Legal Officer at ASA International (Rwanda) Plc

Position title: Legal Officer

Date: 28^th May 2024

Work base: Head Office

Reporting to: Company Secretary and Legal affairs

Expected starting date: Any time

Employment Contract type: Open-ended contract.

About the ASA International (Rwanda) Plc:

ASA International (Rwanda) Plc (subsequently referred to as “ASA Rwanda”) is a for-profit, deposit taking Microfinance Institution licensed by National Bank of Rwanda and incorporated under The Companies Act, No.103495622 in Rwanda in 2014 and started operations in 2016, currently serving small business in 30 branches across the country. ASA Rwanda is a subsidiary of ASA International listed on London Stock Exchange, one of the world’s largest international Microfinance institutions in the world operating in 13 countries in Africa and Asia.

Vision: Reduce poverty by improving the lives of the underprivileged with a key focus on female entrepreneurs.

Mission: We have a strong commitment to financial inclusion and socioeconomic progress.

Objective: Providing Microfinance loans for business purpose to low-income entrepreneurs with an objective of improving financial inclusion and realize socioeconomic progress. Our loans provide an alternative to low income entrepreneurs without access to credit from traditional banks. We provide these loans using the ASA Model.

Function summary

As a financial company and ASA international (Rwanda) plc is mostly engaged to work for the low income people of the country and as long as there is a possibility of financial irregularities in the activities, the company created a department/position to work to prevent any sorts of misappropriation.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Review and draft legal documents i.e Contracts, MoUs, etc in which the company is partnering in with other stakeholders;
• Prepare monthly litigation reports and country legal updates in line with Company’s business,
• Follow up and update Head Legal on issuance of last notices to Bad Debt clients.
• Ensure that notarized Loan Contracts are kept well in archives at Head Office in Legal Department;
• Prepare and submit arrest warrant requests to judicial organs in case of need in matters related to Criminal, Civil, Commercial, Labor and Administration
• Collateral/Mortgage registration in E-Portal of RDB;
• De-register clients collateral after clients’ loan clearance is received;
• Follow-up all pending and on-going cases in the company and report to Head Legal;
• Liaison with External Advocate and Court Bailiff to ensure that cases are fully tried and executed;
• Archiving of all Legal Department reports and minutes in Cabinets to ensure that are kept well and can be retrieved in case of their need.
• Advise on regulatory compliance of the company all BNR Regulations and other national laws in line with company’s business;
• Attends to all the administration work of the Department (not limited to preparation of reports required from the Department, maintaining Departmental dashboards, maintaining Departmental records, filing, diarizing meetings);
• Assists as is directed with all administration duties of the Office of Company Secretariat (not limited to preparation of Board packs);
• Assists Company Secretary and Legal affairs to ensure effective and efficient management of the in-country legal risk as from time to time regulatory requirements & compliance;
• Conducts any primary legal research required for purposes of preparing legal opinions;
• Receives all mail that is sent to the Legal Department, brings it to the attention of the Company Secretary and Legal affairs;
• Tracks and records all work in progress / deadlines / responsibilities / projects of the Legal Department.
• This involves preparing and maintaining trackers for any work as is directed;
• Keeps and maintains a register of all contracts that the company is party to. This specifically excludes contracts for credit facilities with the Company customers;
• Keeps and maintains a register of all litigation instructions handled to external legal panel firms;
• Assists to review and provide legal advice on tender documents and procurement processes;
• Assists to provide training and support to the business on relevant legal risks management aspects, as is appropriate; and, ensure an up to date and relevant knowledge of principal areas of the law and practice in all commercial law areas relevant to the business needs of the company.
• Doing any other work that may be assigned to you by your immediate supervisor;

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law (LLB) in recognized University;
• Having Diploma in Legal Practice (DLP) will be an added advantage.

Requirements – Skills, Knowledge, Abilities – on legal officer

• Being Rwandan by nationality;
• 2 years of proven working experience in Banks/ MFIs/ Law Firms in Legal Services.
• In-depth understanding of local regulations relevant to our industry.
• Efficient understanding and use of IECMs & RDB E-Mortgage Portal.
• High attention to detail.
• Sound judgement and decision-making strength.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Ability to prepare complex legal documents.
• High level of professional ethics and integrity.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proficiency in MS Office including Excel and Power Point.
• Age between 21 and 35years’ old.

Salary & Benefits:

• Competitive Salary
• In-house Medical Insurance covering him/her and legal dependents as company policy
• Communication allowances as per company policy
• Monitoring allowance as per company policy
• Annual Salary Increment as per company policy
• Festival Allowance as per company policy

Application process

Cover Letter included the candidate’s expected salary; Detailed CV; copy of Degree; Work certificates from previous employers; any other document that may prove a candidate’s competency to the post; Copy of ID Card.

Applications should be addressed to the Managing Director of ASA International (RWANDA) Plc located in KIGALI City, GASABO District, Plot No. – 95, NTORA Village, KG 784 St. RUHANGO Cell, Gisozi Sector, Kigali, Rwanda

Online Application to be sent to asarecruitment@asarwanda.rw with subject line mentioning legal Officer. Submission of Application should be before 7^th June 2024 at 5:00 PM. Please note that only candidates with the needed qualifications and relevant experience will be shortlisted. If you do not hear from us in 2 weeks after the deadline, know that you are not meeting our requirements.

ASA International aims to attract and select a diverse workforce, ensuring equal opportunity to everyone, irrespective of race, age, gender, class, ethnicity, disability, location, and religion. Qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Done at Kigali on 28^nd May 2024

Signed and approved by:

Md. Jamilur Rahman Chowdhury

Managing Director,

ASA International (Rwanda) Plc