Name:  Shadrach Iguh

Position: General Counsel

Company: InfraCredit

Sector/Industry: (telecoms, financial, govt, energy etc): Infrastructure Finance

Worked in the current position for (number of years/months): Three Months

Total years as an in-house lawyer: 12 (Twelve) Years                                 

A day in the life: Provide a brief overview of your current role (what you do, how you spend your time etc):            

I am the General Counsel at InfraCredit, an ‘AAA’-rated specialised infrastructure credit guarantee institution, backed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, GuarantCo (a Private Infrastructure Development Group company), KfW Development Bank, InfraCo Africa, and the Africa Finance Corporation to provide local currency credit guarantees and mobilise long term debt financing for infrastructure in Nigeria.

As General Counsel, I oversee the transaction legal (in-house and external services), corporate legal and company secretariat functions at the firm. I am also responsible for managing and mitigating the firm’s exposure to legal, regulatory and reputational risks in conjunction with the Compliance unit, to support InfraCredit in attaining its commercial and strategic business objectives.

A Unique Opportunity…

I joined InfraCredit at its inception in 2017 after several years of working as a banking and finance lawyer at an Investment Bank and a brief stint in private practice. In deciding to join the firm, one of the key attractions was the unique opportunity to shape my role. Before my arrival, there was no internal legal function, and the team was relying entirely on external support. Upon joining, I swiftly got to work preparing the required policies and operating procedures, template legal documentation for projects and capital raising, and supported the team in structuring and executing our first infrastructure financing project for the development of an off-grid independent power generation project to supply electric power to government facilities, hospitals and schools.

Every day is different…

My role at InfraCredit is dynamic. The sheer breadth and variety of responsibilities it offers are truly remarkable. One moment I could be advising on a debt or equity capital raising transaction or reviewing an EPC contract or financing documentation for a proposed project and, shortly after, I could be giving a view on whether underwriting a particular project might be in breach of an agreement with a capital provider or sanctions.

Nowhere to hide…

Perhaps, the most stunning aspect of my job, is that I am surrounded by my ‘clients’ every single day. Being visible, available, and accessible is critical to the success of my role and the open plan design of our office means that I am frequently pulled into brainstorming sessions, can hear the team’s priorities and concerns in real-time, and field queries as and when they arise and support the team from a legal perspective. Our IPIC – Integrity, Passion, Innovation and Collaboration core value system means that there is almost always an innovative product or idea being developed or improved upon by our multi-disciplinary teams at every point in time. Because we run a lean team unburdened by layers of bureaucracy, my clients need to and can make decisions quickly and swiftly implement them. If I do not implement processes and systems that allow my team and I to move with similar velocity, we will not be able to support our clients efficiently, and “queues” will build up.

Learning never stops…

Although I have been at InfraCredit for five years, I have only recently assumed the role of General Counsel and become part of the Executive Management Committee. While I am very well-versed in the business and the market, the view from upstairs is different. I now must pay extra attention to processes, systems, budgets, learning and development, staffing, compensation and a million other things. I also must spend time thinking about how to define and shape the General Counsel role given that I am the firm’s pioneer GC.

Variety is the spice …

There are so many aspects to my role as GC; legal drafting; creating template documentation, developing standard operating procedures; advising on the terms of commercial agreements; advising on capital raising transactions, supporting deal structuring, designing systems and processes, and providing capacity building for the team and its clients. The best part, I see the business from virtually all angles. I sit in the weekly Deal Origination and Structuring peer review meetings – this allows me to grow my understanding of the various sectors we support, and understand the challenges faced by our core business at a granular level, and with the benefit of my origination and structuring experience, assist the team from a legal, finance, and structuring perspective. I am also part of our monthly Executive Management Committee meetings and participate in making decisions to drive the success of the business and create value for all our stakeholders. I find this variety quite exciting, and it presents a unique opportunity to have a 360-degree view of the business and support its success in a meaningful way!

