News

WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Kimberly A. Reed delivered prerecorded remarks today to a meeting of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) held in conjunction with the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings.

 The CCA event united government and private sector leaders to highlight opportunities for investment and business partnership between the U.S. and Africa as nations set a path for economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants also discussed Prosper Africa, a whole-of-government approach that coordinates 15 federal agencies to promote U.S. Africa trade and investment that was rolled out at CCA's June 2019 U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Mozambique.

 "EXIM has a strong history of engagement in Africa and we are eager to grow that partnership further," said EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed. "Under President Trump's leadership, the Prosper Africa initiative was launched to promote economic growth and opportunity for the mutual benefit of the American people and our African partners by deepening U.S. trade and investment partnerships in Africa. EXIM is a key part of this effort.

 "Today there is approximately $8 billion in deals on the EXIM books for Africa - the highest total in the agency's history," Reed added. "It is an important signal of EXIM's support and, with the help of allies such as the Corporate Council on Africa, which under the leadership of Florie Liser, who also serves as an important voice on our EXIM Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee, has been so effective, I know we can continue to expand and improve U.S.-Africa trade and investment for the mutual benefit of our great American workers and exporters and the people of Africa."

 "CCA is pleased to be working with EXIM and other U.S. government agencies as well as the U.S. and African private sectors to grow the U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and business relationship - particularly in this period when paths for recovery and economic growth are so critical," said Florizelle Liser, President and CEO, Corporate Council on Africa and a member of EXIM's Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Council, which was re-established in July 2019.

 In September 2019 EXIM's Board of Directors authorized one of its largest-ever transactions, $4.7 billion for an integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, supporting 16,7000 U.S. jobs across eight states. More recently in March, EXIM extended $91.5 million in loan guarantee financing for U.S. exports of design engineering and construction service, in support of 500 U.S. jobs in 14 states in order to bring electricity to approximately 330,000 Senegalese in more than 400 villages. Over the last 20 years, EXIM has authorized nearly $20 billion of financing for Africa, and the agency is an active participant in PAC-DBIA, a Commerce-led council focused on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and Africa.

 ABOUT EXIM: 

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

 For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.