant Agricultural Finance & Credit Risk (India)
🏢 SkyQuest Technology Consulting
📍 India