Will mobilize $1.5 billion of investment in sector; Fulfills OPIC pledge at UN Climate Change Conference

OPIC?s Board of Directors approved nearly $500 million in financing for five new investment funds that could ultimately invest more than $1.5 billion in the renewable resources sectors of South and Southeast Asia and Africa, helping the fast-growing economies of the former to manage their environmental challenges, and the latter to enhance its farming sector. The new funds fulfill a pledge made by OPIC President Elizabeth Littlefield at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun last December, when she announced that OPIC would provide at least $300 million in financing for new private equity investment funds that could ultimately invest more than $1 billion in renewable resources projects in emerging markets.

The two Africa-related funds also support Feed the Future, the Obama Administration?s global hunger and food security initiative, by which the U.S. Government is helping countries transform their own agricultural sectors to grow enough food sustainably to feed their people.

"The impressive response OPIC received to its call for proposals, and the creation of these five new investment funds, demonstrate that the development of renewable resources is not only an urgent global need but also a significant investment opportunity," Ms. Littlefield said.

"This is exactly the kind of public-private collaboration we need to get significant clean energy funds flowing to developing countries," said U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern. "OPIC is one of the most innovative and effective U.S. government agencies in delivering climate finance while leveraging private investment."

Progress toward fulfilling Secretary Clinton?s March pledge; Cooperative effort with US Agency for International Development

Making significant progress toward fulfilling Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?s pledge of U.S. investment support for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), OPIC?s Board in June approved $500 million in financing to support lending to small businesses in Egypt and Jordan. The project is the result of a cooperative effort between OPIC and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which will provide grant funding and technical assistance to the initiative.

During her March trip to Egypt and Tunisia, Secretary Clinton announced that OPIC would provide up to $2 billion in financial support to catalyze private sector investment in the MENA region, saying the OPIC initiative would prioritize support for SMEs and grant projects fast-track approval to mobilize capital quickly. OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield joined Secretary Clinton on the trip.

The Board-approved project will guaranty loans by local banks to SMEs, microfinance institutions, non-banking financial institutions and other approved borrowers under a loan guaranty facility that will provide up to $250 million each for Egypt and Jordan. In providing credit to Egyptian and Jordanian SMEs, the project is expected to catalyze growth, expand employment, and support the region?s progress toward democratization.

"As Secretary Clinton said in March, one of the best ways to support the transformation in Egypt and Jordan is to support small businesses ? they are the universal engine of economic growth. The OPIC project approved today achieves precisely that, by providing the long-term credit that is essential for stability, growth and job creation in the MENA region," said Ms. Littlefield.

The U.S. sponsors of the project are two nonprofit corporations, CHF International (CHF) and the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII).

Indonesian President Yudhoyono, Elizabeth Littlefield, Welcome 300 Participants From 22 Countries

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joined OPIC President Elizabeth Littlefield in opening OPIC?s annual international investment conference, Access to Opportunity in Southeast Asia ? and the two could hardly have hoped for a more successful event. More than 300 participants, representing American and Southeast Asian businesses, leading regional investors and both the U.S. and regional governments attended the three-day conference in May, which was designed to enable U.S. companies to pursue investment opportunities in a region poised to grow dramatically in the coming years.

"We chose Southeast Asia for one reason above all others: its time is now. It is the emerging market that economists and investors alike are pointing to with uniform enthusiasm," said Ms. Littlefield.

U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel said at the opening, "We are pleased to welcome OPIC to Indonesia as a demonstration of the Obama Administration?s ongoing commitment to support Southeast Asia?s emerging markets, and build a comprehensive partnership with Indonesia."

Following the model of OPIC?s six previous international conferences, Access to Opportunity in Southeast Asia was designed to connect U.S. and regional investors, financial institutions, private equity managers and government officials in order to facilitate new levels of U.S. private sector investment in sectors such as renewable energy, infrastructure, ICT and tourism. The conference provided participants with detailed information necessary to access OPIC financing and political insurance, as well as new sources of project finance and private equity, to support their investments.

OPIC?s Board in June approved $123 million in financing for the construction of two 20-megawatt solar power plants in Peru ? the first large-scale solar power project in the country. Using solar technology developed by a U.S. company, the project will sell all the electricity it produces to the national grid and thereby support Peru?s effort to diversify its sources of electricity generation.

The renewable energy project will involve the installation of advanced solar panel equipment ? the first ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power generation system in Peru ? on two separate sites in the rural Arequipa region of southwestern Peru. The project will use ?SunFab? solar panel technology developed by Applied Materials, Inc., a California company which provides manufacturing equipment and services to the global semiconductor industry.

The U.S. sponsor of the project is Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., a New York-based public finance and global infrastructure subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd., a leading financial guaranty institution. The project is Assured Guaranty?s first transaction in the solar sector, and materialized due to OPIC?s participation.

OPIC and the International Finance Corporation in May announced that OPIC had adopted IFC?s Master Cooperation Agreement, making it easier for both institutions to collaborate on private sector investments in emerging markets and particularly in the poorest countries.

IFC mobilizes funding from other financiers to meet the needs of private sector clients in emerging markets. The Master Cooperation Agreement standardizes steps that lenders take when joining IFC to co-finance projects, increasing efficiencies and cutting costs to borrowers and lenders throughout the life of a loan. Lenders who adopt the Master Cooperation Agreement benefit from IFC?s existing syndication platform, deal-structuring expertise, due diligence, and global presence.

"IFC and OPIC share a mission of supporting the private sector in emerging markets, and we have successfully partnered on projects in different parts of the world," said Lars Thunell, IFC EVP and CEO. "We look forward to deepening our relationship and working together in areas such as agribusiness and food security, climate change and renewable energy, and small and medium enterprise development."

"OPIC?s partnership with IFC rises to a new level with this agreement, by streamlining our mutual support for projects in sectors such as renewable energy and impact investment which are so vital to sustained economic growth in emerging markets," said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. "We look forward to working more closely and efficiently with IFC and in particular to helping U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets and catalyze revenues, jobs, and growth opportunities at home and abroad."

OPIC?s Board in June approved $45 million to enable Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) to expand its housing microfinance lending (HMF) ? a growing impact investment sector that will help thousands of low-income families around the world build, improve, and maintain decent homes.

MicroBuild I (MBI), a subsidiary of Habitat for Humanity International, will use proceeds of the OPIC loan to lend to selected microfinance institutions around the world, which in turn will make housing microfinance loans to individual families for the purpose of home improvement. The program is designed to meet the housing needs of low-income families with little or no access to the formal banking sector or mortgage loans. MBI will mobilize funding at the lowest possible cost and select intermediaries committed to fair pricing and sustainability.

Habitat for Humanity International has made HMF a strategic focus and intends to use MBI as a vehicle to deliver decent housing to the world?s poor, in part by drawing other global investors into the sector.

"Habitat for Humanity relies on strategic collaborations to help us further our work around the world," said Jonathan Reckford, CEO, Habitat for Humanity International. "We are grateful to OPIC for this investment, and we look forward to expanding our efforts with microfinance institutions so that together we can create even more opportunities for low-income families to live in decent housing."