OPIC Has Another Record-Setting Year for Renewable Resources

On October 16, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) announced that its commitments to renewable resources projects rose 41 percent in FY2012, totaling $1.55 billion. This dollar amount marks a new record for the U.S. Government’s development finance institution and continues a sharp and steady increase in OPIC’s support for projects in clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and other renewable resource projects that aim to improve food securityin developing countries.

OPIC’s support for renewable resources in 2012 includes political risk insurance for a project in Ghana to help modernize its agriculture sector. The project aims to reduce post-harvest losses, increase agricultural productivity, and strengthen Ghana’s market infrastructure and agricultural production standards in order to help the country increase agricultural exports.

It will involve the installation of modern silos, grain mills, cold storage and livestock breeding facilities, and computers and other technical equipment to assist in statistical research and agricultural monitoring throughout Ghana. The OPIC insurance will cover loan financing for the project being raised in the U.S. bond markets by U.S.-owned company Belstar Capital Ltd.

This and other projects build on OPIC’s work in recent years, including political risk insurance to support the reconstruction of a flour mill in Haiti that was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake and financing for the expansion of a geothermal power plant in Kenya.

Learn more about OPIC’s investments in renewable resources. OPIC reported a bumper year in the sustainable agriculture sector for 2012 after its agriculture portfolio skyrocketed to nearly $400 million for the year, up from less than $50 million the year before.