(FIGURE REVISED) – The U.S. Development Finance Corporation has so far invested $9 billion in 300 projects in African countries, says a U.S. official.
“We have the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, and they’ve established a dedicated team of investment advisors to source and execute deals across Africa. And that agency currently has about 80 billion¹ invested across more than 300 projects on the continent. DFC currently has $9 billion invested across more than 300 projects on the continent. ,” said Leslie Marbury, Acting COO for Prosper Africa, who briefed African journalists on Tuesday.
Responding to the question raised by New Business Ethiopia about the support the United Sates Government is providing to encourage U.S. companies invest in Africa, she stated that Prosper Africa has been helping the investors to drop their perception of risks in investing in African countries.
“With Prosper Africa, part of what we’re doing is engaging U.S. companies in Africa and in the United States. We know that investors don’t invest in what they can’t see, so we are getting very specific on what are the tangible opportunities for trade and investment and bringing those to our companies and investors. We find that when we bring investors to different countries in Africa, their perception of risk drops,” she said.
“When they see the entrepreneurial spirit, when they meet with the different institutions working on trade and investment, a light goes off and we’ve seen great success on that.”
In addition to the U.S. Development Finance Corporation, the different departments and agencies in the U.S. Government have been bringing a range of support to U.S. companies, according to Ms. Marbury.
“We have the U.S. Trade and Development Agency that’s currently supporting 90 projects in Africa and has launched an Access Africa to support quality ICT infrastructure. We have the U.S. Department of Commerce who is responsible for engaging with U.S. companies, and they were responsible for over $10 billion of the total $22 billion in Prosper Africa wins last year,” she said.
Prosper Africa is a U.S. Government initiative to increase trade and investment between the United States and Africa. It mainly deals with four issues namely, advancing deals, promoting opportunities, reducing barriers to trade and investment, and deepening financial and capital markets, according to Ms. Marbury.
“…Prosper Africa is indeed a one-stop shop, and we bring together the full suite of U.S. Government trade and investment support services, and we’re adding new and improved services all the time. The types of services that we provide include market insights, technical assistance, financing, and more,” she said.