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The United States Development Finance Institution made more than $ 2 billion in investments and …
The financial institution for development of the United States made more than USD 2 billion in investments and loans in the last quarter of 2020, much of it in Africa, supporting SMEs and the fight against Covid-19.
The United States International Finance Corporation for Development (DFC) closed 2020 with the approval of more than USD 2.1 billion in investments in emerging markets, including telecommunications and small business financing in Africa.
The development finance institution (DFI) said that investments had been spread across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific regions.
The fourth quarter of 2020 saw an initial series of USD 1.6 billion in investments, followed by USD 587 million in the following months, including measures to help finance the fight against the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among its measures is the DFC-MASSIF Covid-19 Response Co-financing Fund, which it created jointly with FMO, the DFI of the Netherlands. This facility will provide liquidity to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
DFC has also provided a loan of USD 150 million to finance taxi companies in South Africa through the SA Taxi Impact Fund. Last April, the African Development Bank granted a loan of USD 100 million to Taxi SA, a company that finances the local taxi market.
The US institution has provided USD 300 million for the acquisition and expansion of data centers in South Africa and Kenya through Africa data centers, a company based in Midrand, South Africa, while another $ 500 million has gone to the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, a consortium led by Vodafone, which is developing a new private mobile network provider in the East African country. Meanwhile, Liberia also received $ 20 million in financing for SMEs.
DFC Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler said in a statement: “The financing approved by DFC will be critical to facilitating private sector investment to increase economic growth in developing countries, especially to continue responding to economic and economic shocks. pandemic health “.
She added: “These significant investments will strengthen small businesses, support women entrepreneurs, expand telecommunications, and increase development in emerging markets.”
In May of last year, DFC granted a loan of USD 200 million to Union Bank of Nigeria, through which it would support SMEs and companies run by women.
