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Sadek Wahba

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Sadek Wahba
Born1965 (age 58–59)[1]
Cairo, Egypt
EducationHarvard University
London School of Economics
American University in Cairo
Occupation(s)Managing Partner, I Squared Capital

Sadek Wahba (born 1965) is an American economist and businessman. He is the founder and managing partner of the Miami-based global infrastructure investment company I Squared Capital.[2] In 2022 he was appointed by President Biden to the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council.[3]

Early life and education

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Wahba is the great-grandson of Egyptian Prime Minister and jurist Youssef Wahba.[4] His grandfather, Mourad Wahba, was a high court judge.

Wahba was born in Cairo and attended the Collège de la Sainte Famille. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University, where his thesis advisors were Gary Chamberlain and Guido Imbens, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.[5] His research at Harvard was on measuring causal inference in social studies.[5] He also holds a M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in economics from the American University in Cairo.

Career

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Wahba began his career as an economist for the World Bank, where he worked on the social dimensions of structural adjustment.[6] He subsequently joined Lehman Brothers, where he worked on structured financing. In 1998, he joined Morgan Stanley, where he started Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and was Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure.[7][8]

In 2012, Wahba formed I Squared Capital, a U.S.-based private equity group that invests in infrastructure projects in the U.S. and in developing economies, particularly China and India. The group manages over $25 billion in assets, including a commitment from the U.S. government's Overseas Private Investment Corporation to invest in Southeast Asia.[9] The firm’s assets are focused in the energy, utilities, transport, digital infrastructure and social sectors in the U.S., Europe and in select high-growth economies including China, India and Latin America. I Squared Capital's portfolio companies employ over 12,000 professionals.[10]

Infrastructure advocacy

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Wahba is known as an advocate for increased investment in infrastructure both to address public needs and as a tool to create sustainable economic growth. He argues that infrastructure investment is capable of stimulating economic growth while also providing tangible benefits to the public and the environment.[11]

He cites the 2021 Texas power crisis as an example of the "crisis" caused by long-term under-investment in domestic infrastructure and neglect. In addition to tax-funded investment, Wahba proposes additional infrastructure investment sources including pension funds, the creation of an infrastructure IRA, overseas capital and the establishment of a public-private infrastructure bank.[12]

Wahba writes frequently about infrastructure issues. His articles advocating greater investment in infrastructure and increased use of private investment include "Can the Private Sector Bring About the 'Greening' of Infrastructure" (Forbes),[13] "US Infra Funding Needs More Than Just a Tax Hike",[14] "The U.S. Needs an Infrastructure Bank That Models the World Bank" (The Hill),[15] "Biden's Billion-Dollar Infrastructure Plan Needs a Dedicated IRA to Pay for It" (Miami Herald),[16] "Pension Funds Can Launch a New Infrastructure Era" (Pensions & Investments),[17] "A Three-Step Action Plan to Save US Infrastructure" (Infrastructure Investor)[18] and "Upgrading our Crumbling Infrastructure Could Recession-Proof Our Nation" (Miami Herald).[19]

Wahba is a published author on economic research, including articles in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, Review of Economics and Statistics as well as other publications and proceedings. One of his publications was selected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as one of its 50 most influential papers in the last 50 years.[20][21][10] His research at Harvard included labor migration and worker remittances as a source of foreign capital to emerging markets.[22]

He has appeared frequently on Bloomberg, CNBC,[23] Nasdaq, Yahoo! Finance,[24] TD Ameritrade[25][26] and Cheddar.

