Continuing from previous episodes about encouraging global investment in green hydrogen, Patrick Molloy and Alicia Eastman speak with Ignacio de Calonje, Chief Investment Officer, IFC Global Infrastructure. Ignacio breaks down the role of the IFC and its relationship with other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to encourage decarbonization and bespoke solutions for the Global South.

Ignacio de Calonje:

Ignacio de Calonje is the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Global Infrastructure Department. He is based in London, and amongst other responsibilities, co-leads the IFC Global Green Hydrogen Hub team.  IFC established a Green Hydrogen Hub team to bring together IFC expertise across the low carbon value chain and evaluate opportunities in the area.

In addition to this role, Ignacio also leads the IFC Sustainable Finance practice in the infrastructure space, focusing on supporting IFC clients to issue green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked financial instruments. He is also responsible for managing a number of key IFC Western European clients in the energy and mining sectors. Prior to his posting in London, Ignacio was based in Istanbul, Cairo, and Washington DC. Ignacio has extensive experience in the field of international finance, having worked on numerous equity and debt investments in emerging markets. Ignacio was also a non-Executive Director of Alcazar Energy (a renewable energy company with 400 MW of solar and wind assets in operation in Egypt and Jordan) from 2019 to 2021 and non-Executive Director of Kuwait Energy (an oil & gas company with operations in Iraq, Egypt and Oman) from 2017 to 2019.

Ignacio holds a BSc in Business Administration from Universidad San Pablo-CEU (Madrid) and a Masters Degree from Columbia University (New York).

IFC:

A member of the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. IFC advances economic development and improves the lives of people by encouraging the growth of the private sector in developing countries. IFC aims to achieve this by creating new markets, mobilizing other investors, and sharing expertise. In doing so, they create jobs and raise living standards, especially for the poor and vulnerable. Their work supports the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

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Links:

IFC - https://www.ifc.org

IFC Hydrogen Project in Barbados -

https://pressroom.ifc.org/all/pages/PressDetail.aspx?ID=27193