NEWSLETTER                                                      October 2016

   Photo Credit: Michael Bloomberg


At the U.S.-Africa Business Forum on September 21st, USAID and the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) kicked off a two-year investment partnership seeking to mobilize critically needed institutional capital, both African and international, for infrastructure projects in Africa.

Infrastructure projects deliver power, transportation, access to clean water and sanitation, and telecommunications, representing the foundation for a country or region's economic growth. The challenge is that infrastructure projects require large sums of patient capital. Fortunately, institutional investors like pension funds and insurance companies often seek infrastructure's investment profile, which include steady, predictable returns over longer investment time horizons. Moreover, with institutional investors holding an estimated $70 trillion in assets, the deep reserves of capital are available on the global market.

Yet, in sub-Saharan Africa, it is difficult to match this supply with demand given investors' differing investment mandates, risk tolerance and regulatory restrictions. To effectively mobilize this source of capital, USAID has partnered with NASP to draw in the financial and marketing expertise to reduce risks and expose investors to suitable investment opportunities. 

NASP is well positioned in the market, as the majority of its 500+ members either manage pension funds or advise institutional investors in the U.S. Under this partnership, USAID's Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise (PCM) and USAID/Southern Africa's Africa Private Capital Group (APCG) will, with NASP, convene African and U.S. institutional investors at two conferences in sub-Saharan Africa, facilitating relationships between local and U.S. investors. The partnership will also bring U.S. financial professionals to sub-Saharan Africa to help structure and advise on transactions and financial vehicles that support infrastructure development.

The PCM/APCG-NASP partnership exemplifies a mutually beneficial U.S.-Africa commercial and development relationship, where the U.S. brings more than investment dollars and also builds the capacity of local institutions. In support of the partnership, the Department of Commerce will also conduct outreach to U.S minority-owned businesses on resulting projects.

USAID's Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise develops investment partnerships with investors, financiers, and professional organizations, as a way to increase available capital and expertise for USAID development priorities. If you have an idea for an investment partnership, or an infrastructure project that should be considered for support under the USAID-NASP Partnership, please contact Dewey Klurfield at dklurfield@usaid.gov.

PCM Promotes Financial Inclusion in Silicon Valley


Light beamed from the eyes of some of the brightest global innovators - some as young as 11 years old - as President Obama addressed the crowd in Silicon Valley this past June for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). This was not a typical business conference, and PCM was there leading the way, along with USAID Administrator Gayle Smith and Assistant Administrator for Africa Linda Etim, in the discussion on how to break through emerging markets, promote social inclusion, and mentor the next generation of innovators. The office was involved with selecting investors (e.g., angel investors and large banks) to attend the summit to connect entrepreneurs from all over the world to the thinking of Silicon Valley and the world of development through impact investing. In addition, PCM organized several panels and coordinated messaging that covered building startups, fostering entrepreneurship and financial inclusion, and driving global innovation in emerging markets.
 
Notably, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition announced that it will work with the US Government (including the Global Development Lab, Power Africa, and PCM) to develop a process to consider potential investments in climate entrepreneurs and early stage clean energy. PCM is now looking for additional partners in clean energy and climate entrepreneurship and for Missions that would like to get more involved. Contact Cameron Khosrowshahi at  ckhosrowshahi@usaid.gov if your Mission is interested in clean energy and climate entrepreneurship.
 
V isit the summit's website for more information, or learn more about PCM here .



At the invitation of the Vatican, USAID Director of the Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise Agnes Dasewicz joined impact investing experts and faith-based leaders from around the world in Rome last June to explore how to most effectively harness the power of impact capital to sustain social missions.
 
The Vatican Impact Investment Conference attracted 170 delegates, including key business experts, policy makers, and Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim leaders.
 
Specifically, the conference set out to explore opportunities to transform programs that are dependent on grants/philanthropy into sustainable social enterprises to lift the poor out of poverty for the long-term.
 
Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo, President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, noted that successful impact investments need to be in enterprises that are both sustainable and able to grow to a scale that can have a large social impact.
 
Omidyar Network and Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame co-sponsored the conference. For more information and to view the presentations and attendee lists from the conference, visit: http://www.viiconference.org/multimedia/.

USAID Partners Forum
Congratulations to USAID Partners Forum member Edward Mathias on his re-election to the President's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA). PAC-DBIA advises the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and Africa. 
Mr. Mathias is a Managing Director and Partner of The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm. He was instrumental in the founding of The Carlyle Group and assisted in raising the firm's initial capital. Prior to joining Carlyle in January 1994, Mr. Mathias was a long-time member of the Management Committee and Board of Directors of T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., a major investment management organization. Mr. Mathias holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. 

   Photo Credit:  Ryan Mcdonald      

In July, PCM's Senior Investment Officer Matt Austin brought climate change and financial investment together, moderating a panel presentation, "Navigating the Climate Economy: Investing for Growth and Resilience."

Sponsored by USAID's Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience project, the panel discussed how long-term infrastructure investments can systematically incorporate climate risk analysis and screening in their financial models and mitigate these risks.

Making more localized climate risk information available is an important component to facilitating investment in resilient infrastructure, especially for the private sector and investors. The panel also noted that since revenues from renewable energy investments can fluctuate based on wind, rain, and cloud cover, weather-indexed insurance - which is becoming available in some developing countries - can be seen as an emerging service that makes investment more attractive.

Experts on the panel included Vladimir Stenek, Senior Climate Change Specialist at the International Finance Corporation; Roseann Casey, Policy Lead for Power Africa; and Mathias Jungen, Senior Vice President at Swiss Re Group.

For additional information on the session, see here.

Exciting Learning Opportunity!
PCM Sponsors Public-Private Partnership Training in Pretoria


Do you want to leverage private investment to achieve development outcomes? Join us for a two-day training from the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Public-Private Partnership Advisory Services unit, which advises governments around the world on how to best structure and tender public-private partnerships (PPPs).
 
The Bureau for Economic, Education and Environment (E3) Office of Private Capital & Microenterprise invite USAID staff to participate in this training on the use of Public-Private Partnerships as a Development Tool on November 8-9th in Pretoria, South Africa. PCM is in the process of developing additional trainings that focus on financial markets and private capital mobilization in support of development efforts. These will be available next year. PCM will send updates on course offerings in future newsletters.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Public-Private Partnerships as a Development Tool course seeks to:
  • Increase understanding of how PPPs can attract private investment in infrastructure, health, agriculture, and other key sectors;
  • Improve knowledge of legal and financial risk factors in PPPs and how development tools can mitigate certain risks; and
  • Provide a tangible outlook on the ground perspective with case studies covering various regions and sectors.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS TRAINING COURSE
This course is intended for USAID staff who work to leverage private investment in agriculture, health, and infrastructure but is highly applicable across all other sectors. Interested participants should note that this course relates to the provision of a service through a partnership of government and private companies and is not a course of the structuring of Global Development Alliances.

HOW TO REGISTER
Participants should register on USAID University, using record locator #34506

Stay Connect ed - Bookmark our MyUSAID page: https://pages.usaid.gov/E3/PCM
 

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