Black & Veatch Awarded Ex-Im Bank Sub-Saharan Africa Exporter of the Year
Washington, D.C. - Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction company headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, will receive the Sub-Saharan Africa Exporter of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The award will be presented at the Bank's 37th Annual Conference, “Ex-Im -Your Competitive Edge,” on April 12 in Washington, D.C.
“Black & Veatch is helping South Africa address important infrastructure needs,” said Fred P. Hochberg, the chairman and president of the Ex-Im Bank. “Ex-Im Bank authorized $1.4 billion in financing to support U.S. exports to Sub-Sahara Africa in FY'11, and we will continue to encourage American businesses to export to this important region.”
FY'2011 was the first time Ex-Im Bank financing to Sub-Saharan African exceed the $1 billion mark, and the Bank supported 8 percent of all U.S. exports to this region.
With the support of Ex-Im Bank, Black & Veatch has created nearly 300 jobs for U.S. professionals, said Len C. Rodman, chairman, president, and CEO of Black & Veatch. Many of our clients are in need of project financing, and partnering with the Bank is a great way to add to the value we bring to critical human infrastructure projects.
In 2011, Ex-Im approved an $805.6 million direct loan to South Africa's state-owned electric power utility, Eskom, Limited. The financing supported Eskom's purchase of engineering and construction management services from Black & Veatch which will be used to construct the Kusile power plant located in the Emalahleni area of the Mpumulanga Province. Hundreds of experienced and qualified U.S. engineers and professionals in Ann Arbor, Mich., Raleigh, N.C. and Kansas City will be employed by Black & Veatch each year during a five year period.
Ex-Im Bank's 2012 Annual Conference will feature prominent members of the business and government community including President Bill Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States; Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group; and Dean Oskvig, president and CEO of Black & Veatch's global energy business. A full listing of speakers, panelists, and moderators is available on Ex-Im's website.
About Ex-Im Bank:
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. In the past five years, Ex-Im Bank has earned for U.S. taxpayers $1.9 billion above the cost of operations. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance and financing to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.
Ex-Im Bank approved $32.7 billion in total authorizations in FY 2011 — an all-time Ex-Im record. This total includes more than $6 billion directly supporting small-business export sales — also an Ex-Im record. Ex-Im Bank's total authorizations are supporting an estimated $41 billion in U.S. export sales and approximately 290,000 American jobs in communities across the country. Persons interested in applying for positions in Ex-Im Bank regional offices can go the careers section at Exim.gov. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.