The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, today approved $700 million in new financing and insurance to support four projects. These private sector-led development projects will invest globally in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East in a variety of sectors including energy, financial services, transportation, technology, and telecommunications.
“Today, OPIC approved $700 million in support of development projects with the private sector across the globe,” said Elizabeth L. Littlefield, OPIC President and CEO. “In the Middle East, we are supporting projects that will help to bring energy security to the region through the development of natural gas resources. In Sub-Saharan Africa, we are supporting a project that will help address credit constraints that local businesses face. And across Asia and Africa, we are supporting a project that will focus on financial inclusion to target low income populations and small and medium sized businesses that are historically underserved by traditional financial services. We look forward to the long-term positive impact that, together, these projects will have for the people living in these regions.”

The board of directors’ approval for OPIC support of these projects include:

• Up to $100 million in financing to Helios Credit Partners, L.P. managed by Helios Investment Partners LLP. This fund seeks to provide senior secured and second-lien loans to companies in Sub-Saharan Africa that require capital for growth, acquisitions or capital expenditures, concentrating primarily on senior credit to small and mid-sized companies. According to the World Bank, availability of bank lines of credit to African companies is severely limited and only 20 percent of Sub-Saharan African corporations have access to bank loans or lines of credit. OPIC’s support will provide catalytic access to capital for companies that face difficulty obtaining private financing and will have a developmental impact by investing in a variety of sectors to include energy, financial services, transportation, logistics, technology, and telecommunications.

https://www.opic.gov/press-releases/2016/opic-board-directors-approves-700-million-financing-and-insurance-projects-developing-countries