OPIC Board Approves $52.5 Million for Maghreb Investment Fund
December 9, 2011
(OPIC)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Businesses in North Africa,
where bank financing and private equity were
scarce even prior to the Arab Spring, obtained
a new source of financial support with the
approval by the Board of Directors of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
of $52.5 million in financing for a new private
equity fund expected to mobilize up to $210
million of investment in the region.
The fund will target investment in small and
medium-sized high-growth companies with the
potential to grow into regional champions –
another imperative for a region urgently in
need of economic integration.
This is the latest step toward fulfilling
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s March
announcement that OPIC, the U.S. Government’s
development finance institution, would provide
up to $2 billion in financial support for
investment in the Middle East and North Africa.
OPIC responded quickly: in June, OPIC’s Board
approved $500 million in financing to support
lending to small businesses in Egypt and
Jordan, and in October approved $150 million in
additional lending for the region.
“As President Obama has said, supporting
businesses that create jobs is a key way the
U.S. can support the events of the Arab Spring.
People need to see the fruits of their
tremendous efforts to bring about democratic
change. This fund is designed to fuel
entrepreneurial North African businesses to do
just that,” said OPIC President and CEO
Elizabeth Littlefield.
The fund, Maghreb Private Equity III, will
invest in SMEs which are expected to contribute
employment, wealth creation, and access to
goods and services for formerly underserved
populations in the region. The fund will be
available to invest in OPIC-eligible countries
in the Maghreb, including Tunisia, Morocco,
Algeria, Egypt, and – when opened – Libya.
OPIC selected as fund manager TunInvest, part
of TunInvest-AfricInvest Group, one of the
leading private equity firms in North and
sub-Saharan Africa, with more than $650 million
of assets under management across eleven
private equity funds.
According to the Arab Maghreb Union, the
absence of a united Maghreb inflicts a two
percent loss in annual growth among its member
nations. Interstate commerce in North Africa is
equivalent to 1.3 percent of the region’s
trade, the lowest regional rate in the world.
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