'THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE

WE MEET AFRICA'S LARGEST LENDER IN ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DYNAMIC FINANCIAL MARKETS. IN DUBAI IN JUNE, WE SPEAK WITH THE JOHANNESBURGBASED KENNY FIHLA, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CORPORATE AND INVESTMENT BANKING AT STANDARD BANK, A 160-YEAR-OLD INSTITUTION WITH A FOOTPRINT COVERING 20 AFRICAN COUNTRIES.

Kenny Fihla, the Chief Executive of Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Bank, talks about renewable energy, sustainability-linked financing solutions, impacting emerging markets, and the lessons that can be replicated across the continent.

More in this insightful interview with the man who started his career in the trade union movement in the 1980s in South Africa, and has been with the bank for over 18 years.

Q. In your role at Standard Bank, you have spearheaded several transformative initiatives, and have a passion for climate change and are also involved in leading renewable energy projects. With its energy deficit and energy poverty that makes Africa vulnerable, you've been scaling up these initiatives. Can you tell us what you have planned?

A. The demand for energy transition in Africa is huge. It is estimated that Africa will need about $1.2 trillion worth of investment to enable, firstly, energy security and, secondly, the transition away from fossil fuels into more sustainable energy. That's a lot of money, and that amount is not readily available within the African continent, which requires then partnerships with other investors and pools of capital from outside of the continent. From a Standard Bank point of view, we have committed to originating and raising, and we'll also put our own money - anything between ZAR250 billion to ZAR300 billion ($13.6 billion to $16.4 billion) - in the space of five years. We are already 40% of the way there, but there's still a lot of work to be done. That's just one institution, and given the total amount of money required, it is just not enough. We need the partnerships of a range of financial institutions to enable Africa to have energy security and transition.