The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US Government’s development finance institution, has announced the opening of OPIC’s first-ever West Africa and Central regional office, located in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

To recognize the office’s opening, OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield is traveling to Abidjan and Dakar, Senegal with a group of international CEOs on a business development and investment mission to explore the increasing opportunity in the region.

“This is an exciting step for the growth of OPIC’s regional presence,” said Littlefield.

“As a recognition of mounting investment momentum and rich development impact opportunity across the region, this OPIC office builds a bridge for a strong US business presence in a dynamic investing environment. OPIC’s Côte d’Ivoire regional office is the start of an important chapter for this Agency and for lasting development throughout West Africa,” she said.

With a growing economy and need for investment in power, infrastructure, water, agriculture, and other development sectors, OPIC’s ability to spur private investment throughout West Africa arrives at a critical time.

OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds, when commercial funding cannot be obtained elsewhere.

OPIC has long supported private investment in impactful development throughout Africa, recently in the form of agriculture modernization in Senegal, water infrastructure in Ghana, and coffee production in Rwanda.

The opening of a dedicated regional office in Abidjan signals both OPIC’s commitment to sparking new investment in this critical region and a recognition of the increasing private sector interest in West and Central Africa as an exciting investment destination.

The Managing Director of OPIC’s West Africa office is Subha Nagarajan.