Finance Expert Ridwan Abdulsalam on Rethinking the Global Infrastructure Future – February 2025

When finance expert Ridwan Abdulsalam looks at infrastructure, he doesn’t see concrete or cables, he sees systems that hold societies together. Reflecting through this in a conversation with Ridwan Abdulsalam, the trajectory with infrastructure and growth has not been as progressive as it should – he says. It shows how the world perceives its own growth. In communicating, his voice carried both optimism and caution, shaped by years navigating the financial foundations of governments, corporations, and communities across continents.

His career traces a deliberate path through the mechanics of development finance. In Nigeria’s public sector, he worked on the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), a reform project that digitized how ministries managed and reported public funds. The system streamlined spending, strengthened accountability, and built fiscal transparency often missing from developing economies. “That experience convinces me that digital infrastructure is as vital as physical infrastructure,” he reflects. “If governance isn’t wired efficiently, no road or bridge will carry its full weight.”

At Dangote Industries Limited, Ridwan transitioned into corporate finance, helping structure capital for projects that span Nigeria’s industrial core, from cement operations to refinery expansions. His team supports multi-instrument bond programmes and investment strategies that channel private capital into public value. “Corporate finance is a kind of architecture,” he says. “You’re not just raising money, you are building trust between investors, markets, and the communities that benefit downstream.”

His next move, at Hamilton Health Box in Texas, brings a shift in both scale and philosophy. There, he helps raise financing for micro-clinics targeting healthcare deserts in the U.S., a model designed to prove that accessibility can be both scalable and sustainable. “It reminds me that not every infrastructure solution needs to be massive,” he notes. “Sometimes, the smallest structures, if well-financed, deliver the deepest social returns.”

Now at NextEra Energy, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, Ridwan focuses on financing energy transitions: solar farms, wind projects, and hybrid systems that cut emissions while reinforcing grid resilience. His work highlights how capital markets are evolving to meet the climate imperative. “Energy is the new infrastructure frontier,” he says. “The next decade will be defined not by how much we build, but by how intelligently we fund what’s built.”

Asked what the global community can take from these experiences, Ridwan’s response is as analytical as it is reflective. “Global infrastructure financing has too often been reactive, crisis-driven rather than coordinated,” he argues. “We must move from patchwork investment to a long-horizon strategy, where sustainability metrics and financial design converge. Capital must reward resilience, not just completion.”

He adds, “Infrastructure planning should integrate financial foresight at the blueprint stage. If financing models account for environmental, social, and governance outcomes early, we’ll see infrastructure that not only stands the test of time but also adapts to it.”

Across sectors and borders, Ridwan’s message holds steady: the world’s next infrastructure revolution will be financial before it is physical. His conviction is that development, when properly financed, becomes not an act of construction, but an act of continuity.