Azerbaijani president receives chief of Global Infrastructure Partners

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Adebayo Ogunlesi, founding partner, chairman and CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a global infrastructure investment company operating under BlackRock.

During the meeting, they recalled their previous meeting in Davos in January and highlighted the significance of a memorandum of intent on long-term cooperation signed there between the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), BlackRock and GIP, Caliber.Az reports, citing state media.

The sides welcomed the progress made in investment cooperation between Azerbaijan and GIP and discussed the results achieved so far, as well as prospects for expanding the partnership.

They noted that cooperation between SOFAZ and GIP already extends to specific international investment projects. In this regard, they highlighted the Fund’s joint investments with GIP in Italo, Italy’s high-speed rail operator, and London’s Gatwick Airport.

The meeting also covered potential investment opportunities in Azerbaijan’s infrastructure sector, including possible cooperation in digital and transport infrastructure.

The sides discussed the Second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, held in Baku under the patronage of President Ilham Aliyev, and the Azerbaijan Infrastructure Investment Dialogue organised as part of the forum by SOFAZ and BlackRock. They noted that companies managing a combined US$30 trillion in assets participated in the events.

GIP has operated under BlackRock since 2024. BlackRock manages US$15.3 trillion in assets and invests globally in areas including energy, transport, digital infrastructure, water and waste management. GIP manages US$170 billion in assets and is also one of the founding partners of the AI Infrastructure Partnership, alongside BlackRock, Microsoft and MGX.