Environmental, social and governance concerns from stakeholders continue to pose risks to development projects such as lose of social licence to operate, reputational risks and loss of investors consequently leading to project delays and loss of jobs. ESG and sustainability are at the core of IDS which has equipped me with requisite skills and knowledge on holistically assessing infrastructure projects across Africa from an environmental, social and economic point of view and coming up with safeguard policies and strategies on how to manage the risks.