Mobilising private capital for America’s infrastructure future

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Author: Priscilla Dziedzorm Ayebi

Behind every major infrastructure project that gets completed, there is often an invisible story, not just of engineering or policy, but of how capital was structured, aligned, and successfully deployed. 

It is within this often overlooked space that Priscilla Dziedzorm Ayebi, an investment banking and infrastructure finance professional, has built her career.

With nearly a decade of experience spanning investment banking and development finance, Ayebi has advised on complex financial transactions involving corporations, financial institutions, and large-scale infrastructure assets. 

Over the course of her career, she has contributed to transactions exceeding $2 billion, gaining deep exposure to how capital is mobilized, structured, and executed across markets.

Now, she is channeling that experience into a forward-looking initiative that addresses a critical but often understated aspect of infrastructure development.

Her proposed endeavor, known as Project CIME, focuses on improving the mobilization of private and institutional capital for infrastructure and energy transition projects. 

While capital is widely available, many large-scale projects still face delays or fail to progress due to the complexity of financing structures and the coordination required among multiple stakeholders.

Ayebi’s work is centered on closing this gap.

Rather than treating financing as a secondary step in project development, her approach places it at the core of the project. Project CIME is designed to develop structured financing frameworks that bring together public funding and private investment in a way that is both efficient and sustainable. 

The goal is to make it easier for critical infrastructure projects to move from planning to execution by ensuring that capital can be accessed, aligned, and deployed without unnecessary friction.

Her perspective is shaped by hands-on experience.

During her time at Standard Bank Group, she worked on high-profile transactions across sectors such as telecommunications and infrastructure. 

These projects required close collaboration with regulators, investors, and multinational stakeholders, as well as the ability to navigate complex financial and operational environments.

She later expanded this experience through her work with the Africa Finance Corporation, where she contributed to investment analysis and sector-level strategy for large-scale infrastructure financing initiatives. 

These roles provided her with a strong foundation in understanding not just how transactions are executed, but how financial systems can be designed to support long-term development.

Project CIME builds on this foundation by introducing a more structured and scalable approach to infrastructure finance. 

It emphasizes better coordination between stakeholders, clearer risk allocation, and financial models that align with the expectations of long-term investors such as institutional funds.

This is particularly important in sectors like renewable energy, transportation, and digital infrastructure, where projects often require significant capital and long-term commitment. 

By improving how these investments are structured, the initiative aims to make infrastructure development more efficient and more attractive to investors.

Beyond its technical focus, the initiative reflects a broader vision. 

Ayebi sees infrastructure finance not just as a professional field, but as a critical enabler of economic growth, innovation, and resilience. Her work highlights the role that financial expertise can play in unlocking opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach.

Her academic background further supports this vision. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and has participated in global academic and professional programs that have strengthened her understanding of capital markets and strategic investment. 

Combined with her practical experience, this positions her to contribute meaningfully to infrastructure financing efforts at an international level.

At a time when infrastructure development continues to shape economic progress, initiatives like Project CIME offer a practical approach to one of the sector’s most persistent challenges.

For many professionals in finance and development, the conversation often focuses on funding gaps. Ayebi’s work presents a different perspective, one that emphasizes the importance of structure, coordination, and strategic capital deployment.

In doing so, she is contributing to a growing shift in how infrastructure financing is understood and approached, not just as a financial necessity but as a system that can be designed to deliver long-term impact.

Author: Priscilla Dziedzorm Ayebi

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