Readout from Chairman Reed's Meeting with U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2020
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Washington, D.C. - President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly A. Reed met today with U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks to discuss how EXIM can help American businesses export their "Made in the U.S.A." goods and services to South Africa.

During the meeting, Chairman Reed and Ambassador Marks discussed how EXIM, which has a congressional mandate to support projects throughout sub-Saharan Africa, can advance projects in South Africa and advance the Trump Administration's Prosper Africa and the President's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) initiatives. They also reviewed EXIM's historic seven-year reauthorization.

Ambassador Marks also will be speaking during EXIM's Annual Conference, which will be held April 2-3 in Washington with the theme, "Keeping America Strong: Empowering U.S. Business and Workers to Compete Globally." Earlier that same week, EXIM and Power Africa will hold a roundtable discussion March 31 on gas-to-power in South Africa featuring Advocate Sandra Coetzee, acting head of the Independent Power Producers Office (IPPO) of South Africa, to advance the trade and investment goals of Prosper Africa.

Shortly after the EXIM Board quorum was restored in May 2019, Chairman Reed led the U.S. Presidential Delegation to the inauguration of His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.

In September 2019, Chairman Reed participated in a roundtable discussion in New York City that included representatives from South Africa, which was held in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and highlighted how EXIM support for American exports creates economic growth and prosperity in both the United States and Africa.

EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed with U.S. Ambassador to South Africa
EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed met today with U.S. Ambassador to South Africa

EXIM receives guidance and advice from the congressionally mandated Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee regarding EXIM policies and programs designed to encourage the expansion of financing support for U.S. manufactured goods and services in sub-Saharan Africa.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to overseas purchasers of U.S. goods and services. 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.