Amjad Ghori

Amjad is a seasoned Financial Advisory Executive with more than 25 years of banking and development finance experience gained from leading and closing multiple “First-of-a-Kind” power, transportation and social infrastructure projects on a global basis. Amjad has been very active in the nuclear sector dating back to 2008 and currently serves on the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Technical Cooperation Program team; advises the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC) on a variety of matters; and, frequently delivers lectures and conducts workshops on the challenges of attracting private sector financing to SMR / AMR technologies and projects.

He is a strong proponent of both the US and UK Governments’ commitment to and demonstrated support for advancing SMR / AMR technologies and projects domestic and is selected international markets. He enjoys deep and meaningful relationships with public and private sector nuclear sector players, including policy-makers in the US and UK Governments and prospective financiers.

In early, 2018, Amjad established AGIAS Advisory Limited, a boutique Strategic, Transaction and Nuclear Advisory firm independently serving clients in the energy infrastructure, mining and nuclear energy sectors, or in affiliation with Global Venture Consulting (“GV”), Murphy Energy and Infrastructure Consulting (“MEIC”) and Nuclear Economics Consulting Group (“NECG”).

He is currently engaged on multiple mandates with USTDA in support of deployment of SMRs in Central and Eastern Europe. He also recently completed a Market Entry Study for a US AMR technology vendor seeking to enter the UK market.  The Study encompassed and examined current / projected electricity market conditions in the UK, the competitive environment, the level of financial and policy support on offer by the UK Government and the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) licensing process and timeline.

In January 2018, Amjad was privileged to be included as part of an Expert Finance Working Group (“EFWG”) comprising of private finance and nuclear industry experts brought together under the aegis of UK’s BEIS (“Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy”) Department. Tasked with making recommendations to the UK Government on how best to mobilize private sector finance for the design, development and deployment of SMRs in the UK, the EFWG’s findings and recommendations were then presented to the UK Government who has since implemented several of the recommendations. (Market framework for financing small nuclear)

Amjad has been an actively involved in the Large Nuclear Power (LNPP) sector dating back to 2008, having lead Financial Advisory teams working on behalf of public and private sector clients developing nuclear new-build transactions in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Finland during his 11-years  (2006-2017) as a Managing Director in Credit Agricole – CIB’s (“CACIB”) Structured Finance Advisory Group based in London.  The Advisory teams were mandated to review and recommend changes to draft Project Agreements and initial Financial Models of the proposed transactions and to specifically craft appropriate financing-related clauses in the Bid documents to ensure that Bidders understood the importance of including a bankable financing framework as part of their overall Bid submission.

Amjad and his Teams played a critical role in devising “bankable” project structures around which a comprehensive financing could then be wrapped. He also lead Financial Advisory teams in landmark NPP transactions in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Finland working on behalf of private and public sector clients.

Prior to joining CACIB, Amjad spent 10-years as an Executive Director in CMS Energy’s Financial Advisory Services Group as an In-house Financial and Strategic Advisor that raised in excess of US$ 5.0bn in financing for several ground-breaking, “Pathfinder” IPP and IWPP projects in Abu Dhabi, Morocco, and India. Amjad was also a key member of the Development Teams entrusted with investing CMS’s equity in these landmark transactions.

Amjad is a dual, UK and US national.  He has lived and worked in the US, Europe, Middle East and South Asia.  He is fluent in English and conversant in French and Urdu/Hindi with a working knowledge of Arabic and Tamil.

Outside of his family, Amjad’s main personal interest is Aziza’s Place (www.azizasplace.org) a learning centre in Phnom Penh, Cambodia that he co-founded in 2007 which cares for 43 children from destitute families, by providing them three meals a day; access to education in the local Khmer schools; tutoring in English and Computers; and, extra-curricular activities such as karate, traditional dance and music.  Amjad is the primary fund-raiser, Governing Board Member and father figure to the many children that have passed through Aziza’s Place over the past fourteen years.