From Risk to Reward: Accelerating Business Engagement Globally in Pursuit of the SDGs
Thursday, October 6, 2016 | 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM (EDT) | IFC Auditorium
Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require up to $4 trillion in additional investment per year in developing countries. The global financial system is essential to bridging this deficit but it must adopt long-term, sustainable objectives to succeed. Panelists from the Business and Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC)—a group of 34 CEOs and senior policymakers—discussed this shift and their goal of placing the SDGs at the heart of business. Follow the conversation: #InvestSDGs
Panelists:
Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Chair, Business and Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC): Mr. Malloch-Brown is the former Deputy-Secretary General of the UN as well as a previous Administrator of UNDP. He has also served in the British Cabinet and Foreign Office. He is active both in business and in the non-profit world. He remains deeply involved in international affairs.
Amy Jadesimi, Managing Director, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base: Dr. Jadesimi received her first degree from Oxford University, where she earned a BA in Physiological Sciences. She then attended Oxford University Medical School, from which she graduated as a medical doctor. After Oxford, Dr. Jadesimi joined Goldman Sachs International in London as part of the Investment Banking Division, specializing in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. She then attended Stanford Business School, from which she earned her MBA in Business Administration. While at Stanford, Amy completed an internship with Brait Private Equity in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she worked as a transaction executive in Private Equity. After graduating from business school, Amy moved to Nigeria where she set up a financial consultancy firm before joining the Management Team of LiLe as Managing Director.
Helen Hai, Chief Executive Officer, Made in Africa Initiative: Ms. Hai is Chief Executive Officer of the Made in Africa Initiative, which advises the governments of Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Senegal for industrialization and investment promotion. She is also UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador for industrialization in Africa and Co-Founder of C&H Garments, a pioneer Pan-African export-oriented garments manufacturer. Ms. Hai trained as an actuary in the United Kingdom and has 15 years of international experience in FTSE100 companies. In 2015 she was named Global Young Leader by the World Economic Forum and received the African Business Icon Award.
Hendrik du Toit, Chief Executive Officer, Investec Asset Management: Mr. Toit is Chief Executive Officer and founder of Investec Asset Management, and a director of Investec plc and Investec Ltd. Under his stewardship, Investec Asset Management has grown from a small South African start-up in 1991 to an international asset management firm entrusted with over $110 billion of client assets.
Gavin Wilson, Chief Executive Officer, IFC Asset Management Company: Mr. Wilson has been Chief Executive Officer of IFC Asset Management Company since its founding in 2009. He chairs IFC AMC’s Investment Committees and is responsible for its overall strategy and operations. Prior to joining IFC AMC he was a Managing Director with Goldman Sachs in London and worked at McKinsey & Company, the World Bank, IFC, and the Bank of England.
Moderator:
Jane Nelson, Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University: Ms. Nelson is Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She was a director and senior adviser at the International Business Leaders Forum from 1993 to 2012, and has been a senior associate with the Institute for Sustainability Leadership at Cambridge University. In 2001, she worked with the U.N. Global Compact in the office of the U.N. Secretary-General preparing a report for the General Assembly on cooperation between the U.N. and the private sector. Prior to 1993, Ms. Nelson worked for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in Africa, for FUNDES in Latin America, and as a vice president at Citibank working for the bank's Financial Institutions Group in Asia and Europe.
