US EXIM focus on Africa

(JD Supra, Sausalito, 15 November 2021) Africa is a priority for Biden administration agencies the International Development Finance Corporation and EXIM. As of the end of 2020, DFC had invested approximately US$8 billion (approximately 25 percent of its total portfolio) across more than 300 projects on the continent. During 2009 – 2019, EXIM supported US$12.4 billion of transactions to sub-Saharan Africa,11 and the region is home to EXIM's largest commitment to date. Moreover, EXIM is a long-time player in Africa, with experience dating back to the 1940s. The agency is currently open for business in 44 of the 49 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. In March 2020, it approved a US$91.5 million transaction for electrification in Senegal.12 Two months later, the agency approved its largest transaction to date: a US$4.7 billion credit (direct loan) supporting exports of US goods and services with more than 60 US suppliers to assist the development and construction of an integrated liquefied natural gas project on the Afungi Peninsula in northern Mozambique.13 EXIM made its commitment alongside those from almost 20 other ECAs and DFIs, which offered an aggregate of US$16 billion in loans.