Even as the US prepares to pull out its last troops from Iraq, investment bankers are starting to descend on Baghdad, hoping to capitalise on the strife-torn country’s tentative efforts to rebuild its physical and financial infrastructure.

Safety remains a major concern, with visiting bankers forced to travel with security personnel. When in Baghdad, they live in the heavily guarded Green Zone, or in containerised housing units – converted shipping containers – on the outskirts of the city.

Undeterred, bankers from companies including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Citigroup and BNP Paribas are flocking to Iraq. Mandates on offer include advisory work on a sovereign credit rating, stock flotations, billions of dollars worth of infrastructure and project finance, and, in the long term, potentially Iraq’s first publicly sold sovereign bond.