He is a member of the President's Infrastructure Advisory Council.[3]

Awards and honors

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Wahba is a senior fellow at the Development Research Institute of New York University,[27] a member of the board of trustees of the American University in Cairo,[2] a foundation fellow of St Antony's College at the University of Oxford, a former member of the Brookings Foreign Policy Leadership Council, and was part of the expert committee on the World Economic Forum first report on global infrastructure investments.[28] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Global Advisory Council of the Wilson Advisory Center,[29][30] and a member of the board of directors of the Miami Cancer Institute.[31]

In 2019, Wahba became the only person to receive the "Global Personality of the Year" award from Infrastructure Investor magazine twice[32][33] and Global Infrastructure Personality of the Decade by Private Equity International (PEI).[34]

In 2023, the Wilson Center announced the Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition, an initiative intended to support policy reforms that strengthen American leadership.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "I Squared Capital (Uk Parent) Limited - London".
  2. ^ a b "Dr. Sadek Wahba". The American University in Cairo - Dr. Sadek Wahba. The American University in Cairo. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  3. ^ a b House, The White (2022-08-31). "President Biden Announces Appointments to the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council". The White House. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  4. ^ Chronology of Egyptian Council of Ministers Vol. I. Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization. (In Arabic)
  5. ^ a b Sadek, Wahba (1996). Estimation of causal effects in observational studies: Applications to training programs and labor migration decisions (Thesis). OCLC 38840528.
  6. ^ Lucas, Robert E. B. (2005). International Migration and Economic Development: Lessons from Low-income Countries. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781781959169.
  7. ^ LaCapra, Lauren Tara (September 18, 2012). "Exclusive: Morgan Stanley infrastructure fund hit by Volcker rule". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  8. ^ Guerrera, Francesco (May 12, 2008). "Morgan Stanley fund to tap Asian growth". Pearson. Financial Times. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Infrastructure Investor | I Squared Capital Gets Approval for $200 Million Funding". Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  10. ^ a b Wahba, Sadek (2011). "The Future of U.S. Infrastructure: Proposals for Progress". Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. 23 (3): 92–98. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6622.2011.00346.x. S2CID 153753149.
  11. ^ "Massive nationwide initiative can bring jobs, thwart slowdown | Miami Herald". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-05-03.
  12. ^ "Sadek Wahba: US infra funding needs more than just a tax hike". 15 March 2021.
  13. ^ Wahba, Sadek. "Council Post: Can The Private Sector Bring About The 'Greening' Of Infrastructure?". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  14. ^ Writer, Guest (2021-03-15). "Sadek Wahba: US infra funding needs more than just a tax hike". Infrastructure Investor. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  15. ^ "The US needs an infrastructure bank that models the World Bank". The Hill. 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  16. ^ "Biden's Infrastructure Bill Needs..." The Miami Herald.
  17. ^ "Commentary: Pension funds can launch a new infrastructure era". Pensions & Investments. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  18. ^ Writer, Guest (2020-09-10). "A three-step action plan to save US infra". Infrastructure Investor. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  19. ^ "Upgrading our crumbling infrastructure could recession-proof the nation". Miami Herald.
  20. ^ "50 Influential Journal Articles". MIT Press Journals. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  21. ^ Sadek Wahba (January 24, 2011). "WAHBA: The state of the union's roads, rails, bridges". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  22. ^ Lucas, Robert E. B. (2005). International Migration and Economic Development: Lessons from Low-income Countries. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781781959169.
  23. ^ "Think tank says Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure program will 'revive' American productivity". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  24. ^ "Biden's infrastructure bill should be much more than $1.7 trillion: I Squared Capital Founder". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  25. ^ "Economic Impact Of Geopolitical Tensions: Rising Costs". TD Ameritrade Network. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  26. ^ "U.S. & China: Removing Trade Barriers Helps Global Economy". TD Ameritrade Network. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  27. ^ "Sadek Wahba".
  28. ^ "Paving the Way: Maximizing the Value of Private Finance in Infrastructure". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
  29. ^ Center, Wilson. "Global Advisory Council: Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  31. ^ "Dr Sadek Wahba | St Antony's College". www.sant.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  32. ^ "Infrastructure Investor" (PDF). Infrastructure Investor. The roll of honour. March 4, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  33. ^ "Awards 2018: Global winners". www.infrastructureinvestor.com. March 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  34. ^ Staff, P. E. I. (2019-09-11). "And the Decade Awards go to..." Infrastructure Investor. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  35. ^ "Wilson Center Launches Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition to Shape Conversations and Reforms in Era of Great Power Competition | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
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