M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: George Nwangwu
Monday, April 22, 4:30pm
Ofer-401
In 2009, at COP 15 in Copenhagen, the developed countries committed to mobilize a minimum of $100 billion a year for developing countries to help finance their climate actions. It is instructive to note that 15 years after, this target is yet to be achieved. This is not an isolated case, but symbolic of the many unkept promises on the funding of climate finance for developing countries. If Africa is to meet its net zero commitments, there needs to be much more innovate solutions for meeting the peculiar climate finance challenge of the continent. This study group session considers whether debt for nature swaps, which is the exchange of restructured debt for climate action, could be a viable solution.
This in-person study group / discussion is open only to HUID holders.
M-RCBG welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs. To request accommodations or ask questions about access provided, please email: mrcbg@hks.harvard.edu
George Nwangwu has worked in academia, legal practice, consulting, and entrepreneurship. He is currently an associate professor at Nile University, Abuja, Nigeria, where he teaches energy policy. As a consultant to multilateral institutions, George has been involved with issues in the fields of infrastructure/utilities regulation, infrastructure finance and Public Private Partnerships (“PPPs”). He served as Head of Strategy at the Bureau of Public Enterprises, in the Nigerian Presidency. In this role, he was involved in championing Nigeria’s privatization program and helping reform several ailing public enterprises. He also served as PPP Coordinator and Head of the PPP Division, Federal Ministry of Finance, in Nigeria. He was special adviser to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy on infrastructure finance and PPPs. In this role, George was responsible for rendering strategic advice on alternative financing for some of the country’s most critical infrastructure. To date George has participated in the delivery of more than 100 privatization/ PPP projects worth over USD 20 billion, working on either the side of the public or private sector in Africa. George is also an impact investor, focusing on investments in different infrastructure sectors across Africa. He is one of the co-founders of North South Power, a leading renewable energy company, supplying approximately 8% of Nigeria’s electricity. He is also the founder of Primegate Academy, a group of schools providing education to primary and secondary school students in Abuja, Nigeria. George holds a law degree from the University of Lagos, a Masters in law from the University College London, a PhD in Law from University of Hull, United Kingdom, and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Oxford. George is qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria and England and a member of accounting bodies in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, George will work on energy transitions, focusing on how economic, legal, political, and social constraints affect the journey to carbon neutrality. His faculty sponsor is William Hogan, Raymond Plank Research Professor of Global Energy Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Email: gnwangwu@hks.harvard.edu