Salim Bensmail is a senior investment director at Meridiam, a Paris-based independent Benefit Corporation specialising in the development, financing, and long-term management of sustainable public infrastructure. He is an Executive Director of The Urban Resilience Fund (TURF) / International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF), a global blended finance, impact fund launched in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to support cities in delivering critical resilient infrastructure projects.
Previously, he was a member of the senior management team at the City of Paris. He served as deputy Chief Financial Officer, in charge of concessions, public-private partnerships and mixed economy companies, and as Director for economic development, employment and higher education. Salim advised on the choice of delivery model for public services and on the structuring of major municipal infrastrucure projects. He was responsible for the oversight of municipal companies operating across public services, urban redevelopment and social housing.
At the French Treasury, he was the Manager Director of the Infrastructure Finance and PPP unit, from 2014 to 2018, advising the government on infrastructure policy, public procurement legislation, and providing legal and financial advice for the negotiation of major infrastructure projects and concession and PPP contracts of the French State. He also advised French local authorities on the structuring of infrastructure projects.
Salim was a member of the Steering Committee of the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) of the EIB. From 2016 to 2018, he was Chairman of the OECD Network of Senior Infrastructure and PPP officials.
Prior to joining Meridiam, Salim worked in London at infrastructure investment firm John Laing, where he was Managing Director for Strategy and Partnerships and a member of the Executive Committee.
He is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and Ecole Nationale d’Administration and holds an MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge.