News

WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman of the Board of Directors Kimberly A. Reed participated yesterday in a wide-ranging panel discussion about Prosper Africa, the Trump Administration's initiative to grow U.S.-Africa trade and investment, alongside her colleagues from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The session, which was part of the Investing in Africa's Future Online Conference, was co-hosted by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Atlantic Council, was broadcast live to more than 2,000 registrants and thousands of live-stream viewers, including African heads of state and ministers, U.S. and African corporate leaders and small and medium-sized enterprises, and U.S. and African government officials.

"EXIM has a long and successful history of supporting U.S. exports to Africa. In the past decade, EXIM has been involved in a number of critical infrastructure opportunities on the continent, including transportation, energy generation and transmission and potable water solutions," said EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed. "In the last decade, EXIM has authorized over $13 billion of financing for Africa. And I am proud to say that approximately 40 percent of that was completed since May 2019, when EXIM's Board quorum was restored and I was sworn into office."

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. "And we are eager to grow that total. We have signed large MOUs with Angola and Senegal in support of U.S. exports for potential projects. In addition, EXIM is in active discussions on a wide array of U.S. exporting opportunities including sectors such as mining, refineries, agriculture, telecommunications, electricity, aviation, petrochemicals, and potable water."

The panel discussion featured welcoming remarks by Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby and was moderated by Victoria Whitney, Chief Operating Officer, Prosper Africa, and included the following panelists:

• Mr. Todd Abrajano, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Agency, U.S. Trade and Development Agency
• Mr. Sean Cairncross, Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Ms. Bonnie Glick, Deputy Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Ms. Kimberly A. Reed, President & Chairman of the Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of the United States

His Excellency Idriss Deby, President, Republic of Chad, also made remarks. The session can be viewed here.

EXIM is focused on supporting exports to sub-Saharan Africa. On May 25, 2019, Reed, just weeks after being sworn in to head EXIM, led the U.S. Presidential Delegation representing President Donald J. Trump and his administration at the inauguration of His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.

In September 2019 EXIM's Board of Directors authorized one of its largest-ever transactions, what is now a $4.7 billion direct loan 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.

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