News

Washington, D.C. - The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) announced today the appointment of the 11 members of its 2019 Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee. Daniel Runde, senior vice president, William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis, and director, Project on Prosperity and Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will serve as chair.

Members of the Sub-Saharan Advisory Committee, as required by Congress, advise the EXIM Board of Directors "on the development and implementation of policies and programs" designed to promote EXIM's engagement in sub-Saharan Africa.

"My fellow EXIM board members and I congratulate the new members of the EXIM Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee. These Advisory Committee members bring important perspectives and expertise as we focus on increasing U.S. exports to the region, said EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed. "President Trump, through his Prosper Africa whole-of-government economic initiative, is committed to substantially increasing two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa. EXIM plays a targeted role in this initiative. I look forward to working with the Sub-Saharan Advisory Committee to expand our engagement in Africa, which also supports U.S. jobs here at home," said Reed.  

The EXIM Board of Directors appointed the Sub-Saharan Advisory Committee during the open session of today's EXIM Board of Directors Meeting after the conclusion of an open nomination process, which was published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2019.

Members of EXIM 2019 Sub-Saharan Advisory Committee are as follows:

Chair:

Daniel Runde
Senior Vice President, William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis, and Director, Project on Prosperity and Development  
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Washington, DC

Members:

Gary Blumenthal
President
World Perspectives, Inc.
Arlington, VA

Douglas Goehring
Commissioner of Agriculture
North Dakota Department of Agriculture
Bismarck, ND

Matthew Kavanagh
Federal Global Department Manager
POWER Engineers
Hailey, ID

Kusum Kavia
Co-Founder and President
Combustion Associates, Inc.
Corona, CA

Florizelle Liser
President and CEO
Corporate Council on Africa
Washington, DC

James O'Brien
Principal
Baker & McKenzie, LLP
Chicago, IL

Ejike Okpa
Principal
The Okpa Co.
Dallas, TX

Matthew Stewart
Consulting Partner; Insurance Broker
Securitas Global Risk Solutions, LLC
Wayne, PA

Paul Sullivan
Senior Vice President - International
Acrow Corporation of America
Parsippany, NJ

John Works
Director, Power & Renewable Energy, International Development Services
Mott MacDonald
Arlington, VA

ABOUT EXIM BANK:

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, 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses.