Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Learning (MEAL) and Impact Expert (SAMA)

• Position title: MEAL and Impact Expert
• Position level: Manager
• Contract type: Full time Employment
• Contract duration: initial contract will be for a period of one year, and may be renewed up to three years
• Location: Kigali, Rwanda
• Applications deadline: 04th May 2026 at 11:00 PM Kigali (GMT+2) time

1. About Smart Africa

The Smart Africa Alliance is a multilateral organization, established since its Manifesto, as a collaborative effort among African nations, the African Union, the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the International Telecommunications Union, the private sector, and academic and research institutions. This initiative, driven by African Heads of State and Government, aims to propel sustainable socio-economic development across the continent by leveraging Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to transition Africa into a knowledge-based economy. Originally endorsed by African leaders in 2014, the Smart Africa Manifesto has since garnered the support of 42 African countries, representing over one billion population, with the goal of placing ICT at the core of both national and continental socio-economic development efforts. This involves increasing ICT access, enhancing transparency, efficiency, and openness through ICT adoption, fostering advanced telecommunication technologies, empowering the private sector, and utilizing ICT for sustainable development.

The Alliance promotes digital transformation through several vehicles by building digital infrastructure, supporting entrepreneurship, fostering innovation, developing human capital, driving digitization, and advocating the development of policies and regulations that support the growth of the digital economy and digital technologies. Recognizing the need for strong capacity building efforts to achieve AU’s goals for digital transformation.

The Smart Africa Secretariat, headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, coordinates continental programs that support digital market integration, policy harmonization, institutional strengthening, and innovation ecosystem development across Member States. Through multi-country partnerships and donor-funded initiatives, the Secretariat advances Africa's digital transformation agenda with a strong focus on operational effectiveness, accountability, and measurable impact.

Visit https://smartafrica.org/ for more information about Smart Africa

2. Smart Africa Markets for All (SAMA) Program Background

The Smart Africa Alliance has curated an initiative Smart Africa Markets for All, that bring in the nexus between Digital innovation – entrepreneurship, digital skills and knowledge and strengthening policy and regulatory environment for digitization of markets while impacting youth with a particular focus on young women.

The Smart Africa Markets for All (SAMA) Program is a four year multi-country initiative supported by Mastercard Foundation, running from 2026 through 2029. The Program is. aimed at unlocking dignified and fulfilling work opportunities for 35,584 young people, across six African countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, and Benin), with a target of 70% women beneficiaries. SAMA specifically focuses on empowering economically disadvantaged youth particularly young women small traders by improving their access to digital markets. The program responds to systemic challenges in Africa’s informal economy, where approximately 90% of workers are informal and youth (75% of the population) face barriers such as limited digital connectivity and financial exclusion. SAMA builds on Smart Africa’s existing digital initiatives (e.g. SANIA, SADA, SATA) and aligns with the African Union’s vision as well as Smart Africa’s vision to Transform Africa into a Single Digital Market by 2030, ensuring that program efforts complement broader continental strategies for inclusive digital transformation.

Strategic Focus: SAMA’s design is built around three interconnected strategic pillars to drive inclusive growth: (a) Entrepreneurship and digital innovation, (b) Youth Digital Skills, and (c) Institutional Capacity Building. In practice, this translates to:

· Accelerating Inclusive Digital Innovation – supporting youth-led tech solutions that reduce market barriers for informal traders (e.g. digital platforms for market access, e-commerce, fintech).

· Skilling Young Talents (Digital Skills and Financial literacy Development) – providing digital, financial, and entrepreneurial skills training to young people (especially women) to improve employability and enterprise growth.

· Strengthening Institutions & Policy – working with governments and regional bodies to harmonize policies, improve regulatory environments, and build institutional capacity for a unified digital market.

Smart Africa is leading the implementation of SAMA together with sub-partners, across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Benin, and Zambia. This pan-African reach is designed to demonstrate how integrated digital market ecosystems can lift young women and men out of poverty and informality, in alignment with both the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In summary, the Context for SAMA is one of urgent need and strong alignment: the program targets the inclusion of marginalized youth (like the archetypal “Aisha”, a young woman informal trader) into Africa’s growing digital economy, by creating inclusive market systems, equipping youth with 21st-century skills, and enabling supportive policies.

For effective program implementation, the Program is governed through a Partnership Council, Steering Committee, Program Management Office (PMO), and country-level implementation structures. Some support functions includes a Fund Manager and a Quality Assurance (QA) provider to ensure financial compliance, and performance integrity. Given the Program's scale, multi-country scope, and strict compliance environment, strong operational coordination is critical to ensure implementation and sustained disbursement flow.

3. Duties, responsibilities and work relationships

Click the link below to view the detailed duties and responsibilities, along with the full Terms of Reference: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kWvJDVZ-mIZi2UD94xkH6WVVTIOcj7v6/view?usp=sharing

4. Qualifications & Experience Requirements

Education

• Master’s degree in Monitoring & Evaluation, Entrepreneurship, Economics, Statistics, Data Science or related fields. A PhD is an added advantage.

• Relevant certifications (e.g., RBM, Impact Evaluation, Data Use/Analytics) are an advantage.

Professional Experience

• Minimum 8 years of experience in monitoring, evaluation, learning, and impact management, performance management, data and data use for decision making.

• Demonstrated experience leading MEAL systems in large donor-funded programmes with strict compliance and reporting requirements (e.g., Mastercard Foundation, World Bank, USAID, EU, AfDB or equivalent).

• Demonstrated experience working in African contexts (required).

• Proven experience designing and implementing results frameworks, performance measurement systems, and evaluation methodologies.

• Demonstrated experience managing programme reporting, data quality assurance, and audit-ready systems.

• Experience engaging with multi-stakeholder environments, including development partners and senior government officials.

• Experience in digital economy, ICT, or innovation ecosystem programmes is an asset.

• Experience in gender-responsive programming and inclusion-focused data analysis is an asset.

Language Requirement

• Fluency in both English and French.

5. Duration & Location

· The contract will be for a full-time employment position. The initial contract will be for a period of one year, and may be renewed up to three years, subject to satisfactory performance, professional conduct, relevance of the position and availability of funding.

· Duty station: Kigali, Rwanda

6. Application Instructions

Interested candidates fulfilling the job requirements should submit the following documents to hr@smartafrica.org with mention of “MEAL and Impact Expert” in the email subject line:

• A detailed Curriculum Vitae (in English or French).

• A cover letter clearly demonstrating motivation and suitability for the role.

• Copies of academic and relevant professional qualification certificates.

Smart Africa is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants from Africa, especially female candidates, are strongly encouraged to apply.

The deadline for submitting applications is 04th May 2026 at 11:00 PM Kigali (GMT+2) time.

Note: Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted.

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