Nnema Byrd serves as Managing Director for DFC’s Real Estate team in the Office of Infrastructure. She leads corporate and project finance transactions that enable critical infrastructure development such as data centers, industrial/logistics hubs, and health and technology-related facilities in countries across Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. With more than 23 years of finance and investment experience, she specializes in delivering innovative financing solutions that advance affordable, technologically innovative, built environments. Since joining DFC in 2021, Nnema has applied her cross-sector expertise to transformative projects that expand market liquidity for real estate projects, many integrating next-generation IT and telecommunications capabilities. She previously spent seven years in Johannesburg, South Africa, as Portfolio Manager for STANLIB, one of Africa’s largest asset managers, where she led private equity investments in retail, office, and mixed-use projects across Sub-Saharan Africa. Earlier, as Vice President at a Chicago-based, SEC-registered real estate private equity firm, she structured mezzanine and joint-venture investments for residential, commercial, hospitality, and industrial property developments across the United States, managing a portfolio exceeding $1 billion. Nnema holds a BSc in Architecture and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.