Leaders in Sustainability
Brian Marshall is the Head of Investment Banking at Standard Bank. He oversees our mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and lending businesses across Africa providing advice, equity and debt capital, as well as structured financing solutions.
Sustainability has become a key part of this work, helping to drive growth in economies on the continent, in a way that focuses on protecting natural resources and securing improved quality of life for communities in which we operate. Tied to this is positive capital, which is needed to develop much-needed infrastructure and growth capital in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Prioritising sustainability-led finance, Marshall and his team drive capital and solutions into areas where they are needed, financing projects and structuring transactions that have a measurable and sustainable impact for our clients and communities.
Marshall’s passion for the just transition to a lower carbon economy, and the role Africa is set to play in this journey, also highlights the importance of sustainability to investment banking, particularly to energy security in Africa. Reliable and efficient energy is essential for economic development, and we play a critical role in providing advisory services and capital to finance renewable energy projects that will have a positive social, environmental, and economic impact on the continent.
An abundance of mineral reserves, such as cobalt and copper, will be pivotal worldwide in this transition. The responsibility will be to channel capital into pan-African projects set to benefit the environment, while meeting social objectives and economic growth.
“We are best-placed to play a major role in managing risk, and leveraging it into local contexts,” says Marshall. “This is reflected in our commitment to mobilise between R250 and R300 billion in sustainable finance in the medium term. In 2022, we were able to mobilise in excess of R50 billion, which was more than double the R20 billion achieved in 2021.”
An extensive footprint across the continent, deep sector coverage, the quality of our products, and the largest balance sheet in Africa provide our unprecedented foundation. Marshall believes in his team’s proven ability to connect and integrate in a way that will make a positive difference to our clients, the prosperity of local communities, and the environment.
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