The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has named Kalim Shah as its Senior Country Manager for Nigeria, with the goal of assisting the country’s private sector in achieving long-term, inclusive growth.
Shah will head IFC’s efforts to improve Nigeria’s economy, generate jobs and opportunities, and support the country’s private sector as it recovers from the consequences of COVID-19 in his new position.
Kalim Shah, a Trinidadian national, joined IFC in 1998 after working in commercial banking in both his native country and Canada.
Shah has extensive investment expertise with IFC, mostly in the Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services sectors, as well as in a variety of regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa.
He has a long history of supporting African development, having led IFC’s manufacturing investment transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa for the previous nine years, first focusing on the chemicals and fertilizers industry.
Shah was most recently the IFC’s Chief Investment Officer for Africa’s Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Services section. Shah will be located in Lagos as Senior Country Manager for Nigeria.
“I am looking forward to this great opportunity and working with partners to boost Nigeria’s private sector, which is one of Africa’s most active and exciting,” Shah said.
“Because of COVID-19, Nigeria and Africa as a whole are at a critical juncture, and the economic decisions made today will have long-term consequences. My primary focus will be on ensuring that the private sector is at the forefront of Nigeria’s recovery and serves as a driving force for job creation and poverty reduction.” Shah added.
In Nigeria, the IFC is focusing on growing the country’s digital economy, bridging the infrastructural gap, encouraging entrepreneurship, and increasing access to capital for small firms and women entrepreneurs.
Throughout the COVID-19 epidemic, IFC has lent up to $200 million from its COVID-19 fast-track global financing facility to numerous Nigerian financial institutions to help them expand lending to small enterprises, which are the country’s economic backbone.
“IFC has a strong presence in Nigeria, with active portfolios in healthcare, manufacturing, agribusiness, financial services, infrastructure, and technology. We’re building on these solid foundations, and Kalim’s track record of transformational project leadership will serve him well in his new post in Nigeria “Kevin Njiraini, IFC’s Regional Director for Southern Africa and Nigeria, said as much.
Shah takes over from Eme Essien Lore, who stepped down after six years as the IFC’s Country Manager for Nigeria.
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