The move to General Counsel represents a new and exciting chapter in my career and I feel incredibly privileged to have joined the InfraCredit team at inception and to have been part of its incredibly fascinating journey so far.

The best thing about my current job is:       

One of the best things about my job is the wide array of people, transactions, and activities I get the opportunity to support. It is a very dynamic role and allows me to meaningfully support our core business, work at the heart of our business operations, and help in shaping different aspects of the business.

The most challenging thing about my current job is:

I would say that the most challenging thing about my role is building and creating an environment where all members of the team can be at their natural best, find an alignment between their future goals and aspirations and those of the business, and readily meet the changing needs of the institution.

Most pivotal career decision:

In 2020, I transitioned from the Legal Department to our Deal Origination and Structuring department. As Senior Transactor, I had the opportunity to lead three infrastructure financing transactions (in the telecommunications, energy, and gas sectors) to financial close, managing all aspects of the deal structuring and execution process. The experience was truly remarkable. It expanded my technical knowledge and experience in infrastructure financing transactions from a core finance perspective, strengthened my ability to mobilise resources required to deliver infrastructure projects, and enhanced my financial analysis, credit analysis, deal structuring, business writing, and stakeholder management skills, managing sponsors, lenders, borrowers, regulators, clients, capital market operators, government agencies and so on to get the deals across the line. This direct practical knowledge of our core business has allowed me to intimately appreciate the issues, challenges and risks we face on projects and provide meaningful tailored solutions to the legal aspects.

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had to face in your in-house career journey is:

I would say that my biggest challenge so far was building a legal department literally from scratch when I joined InfraCredit in 2017. Putting the relevant policies and operating procedures in place, developing template documents for our operations, and support our CEO on capital raising transactions, all while working as the transactional legal counsel on our first few financing projects was, let’s say, demanding. 18-to-20-hour days, every day was the norm, but our resilience got the job done.

What advice would I give my younger self?

Key influencers that have shaped my journey:

There are too many to list, but I’ll mention my CEO, Chinua Azubike, my former boss, Sonnie Ayere (Chairman, DLM Capital Group), my friends Desmond Ogba (partner at Templars) and Tina Blazquez-Lopez (Energy & Infrastructure Head, Middle East & Africa at Simmons & Simmons LLP). I am a big fan of Samallie Kiyingi, Director of Legal Affairs at the African Export–Import Bank, she has significantly influenced and inspired me from a distance.

One cool thing I’ve observed in the legal industry recently?

There has been a massive change in the mobility of labour in the market for legal services over the last few years. This has forced firms that want to attract and retain the best talent to carefully consider their people strategy, especially their culture and how they reward their lawyers. This is great for all concerned!

Favourite pro bono/ volunteer or charitable activity:

I enjoy mentoring junior lawyers.

If I were not practising law, I would probably be: 

If I was not a lawyer, I would most likely be an entrepreneur, conceiving, designing, building, and implementing ideas and products. I deeply enjoy solving problems.

What (singular) achievement are you most proud of?       

I have been very fortunate and blessed with many opportunities, for which I’m grateful. To have been able to transition into a finance role successfully, exceed expectations, and close projects that have boosted access to telecommunications, created jobs, and improved access to clean electric power supply and clean cooking, in less than two years, brings me great joy. To have received a Distinction for my MSc Finance & Financial Law degree at the University of London (SOAS) against all odds was special. I was also fortunate to have been selected for an International Lawyers for Africa-funded secondment to Norton Rose Fulbright LLP in London and had the opportunity to build many wonderful relationships.

Something you love doing that but you’re not that great at?

I love bowling, but for some reason, my name always shows up at the bottom of the leaderboard when I go with friends and colleagues. Someone needs to investigate that.

Something you dislike doing that you’re pretty good at?

I would say, organising events.

In 5 years time I’d love to be:

In five years, I would love to be leading or supporting a socially conscious purpose-driven institution working to fix infrastructure deficits, end extreme poverty, foster inclusive growth, and share prosperity for communities in dire need.