Nana Skari Maidugu has been named Personality of the year in Environmental Finance's Sustainable Investment Awards, for her role in embedding sustainability at the heart of one of Africa's most influential sovereign wealth funds.

As the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority's (NSIA) first head of sustainability and ESG, Maidugu has built the institution's ESG function from its inception.

She developed its Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS), which integrates globally recognised standards including the IFC Performance Standards, 2X criteria, UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This framework now governs ESG integration & risk assessment, impact measurement, and disclosure across NSIA's $2.8 billion core portfolio.

In 2023, under her leadership, NSIA published its first Impact Report, followed by its inaugural Sustainability Report in 2024 — both landmark achievements for sovereign wealth funds in Africa. The reports offered measurable ESG and impact outcomes and set a new regional benchmark for transparency and impact.

One Sustainable Investment Awards judge praised Maidugu's "leadership and positive impact within national policies and programmes and advocacy across many market players".

For example, she helped launch the Green Guarantee Company (GGC) – the world's first climate-focused guarantee institution, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, and USAID – aimed at mobilising private capital for green projects in emerging markets.

With a background in energy and infrastructure, Maidugu gained a Master's Degree in International Oil and Gas Management before returning to Nigeria to work at KPMG, advising on public and private sector strategy and policy development.

She then joined NSIA, where she was initially focused on infrastructure investment in motorways and agriculture, but after she identified the absence of a formal ESG framework, she took the lead in developing one.

"We had always considered environmental and social factors," she says. "But there was no formal structure around it. When it became clear we needed to institutionalise ESG and make it a full-fledged function within the authority, I naturally progressed into the role."

Drawing on her background in infrastructure investment, Maidugu developed NSIA's ESG strategy, making sustainable investments a core pillar and establishing climate and sustainability as a thematic investment area within the Authority's infrastructure-focused fund.

NSIA has since launched several climate-focused initiatives, including RIPLE — a renewable energy platform expanding access and energy efficiency in Nigeria — and Carbon Vista, co-founded with Vitol to develop carbon credit-generating projects that create jobs and protect biodiversity.

Additionally, Maidugu co-designed the Climate Finance Warehouse Facility (CFWF) with InfraCredit, creating a financing path for climate infrastructure projects to access green bond markets.

Today, she says NSIA's ESG and sustainability priorities are rooted in the NSIA mandate to secure savings for future generations, provide fiscal stabilisation, and invest in critical infrastructure.

"That's why our approach is not just ESG: it's ESG and sustainability as a whole. We are thinking long term. How can we build a savings base for the future if we are not able to preserve the future itself and be a responsible investor ourselves?

"In response to the risks posed by climate change and the need for socioeconomic growth in Nigeria and across Africa, we have developed our ESG strategy to mitigate those risks while leveraging opportunities within that space; prioritising climate resilience, social impact, strong governance, and transparency."

Developing this strategy meant embedding ESG across all operations and investment value chain, a major change for colleagues and stakeholders after a decade of established processes, she adds.

Challenges remain around ESG data availability across Africa, she adds. NSIA is working with regulators, industry peers, and technology partners to close these gaps.

An added challenge is balancing sustainability ambitions with the region's development needs.

"African nations are still working to meet basic needs, like electricity access," she notes. "High-level stakeholders understandably want to leverage abundant natural resources to meet those needs. However, through a just transition, we believe we can meet our climate goals without compromising development priorities.

"We've had to strike that balance, as a signatory of the Paris Agreement, versus our national priorities. We do that by demonstrating that ESG can unlock new asset classes, drive development and job creation, and deliver both commercial and social returns."

Also winning the award for Sovereign wealth fund of the year, NSIA reports it has grown its assets under management from $1 billion to $3.6 billion, including external assets it manages, since its inception in 2011.

Through initiatives such as its national healthcare expansion programme, the Green Guarantee Company, InfraCredit, and investments in strategic funds, NSIA reports it has mobilised over $1.8 billion in additional capital (including guarantees) and catalysed more than 120 impact-driven projects.

It has also become a regional leader for all things ESG, claims Maidugu: "In just three years, we have mainstreamed ESG within our organisation, across our investment portfolio, and become a strong voice for all things ESG or sustainability within the country and across the continent".

For example, Maidugu represents NSIA on the intergovernmental committee on the Nigeria Carbon Market Activation Plan (NCMAP), ensuring that the sovereign wealth fund supports the development of a robust and effective carbon market framework for the country.

NSIA now ranks joint-first globally on the Global SWF Governance, Sustainability and Resilience Index and joint-second on the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index.

Looking ahead, Maidugu says NSIA will "keep mobilising climate finance capital at scale," and "continue placing African institutions at the forefront of the global sustainability agenda."