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Press Release

Thursday, June 24, 2010

OPIC Board Approves $150 Million for Investment Fund for West Africa

Response to President Obama's Announcement in Cairo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) today approved up to $150 million in financing to support the establishment of a private equity investment fund designed to invest in companies in West Africa, in response to an announcement by President Obama last year.

At a speech in Cairo in June 2009, President Obama announced that the United States would launch an investment fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries. OPIC responded last October by issuing a call for proposals to manage a Global Technology and Innovation Fund, intended to catalyze private sector investments that promote technological growth in OPIC-eligible countries Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The fund approved today was among 87 responses to the call.

The Capital Alliance Private Equity III Limited Fund will invest in well-performing companies with high growth potential, as well as turnaround situations and regional cross-border expansion opportunities. Sectors of interest to the fund include telecommunications, financial services, business services, logistics, electric power and oil & gas. The fund will focus particularly on Nigeria, as well as the Gulf of Guinea countries (Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Togo, Benin, Sao Tome and Principe, and Angola). The fund has a target capitalization of $350 million.

OPIC selected as fund manager African Capital Alliance Limited (ACA), a Lagos, Nigeria-based firm formed in 1997. ACA has a track record of successfully investing in Nigeria and West Africa
 


OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.  It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy.  Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad.  OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.

 

Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.