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WASHINGTON - President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Kimberly A. Reed on Friday spoke with U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Ghana Stephanie S. Sullivan regarding EXIM's role in supporting U.S. exports to Ghana and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

During the phone call meeting, Chairman Reed and Ambassador Sullivan also discussed EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports, which directs EXIM to provide financial products to directly neutralize export subsidies offered by the People's Republic of China, helping to ensure a level playing field for U.S. businesses and workers as they compete globally.

The program has the aim of advancing the comparative leadership of the United States and supporting U.S. innovation, employment, and technological standards globally in ten transformational export industries key to U.S. prosperity and security, including 5G, emerging financial technology, renewable energy, biomedical sciences, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing.

On November 5, 2020, the EXIM's Board of Directors unanimously voted to notify the U.S. Congress, pursuant to the law, of two potential authorizations totaling $229.7 million to support an estimated 600 American jobs, primarily in Texas, by rehabilitating, designing, and constructing water treatment facilities in Ghana.

Chairman Reed and U.S. Ambassador Sullivan take a break from the White House Christmas party and an event in Ghana to have their Friday phone call meeting.

The first potential authorization would be a direct loan to Ghana's Ministry of Finance to support an important dam rehabilitation project for Ghana water. The existing facility accounts for about 80 percent of the potable water supply to the capital city of Accra. The loan would allow Ghana to engage the world-class design services of AGEISS, Inc. EXIM estimates the transaction would support 300 U.S. jobs across several states, including Texas.

The second potential authorization would be a direct loan to Ghana's Ministry of Finance to design and construct a water treatment plant. If ultimately approved, the loan would support AGEISS' engagement in a water supply expansion project, which would increase the supply of potable water to Begoro and surrounding towns. EXIM estimates the transaction would support 300 U.S. jobs across several states, including Texas.

The primary reason EXIM support is needed in each of these cases is that commercial lending is unavailable. EXIM has decades of good experience with Ghana and a good working relationship with its government, and EXIM staff finds that a reasonable assurance of repayment exists.

Both transactions would advance three of EXIM's key initiatives: EXIM's "Program on China and Transformational Exports" water treatment and sanitation transformational export projects; EXIM's commitment to sub-Saharan Africa; and EXIM's engagement in Prosper Africa.

At the conclusion of the Congressional notification period, the EXIM Board may give final consideration to the transactions. Both transactions were introduced to EXIM and AGEISS by Trinity International, Inc. of Potomac, Maryland.

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.

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