Bank chief says US wants to be ‘full partner’ for investment in Africa

www.simplesharebuttons.com Share this post...

Next month, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz will lead a delegation of US business leaders to Ethiopia for a ministerial-level meeting on energy and to discuss investment opportunities and financing for sustainable energy projects on the continent.
Moniz will be joined in Ethiopia by the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the US, Fred Hochberg, who said the bank intends to be a “full partner” in Africa. In April, the bank announced the appointment of 11 members to its 2014 sub-Saharan Africa advisory committee, to advise on the development and implementation of policies and programmes to support the bank’s activities in the region and boost US exports.
Hochberg said: “In the last fiscal year alone, we authorised $604 million to support the export of US products and services to 35 of the 49 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. But we are looking to expand our engagement in order to keep up with economic growth in Africa and support jobs here at home.”
According to Hochberg, growth across Africa translates to “enormous infrastructure needs like reliable energy, railroads, airports, seaports, highways and other sectors that play to America’s manufacturing strengths”. Hochberg said US exports have climbed along with Africa’s growth, with exports to sub-Saharan Africa up from $17 billion in 2010 to $21.3bn in 2011, a rise of 24%.
The bank’s authorisations for fiscal 2011 in sub-Saharan Africa were a record $1.4bn, nearly twice the previous year’s $812m. In fiscal 2012, the bank’s authorisations for the region were $1.5bn.
South African electric utility Eskom received a $805.6m loan from the bank in 2011 to build the Kusile coal-fired power plant in Mpumalanga province. Hochberg said the bank also provided a $100m loan guarantee in 2011 for South Africa’s purchase of 100 locomotives from General Electric of the US.