The United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), is to launch a $150 million equity fund to support commercial and natural resource development projects.

The fund, which will be based in Africa, will have flexibility that would make for investment in projects throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Lawrence H. Summers, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Treasury, announced these when he delivered the keynote address at a symposium on "private sector development in Africa", at the 23rd annual general meeting of the African Development Bank currently underway in Abidjan on Tuesday. He further hinted that a second OPIC fund, to be capitalised at $500 million is being prepared and will focus on infrastructural development,. Countries pursuing the deepest market-oriented reforms are likely to capture the lion's share of the investment, he indicated.

On current US programmes, Mr. Summers said USAID is focusing its development activities in sub-Saharan Africa to support trade and investment.

It will provide additional technical assistance to governments in the region and help them take advantage of trade preference programmes available to countries reforming their economy to become more fully engaged in the World Trade Organisation. Furthermore, the US export-import Bank, will work with credit-worthy private backed and project finance deals even where the public sector is not deemed credit-worthy. Mr. Summers also commented on market access to Africa and noted that to encourage further trade with the US, the OPIC will offer better access for African exports under a renewed and expanded programme.

This, he said, will seek to increase the number of products that can enter the US duty free, from about 4000 to about 5800. "For those countries ready to embark on bold trade reforms, we have also proposed to congress, an expansion of access to our market for several sensitive products such as textiles and leather goods", he added.

Mr. Summers told the gathering that if the US has aspirations to re-orient her economic relations with sub-Saharan African countries to create stronger trade and investment links, then there is the need to ensure that US Government officials who meet with their African counterparts, are not just those of her aid agency.

"Our Trade Ministries, our Commerce Ministries, our Finance Ministries must also work together", he stressed. Graphic