2020 CONCORDIA AFRICA INITIATIVE

New Investment Announcement: Prosper Africa

MainStage

Programming Sponsor: USAID

• The Trump administration created the Prosper Africa initiative to significantly increase two-way trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa. Prosper Africa has brought together the services of 17 participating U.S. government agencies to help U.S. and African companies conduct business. 
• Since Prosper Africa launched in June 2019, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped African and U.S. firms close on more than $1.5 billion in new exports and investments. USAID has also built an active Prosper Africa deal pipeline worth more than $10 billion; according to John Barsa, the agency expects a close on more than $1 billion of that pipeline over the next six to nine months. 

“Africa plays an increasingly important role in the global economy. It has some of the world’s fastest-growing countries in terms of GDP, and a young and rapidly-urbanizing population,” John Barsa

• Under Prosper Africa, USAID recently helped over a dozen local Kenyan pension funds form the Kenyan Pension Fund Investment Consortium. Over the next five years, the consortium plans to invest over $200 million in Kenyan infrastructure projects, expanding access to critical infrastructure for millions of Kenyans and decreasing Kenya’s reliance on Chinese debt. 
• USAID is providing first-loss capital to Stitching Cordaid with $14.75 million loan guarantees from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Cordaid will use this financing to support small and medium-sized enterprises that are creating opportunities for prosperity in West Africa.

“Through Prosper Africa we will continue to help businesses and investors connect to new partners, advance new opportunities, and close deals, thus creating jobs, growth, and shared prosperity for both the American people and our African partners,” John Barsa