Teju Abimbola: Scaling up sustainable infrastructure to boost Africa’s climate resilience

Teju Abimbola works on Infrastructure at IFC, and recently assumed the role of the Africa Climate Lead. Her IFC career spans the globe and a range of infrastructure sectors. After stints in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Washington, D.C. she is now preparing for her move to Rabat, Morocco. She recently took the time to talk with us about the transformational impact of green infrastructure, Africa’s promise, and the powerful pull of home.  

Tell us a bit about your background and professional journey. 

I grew up in Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State in Nigeria. Both my parents worked at the University of Ilorin and so the focus was always on education. My father was a professor and my mother was an accountant. I followed my mum’s path to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting. I became a chartered accountant and after a stint at Oando, I joined PwC in Lagos. It’s where I learned to look at the big picture and began to understand how the macro environment affects the private sector. I saw how government policies affected our clients’ operations and how they shaped the different sectors of the economy and, as a result, the country’s development overall. I also saw the power of private capital in driving progress, especially in filling infrastructure gaps. That’s when I became interested in sustainable infrastructure as a sector.

What led you to IFC?

After a few years at PwC, I moved to the Boston area in the U.S. for my MBA at MIT. At MIT, I was exposed to a remarkable universe of people—students, faculty, and alumni—who were doing amazing things all over the world. I left MIT believing that almost nothing was impossible. I also left with a new conviction that many complex development challenges could be addressed with the right solutions. I committed to a career that I believed would be at the forefront of finding these right solutions.

I joined IFC in 2012, and I am proud that our infrastructure projects and our clients are having a positive development impact. Large-scale infrastructure projects can be truly transformational. I’ve witnessed firsthand how infrastructure creates a platform for inclusive, sustainable growth. If you fix the infrastructure, you can fix a lot: businesses become more productive, and this has a ripple effect. More importantly, you give people access to economic opportunities.

But the issue with developing infrastructure projects is that they are often too expensive, too complicated, and involve too many stakeholders for public resources alone. For emerging markets, the lack of capital and limited project finance capacity carries huge challenges. This makes it difficult to solve infrastructure problems and create markets that will lead to a path of shared prosperity.

It sounds like infrastructure is personal for you.

When you are from a developing country like I am, it is personal. As a young professional living in Lagos, like everyone, I had a backup generator, because you never knew when the power would go out. I had what we called a “starter” generator, which had enough power to switch on the lights, my laptop, and the refrigerator, but not enough to run the air conditioning. It was one of the many day-to-day inconveniences we all faced. Of course, we would come up with practical workarounds. But these challenges sometimes become insurmountable when they affect everything from education and healthcare to productivity and the ability of small businesses to thrive.

The infrastructure divides stand in the way of the inclusive, sustainable development that could lift up an entire continent. That’s why IFC’s role in mobilizing private sector investments, especially to address the challenge of climate change, is so critical.

What are some examples of how IFC is addressing these challenges through green and sustainable infra investments?

Oh wow, so many. One that immediately comes to mind is IFC’s engagement in Africa’s power sector. On the heels of COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, for instance, we finalized two important renewable energy deals with AMEA Power, which will give 1 million people living in Egypt access to clean energy, reduce Egypt’s carbon footprint by more than 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, and significantly lower generation costs.

And distributed generation, through IFC’s Scaling Mini-Grid systems initiative, is another way IFC is tackling the challenge. One of my first projects in Asia was an investment in Sunergise International Limited, which we closed in 2014, and which brought clean, reliable, and affordable solar energy to the Pacific Islands. These are places where electricity is expensive, limited, and mostly dependent on imported fossil fuels. The project was a strong  example of what we could do with solar power: democratizing the grid, lighting up homes and businesses—some for the first time—, and directly displacing backup diesel generators. It also demonstrated IFC’s market-leading stance with innovative business models like distributed energy. And today, we continue to expand the scaling infra space.

As Africa Climate Lead, where do you see the opportunities? 

Given Africa’s abundant renewable resources, and because so many people remain unconnected to the grid, there’s huge potential in solar and wind power, and for developing green hydrogen. Africa is leapfrogging with these technologies. The exciting thing is that sponsors are equally engaged.

To mitigate the impact of climate change, we need to take every opportunity to build more adaptive and resilient infrastructure, such as in green mobility and logistics. Another example is in the waste management sector, where circularity solutions are improving sanitation and reducing methane emissions, as one of IFC’s clients, Averda International, is doing throughout the region. We can also support our clients in implementing sector-specific decarbonization strategies. I am so thrilled to participate in Africa’s development, which holds so much promise. I’ve loved all my IFC postings, but Africa is my home.

You have a big move ahead for your new role, what do you do to unplug and relax?

Ha! Good question. There’s little time to relax these days. I’m married with twin boys and a girl, so spreadsheets come in handy when it comes to balancing everything! Recently, we were all about the World Cup and rooting for the incredibly resilient Moroccan team! In fact, I was in Rabat and joined the crowds to dance in the streets after their wins against Spain and Portugal. What an experience! With this move, I’m looking forward to showing my kids more of Africa.