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Sub-Saharan Africa is gaining prominence for its robust economic development and is emerging as a potential growth market for American exporters. According to the World Bank, this portion of the African continent is one of the globe’s fastest-growing economic regions, with a growth rate projected to exceed five percent over the next several years. This exceeds the anticipated world economic growth rate, which is expected to hover around four percent.
Ex-Im Bank is paving the way for U.S. exporters to provide the goods and services that are fueling the region’s growing economy. In FY 2012, the Bank authorized $1.5 billion to support U.S. exports to sub-Saharan Africa – $1.4 billion in loan guarantees, $93 million in export-credit insurance and $38 million in working capital guarantees. This financing surpassed Ex-Im’s previous authorizations in the region by over $100 million. In FY 2012, Ex-Im-supported exports accounted for approximately 7 percent of all U.S. merchandise exports to sub-Saharan Africa.
Ex-Im’s financing supported 163 U.S. export transactions in more than 20 sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa. Of the Bank’s more than $1.5 billion in sub-Saharan authorizations, $276 million supported small-business exports, $30 million supported exports from minority-owned and woman-owned businesses, and $1 million supported environmentally beneficial exports.
The Bank was instrumental in financing several noteworthy transactions this year, including
American-Made Aircraft Stimulating Economic Growth in Africa and the United States
President Obama's presidential policy directive on Africa states that it is a U.S. priority to stimulate economic growth, trade and investment in Africa. Ex-Im Bank loan guarantees are bringing that policy to fruition and creating American jobs in the process. |
To facilitate U.S. export growth, Ex-Im Bank maintains strong ties with banks in South Africa, Nigeria and regional banks such as the Preferential Trade Area Bank (PTA), which is the regional intergovernmental financial organization of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
In August 2012, Chairman Hochberg led an Ex-Im Bank delegation that participated in the U.S.-South Africa Strategic Dialogue with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pretoria, South Africa. During the trip, Ex-Im Bank signed a $2 billion memorandum of understanding with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa to support U.S. exports to the nation’s energy sector.
Through its involvement with other federal agencies in the “Doing Business in Africa” campaign, Ex-Im Bank actively supports the Presidential Policy Directive on Africa, signed by President Obama in June 2012. The campaign is raising awareness among the American business community of the African market’s considerable potential for U.S. exports.
The Bank continues to coordinate export-driven efforts with other federal entities, including the U.S. Foreign Service, Foreign Commercial Service of the Commerce Department, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development, OPIC and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. In FY 2012, Ex-Im Bank’s senior management and staff conducted business-development activities and participated in trade events with other U.S. government agencies in South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria, among other sub-Saharan countries.
