OPIC Open for Business in South Sudan

(OPIC) Minister Garang Diing Akuong and OPIC President Elizabeth Littlefield sign agreement to encourage U.S. investment

JUBA, South Sudan – Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, announced today that OPIC is open for business in South Sudan, and is actively seeking to support private sector investment in Africa’s newest nation.

Ms. Littlefield and the South Sudanese Minister of Commerce, Industry & Investment, Garang Diing Akuong, signed a memorandum of understanding in Juba committing their governments to negotiate a bilateral agreement that will streamline OPIC support for new U.S. investment in South Sudan.

“As Secretary of State Clinton said in July, South Sudan has been hard at work over the past year building governing structures and a foundational legal framework,” Ms. Littlefield said. “As a critical next step, opening OPIC operations sends a strong signal to U.S. businesses that South Sudan is ready to work to create the kind of business environment that will attract the international investment that will create jobs and drive economic development.”

“South Sudan’s potential to develop new businesses and industries is enormous,” said the U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan, Susan Page. “With OPIC’s presence, the prospect for investors and companies to help realize the economic promise of this new country is closer to being realized.”

During a brief visit to the country, Ms. Littlefield met with South Sudanese government ministers and private sector leaders to explore investment opportunities in sectors vital to South Sudan’s future, including agriculture, infrastructure, energy and tourism.

In the past two years OPIC has made significant efforts to expand its work in Africa, resulting in an extraordinary 300 percent increase in the agency’s commitments to the region last year. Whereas Sub-Saharan Africa comprised only four percent of OPIC’s global portfolio of loans, guarantees and insurances in 2001, today it stands at a full 21 percent.