Press Release
Sunday, February 24, 2008
MOSBACHER ATTENDS OPENING OF OPIC-SUPPORTED DESALINATION PROJECT IN ALGERIA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Robert Mosbacher, Jr., President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), today participated in the ceremonial opening of a desalination project in Algeria that will supply urgently-needed potable water to 25 percent of Algiers’s population. The project is supported by a $200 million OPIC loan guaranty.
Mosbacher joined Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and U.S. Ambassador to Algeria Robert Ford at the ceremony.
OPIC provided a loan to Hamma Water Desalination SpA, sponsored by GE Ionics Incorporated, for construction and operation of the reverse osmosis seawater desalination facility that will deliver 200,000 cubic meters of potable water daily to Algiers through a joint venture with the state-owned Algerian Energy Company. The project is the first private reverse osmosis potable water desalination plant in Algeria.
The project will help Algiers meet an urgent need for potable water. Household consumption in the city is approximately 15 gallons per day, and half of the city receives water only one out of every three days.
“The Hamma facility will play a fundamental role in both meeting Algeria’s water needs and transforming water sector management in Algeria,” Mosbacher said. “Through our dedication of the Hamma facility today we see how far-sighted government efforts five years ago resulted in foreign direct investment in Algeria that will now have tangible benefits for the people of Algeria.”
“The participation of the private sector and the involvement of foreign direct investment will serve as a model for all of Algeria’s desalination projects,” Mosbacher added.
OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.
OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 35-year history, OPIC has supported $177 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over $13 billion in host-government revenues and create over 800,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $71 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 271,000 American jobs.