Deconstructing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): How can we start applying these principles to the African market?

Tariye Gbadegesin is an investment professional with 20 years of experience in the financial services sector and over US$ 3 billion of transaction experience.

She is the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of ARM Harith Infrastructure Fund Managers (ARMHIIL); a Joint Venture between Asset & Resource Management Company Ltd (ARM) , a Nigerian institutional investor with US$2.3 billion of assets under management and Harith General Partners (Pty) Ltd (Harith), a South African infrastructure fund manager with over US$1 billion under management.

Tariye is a member of the Advisory Council of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington D.C. She is part of The United Nations Development Program Working Group for Insurance-based Financial Instruments to support Climate Finance as well as the The Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance.

She was on the founding team to establish the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a pan African DFI with US$ 6 billion under management where she led several of AFC’s investments in the sectors of power, transport, industrials, and telecommunications infrastructure. Tariye was the head of the Industrial and Telecommunications Business at AFC, building the business into an US$ 800 million allocator of capital across Africa for the sector.

Tariye has global experience from working at the International Monetary Fund, Boston Consulting Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Amherst College, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Chinua is the Chief Executive Officer of InfraCredit, the first 'AAA' rated specialised local currency infrastructure credit enhancement facility in Nigeria. He has garnered over 15 years experience in corporate/structured finance and debt capital market roles. Chinua has a strong and practical know-how of domestic debt capital markets with a firm interest in market development, and has acted as a lead adviser in the establishment of key development finance institutions in Nigeria. He was the project lead for the establishment of a Nigeria Infrastructure Credit Enhancement Facility (now InfraCredit) and prior to this role, the Managing Director of Dunn Loren Merrifield Advisory Partners, a corporate finance advisory firm. He holds an M.Sc. in Finance & Financial Law from University of London and studied law at the University of Lagos. He is currently the chairperson of the Regulation Consolidation Sub-Committee of FMDQ Debt Capital Market Development Project.

Sergey Dergachev joined Union Investment´s fixed income portfolio management team in April 2008. As Functional Head Emerging Markets Corporate Debt and Senior Portfolio Manager, he is responsible for the emerging markets corporate bonds unit, which he has built up at Union Investment since 2009. In addition to that, Sergey plays a vital role in developing and promoting ESG themes and integration for EM debt portfolios at Union Investment. Prior to joining Union Investment, he worked at Frankfurt Trust from 2006 till 2008, as portfolio manager managing emerging markets fixed income debt portfolios (sovereign and corporate debt).

Sergey studied international business administration at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, as well as at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Rouen and the University of Westminster in London. In addition to that, Sergey is a certified chartered financial analyst (CFA), financial risk manager (FRM) and chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA). He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Durham.

I am passionate about sustainable development in general and about developing pragmatic and impactful strategies for Africa’s just transition to a low carbon economy in response to the climate emergency.

As a Development Economist, I have dedicated my career to the provision of strategic advisory services in the development space. I have worked with local and international clients across the public and private sector on the design and implementation of strategies aimed at achieving large-scale developmental impact. My work includes a special focus on the identification of innovative finance mechanisms for generating financial return and impact, specifically with reference to integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment processes i.e. responsible investment.

In recent years, my focus has been on identifying and addressing the needs of African investors with respect to integrating ESG into investment processes in an effort to foster the maximisation of long-term sustainable financial returns across the continent. I have specialised in the initiation and management of key stakeholder relationships and partnerships across the region, including those with investors as well as with policymakers and regulators, academic institutions and mission driven organisations.

My work has included the design and roll-out of initiatives to build capacity amongst investors and other organisations on ESG integration and responsible investment approaches – specifically, developing content for and then facilitating workshops, webinars and online learning tools.

I currently sit on a number of committees and working groups where I provide insight on international trends and developments with respect to responsible investment and represent the needs of African investors in this regard. These include:

• The Lewis Foundation Climate Risk Analytics for Sustainable Investment Advisory Committee
• South Africa-UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (South Africa-UK PACT) Programme Advisory Group
• The Transparency Taskforce

Arvana has over 10 years of investment banking experience and holds an in depth understanding of credit risk, capital markets and sustainability finance principles. Arvana formulated a market leading sustainability framework for Nedbank and structured and issued South Africa’s inaugural green renewable energy bonds and subsequent Tier 2 green capital instruments. The green renewable energy bond instruments were endorsed by international and global investors and achieved the African Banker Energy Deal of the Year Award and the Impact Initiative of the Year Award for Africa from Environmental Finance. Arvana has also led the development of climate related USD loan mechanisms in conjunction with DFIs. She has completed the Sustainability Practitioners Programme with the University of Cambridge, is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Business Science Degree. Arvana is a contributor to the National Sustainable Finance Working Group in South Africa and is leading the sustainable finance solutions business at Nedbank.