Job Description

Trade and Transport Facilitation Expert

ECOWAS Liaison Officer (m/f/x)

Abuja, Nigeria

Enabel is the Belgian agency for international cooperation. With our partners, we develop ideas and implement projects addressing urgent global challenges, such as climate change, social and economic inequalities, demographic trends, peace and security.

We have over 25 years' experience in areas ranging from education, health care and social protection, food systems, environmental protection and biodiversity, economic development and employment, financial and administrative governance... The Belgian government, the European Union, several financial partners, the governments of other countries and the private sector call on Enabel's expertise. We also work with public departments, research institutes and civil society organisations to enable meaningful social change.

With 2,500 staff, Enabel manages more than 200 projects in more than twenty countries, in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Background

The ECOWAS Trade and Transport Facilitation (TTF-ECOWAS) programme is a regional initiative funded by the European Union and Germany’s BMZ, implemented under a multi-partner contribution agreement (MPCA) by a consortium comprising GIZ (lead partner), TradeMark Africa and Enabel.

This programme aims to strengthen the ECOWAS Commission’s capacity to lead, harmonise and coordinate trade and transport facilitation reforms in its Member States. It does not replace regional institutions: it supports ECOWAS in carrying out its own mandate, in line with the objectives of the AfCFTA and the Global Gateway strategy.

Enabel’s contribution focuses specifically on the programme’s fifth outcome area: coherence, integration, ownership and accountability across all actions covered by Action Document ACT-62054 in West Africa. Enabel is the lead partner on four strategic corridors in the region – Abidjan–Lagos, Abidjan–Ouagadougou, Praia–Dakar–Abidjan and Cotonou–Niamey – and is also involved in the SCOPE and CITOC projects.

This approach is new and groundbreaking for Enabel. It involves joint implementation with other European agencies, a shared governance structure (Regional Steering Committee and Technical Coordination Committee) and high-level institutional dialogue with the ECOWAS Commission, the European Union Delegation in Abuja and DG INTPA. The position is the anchor point for this system in the field.

Enabel is therefore seeking an expert to act as a Liaison Officer with ECOWAS, based in Abuja and reporting to the West African corridors portfolio, which is managed from Abidjan.

Job description

In your capacity as an expert and Liaison Officer, you have the following responsibilities and tasks:

• Liaise on a daily basis with the technical departments of the ECOWAS Commission and facilitate access for the ‘corridors’ project teams to their contacts,
• Ensure the flow of information between the corridor projects, ECOWAS, the European Union Delegation and the consortium’s implementing partners,
• Manage the priorities and sequencing of requests submitted to ECOWAS, in order to prevent simultaneous and competing requests from overwhelming its internal capacity,
• Identify at an early stage any risks of operational overlap between regional and corridor-level actions, and, in consultation with the Programme Manager, propose the necessary trade-offs,
• Support the preparation, the convening and the follow-up of governance bodies: Regional Steering Committee, Technical Coordination Committee and corridor project steering committees,
• Manage a collaborative platform and a regular newsletter aimed at stakeholders in the corridor projects,
• Monitor and evaluate and report on Enabel’s contribution to the programme,
• Organise the annual technical seminars bringing together implementing partners, ECOWAS and European Union delegations,
• Contribute to the joint visibility and accountability of actions, in support of ECOWAS’s communication strategy on its own results,
• Represent Enabel at regional forums on trade and transport facilitation,
• Take on the role of knowledge manager: draw on the lessons learned from the scheme and help shape Enabel’s service offering in regional institutional coordination.

Your profile

Requested qualifications

• Master's degree.

Required experience

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in institutional dialogue with a regional organisation, a public administration or an international organisation, ideally in the field of regional integration, trade, transport or trade facilitation,
• Previous experience within ECOWAS, working for the organisation or in a West African multilateral context is a key advantage,
• Experience in development cooperation is required.

Required skills and knowledge

• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills, and a proven ability to build trust in a sensitive institutional environment,
• A high degree of autonomy and the ability to work independently at one’s duty station, whilst maintaining close links with a remote team,
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills, and summary capacity,
• A good understanding of how West African regional institutions operate and of the European Union’s funding mechanisms,
• Ability to identify tensions between stakeholders and to propose compromise solutions,
• Results-oriented,
• Knowledge management, knowledge-building and network facilitation,
• Given the programme’s working language and the regional context in which you will be working, a perfect command of English and a good command of French are required.

Specific competences or knowledge considered an asset:

• National of an ECOWAS Member State: a good understanding of regional dynamics and a commitment to the local context of the post are sought,
• knowledge of European funding rules and experience of projects or programmes funded by the European Union, professional experience in the fields of transport corridors, customs, transit or logistics.

Applicants are also required to commit to the vision, mission and values of Enabel (https://www.enabel.be/content/enabel-vision-mission-values).

We offer you

• An interesting and varied job in an international environment.
• A contract under local law for 48 months. You will be based in Abuja (Nigeria) and you will travel regularly to ECOWAS Member States and to Abidjan. An initial induction period with the corridors team in Abidjan is planned before the post is officially taken up in Abuja.
• As Enabel has no presence in Nigeria, a local employer-of-record service provider will be used, who will act as your legal employer in Nigeria. However, you will carry out your duties exclusively for Enabel and will be fully integrated into the programme teams.
• You will be employed as an “Expert”.
• A salary package in accordance with the Enabel (class 6) gross salary.

Following this procedure a recruitment reserve of successful applicants may be constituted which may be sourced in the next three years for similar job openings.

Our vacancies are open to anyone who fulfils the conditions listed in our job offers. Enabel is committed to equal opportunities and diversity in its workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability status or any other factor other than competence.

Are you interested?

Apply here on-line with an application letter and your updated CV, at the latest by 27th Oktober 2026.

Only applications that are registered here via our on-line portal will be considered.