Tariye Gbadegesin, managing director/chief investment officer of ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investments Limited, has recently been appointed to both the United Nations PRI Advisory Committee, and the United Nations Technical Working Group on Finance and Investment. These prestigious high-level appointments provide the opportunity for Gbadegesin to contribute African perspectives on the international stage, whilst demonstrating ARM-Harith’s long-term commitment to the global framework for responsible investing in infrastructure.
The PRI, the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment, is a United Nations-supported network of investors, working to promote sustainable investment through the incorporation of its six aspirational principles. These principles are built on the belief that to achieve a sustainable global financial system, there must be a fostering of good governance, integrity, and accountability, with a focus on environmental and social governance. Ms. Gbadegesin joins these efforts as part of an international 15-member Infrastructure Advisory Committee.
In addition, Gbadegesin has been appointed to the United National Technical Working Group on Finance & Investment, with High-Level Dialogue on Energy. This 21-member team comprising senior executives from the global energy sector, has a mandate to focus on how public and private finance and investment can be mobilized and leveraged to achieve the 2025 Milestones, SDG7, and carbon neutrality. It also takes into consideration enabling mechanisms such as the fiscal response to Covid-19, fossil fuel subsidy reform; green investment regulation; and risk management and insurance.
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These international appointments mark significant milestones in ARM-Harith’s evolution, since the fund launched in 2013. Following equity investments in large-scale power generation assets, in 2020, the fund completed the exit and return distribution of its investment in the Azura-Edo Independent Power Project. The fund is currently supporting projects in the ports, hybrid energy, as well as climate conscious urban and industrial infrastructure in West Africa. The appointments also advance the objectives of the ARM Group, to prioritize Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) as a critical underpinning of their strategy going forward.
“It is an honour for me to join both of these important groups at this critical time, as the international community works collaboratively towards delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, whilst simultaneously rebuilding economies in the wake of the impact of the global pandemic,” says Tariye Gbadegesin, “I am personally thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute in this way, whilst representing ARM-Harith, and the African region.”
Under Gbadegesin’s leadership, the ARM-Harith team continues with its mission to build lasting prosperity through pioneering, high-quality infrastructure in West Africa. The fund currently has a robust pipeline of deals in the Ports, Transport & Logistics, and Renewable Energy sectors, in Nigeria, Ghana, and the broader region as it prepares for its next round of fundraising.
