M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: George Nwangwu
Tuesday, April 23, 4:30pm
L-382 (Kahn)
Majority of the proposed solutions for climate finance for Africa has been rooted in the quest for climate justice. The climate justice argument considers that since wealthier countries are responsible for global pollution, they owe a moral duty to provide the continent with funds that are required to sort out the problem. These “climate justice backed funding” as I have termed them, should come in the form of reparations to Africa. Whilst not dismissing the nexus between the pursuit of climate justice and climate finance, this study group session argues that climate justice backed funding should be less prioritised as they have not yielded much results and are becoming rather distracting. It proposes instead that other financing options that do not rely heavily on the mea culpa or the benevolence of rich countries of the global north should be given at least an equal, if not more attention, if Africa is to make progress.
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