OPIC Posts Strong 30 Percent Growth Supporting American Businesses Abroad: Helps Reduce Deficit for 35th Consecutive Year
December 11, 2012
(OPIC)
Investments in Africa, Middle East and
Renewable Resources Sector Drive Commitments;
Majority of Projects Involve U.S. Small
Business
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC) increased its
financial commitments to American businesses
investing abroad by 30 percent over the last
fiscal year, and marked its 35th consecutive
year of reducing the federal deficit, a notable
accomplishment among American development and
foreign policy agencies.
As the U.S. government’s development finance
institution, OPIC committed more than $3.6
billion to development projects in Fiscal Year
2012, advancing U.S. national security and
international development goals, while helping
U.S. businesses tap into high growth emerging
markets and projecting the best of American
standards and values abroad. OPIC generated a
net income of $272 million.
OPIC investments provided powerful support for
the Obama Administration’s focus on the private
sector as a critical partner in global
development. The agency delivered hundreds of
millions of dollars in support of the
Administration’s Partnership for Growth and
Feed the Future initiatives, was a lead
participant in the Administration’s economic
response to ongoing events in the Middle East
and North Africa.
“Over the past two years alone, OPIC has
committed over $6 billion to development
projects in emerging markets, catalyzed
billions more in private sector finance, all
while generating over $500 million for the U.S.
taxpayer. We are proud to be part of the Obama
Administration’s response to development
challenges, to be having a positive impact on
the lives of people and the health of the
planet, while creating growth opportunities for
US companies,” Ms. Littlefield said.
Over the year, OPIC's focus on foreign policy
priority regions produced robust results: The
agency committed $907 million in loans,
guarantees, insurance and investment fund
support for projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and
over $878 million for projects in the Middle
East and North Africa. In Afghanistan, where
private investment is key to stability as the
US draws down its troops, OPIC has a large and
growing $226 million portfolio.
Recognizing that American small and
medium-sized enterprises are the primary
drivers of the U.S. economy, nearly two-thirds
of OPIC projects involved a U.S. small
business, helping them tap into growth
opportunities in emerging markets and creating
jobs both at home and abroad.
OPIC committed nearly $1.6 billion to the
renewable resources sector in FY2012, an
increase of almost half a billion dollars over
FY2011. This includes nearly $1 billion of
support to renewable energy projects. A new
focus on sustainable agriculture and clean
water translated into a dramatic increase in
projects designed to improve food security and
the delivery of potable water in Africa, Latin
America and Eastern Europe: $575 million of
the FY2012 portfolio up from $10 million the
year before.
“OPIC’s mandate to mobilize private sector
investment is an extremely effective way to
drive international development because it
applies private market discipline, taps
entrepreneurial initiatives and supports U.S.
businesses. It is also an extremely efficient
way to support international development as it
generates income for the federal budget,” said
OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield.
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