IJGlobal is standing true to its mission to further the understanding of the infrastructure and energy asset classes with its latest podcast – a masterclass on project finance.

The Infra Dig podcast series was launched earlier this year, hosted by IJGlobal editorial director Angus Leslie Melville, and features interviews with infra/energy specialists to discuss issues of the day.

This latest one sees Agnes Mazurek – formerly of SCNF (Paris), MUFG (London and Sydney), Macquarie, Kommunalkredit, Santander (all London) and currently a freelance consultant – provide a masterclass in project finance.

While this podcast is not targeted at people currently working in the sector and (hopefully) already subscribing to IJGlobal, it provides a solid bedrock of understanding for people looking to build knowledge and evolve their careers.

As such, it was essential that this podcast be led by an experienced practitioner in the infra field who has a strong history of lending to and advising on project finance transactions – someone who understands the financing mechanism fully so as to be able to explain it in a way that would not go over the heads of the layperson.

In a longer than normal podcast – at around 45 minutes – Agnes delves into the finance model, explaining how things in the infrastructure and energy financing world actually work.

The far-ranging discussion runs through the procurement process – using the PPP finance of a road as a case study – before moving on to bidding, the creation of special purpose vehicles (SPV), looking into the role played by equity on project finance deals, as well as debt solutions, and rounding off with a brief look at the operations phase.