Providing for Basic Needs

That is exactly what OPIC is helping

to provide in Mexico through a $2.5

million loan to the U.S. nonprofit,

Cooperative Housing Foundation

(CHF). Proceeds of the loan flow

through CHF to Mexican nonprofit

organizations, which in turn lend

money to private citizens to finance

home improvements or new home

construction.

The project especially targets the

need for safe and adequate housing

for workers along the U.S.-Mexico

border. CHF is also offering educational programs for potential lenders

and borrowers.

No Longer a Pipe Dream

Following last year's groundbreaking

project in Kenya, OPIC and Texasbased nonprofit Living Water

International (LWI) are working together again to make a clean glass of

water an everyday experience for

people throughout Africa.

Just $100,000 in OPIC financing will

provide LWI a new drilling machine,

air compressor, and other equipment

to drill dozens of wells in Ghana, providing local communities with clean

water and the better health that goes

with it. 

Communities raise the funding

to pay for drilling the wells, driven by both the need for clean

water and the knowledge that

similar LWI projects have

reduced the rates of waterborne diseases by 95 percent. 

To protect public health, all

wells are tested for contamination before use. LWI trains local

citizens to maintain the wells,

pumps, and storage tanks,

keeping them free from contamination. To finance maintenance

and give the communities a sense of

ownership, local water boards established at each site are encouraged to

sell water for a penny a bucket. n

OPIC will continue to build partnerships with organizations like LWI as

well as other members of the

Millennium Water Alliance to bring

potable water to communities throughout Africa.

Boosting Afghanistan’s

Recovery

Identifying projects which can best

help in the reconstruction of

Afghanistan, OPIC increased it’s line

of credit to the country from $50 million to a minimum of $100 million.

In January 2002, President Bush

announced that OPIC would establish

a $50 million line of credit to promote

private sector investment in

Afghanistan. Now, OPIC will redouble

its efforts to seek additional U.S. partners who will help in the reconstruction process.

As part of the reconstruction in

Afghanistan, a 200-room hotel, the

Hyatt Regency Kabul, will receive up

to $35 million in financing and political

risk insurance.

Helping to rebuild the education infrastructure in Kabul, OPIC will provide

political risk insurance for the construction of three schools, at least one

of them a girls’ school.

OPIC will provide $35,000 in insurance to Vermeer Manufacturing

Company, an Iowa-based industrial

and agriculture equipment manufacturer for the transportation of a compressed earth block machine to

Kabul, where it will be donated to

Shelter for Life (SFL), a Wisconsinbased non-governmental organization.

SFL will use the machine to construct

the schools under the auspices of the

U.S. Agency for International

Development.

OPIC Projects

Office of External Affairs

1100 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20527

202-336-8400

www.opic.gov

OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION

OPIC Focuses on Development

In 2002, OPIC created a sophisticated measurement tool including a comprehensive scoring matrix that weighs

each developmental indicator according to its importance in contributing to the economic and social welfare of

the host country. With this tool, OPIC is better able to demonstrate its success in implementing its developmental mission.

OPIC is a U.S. government agency that helps

U.S. businesses invest

overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets,

complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign

direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy.

Because OPIC charges market-based

fees for its products, it operates on a

self-sustaining basis at no net cost to

taxpayers. Since 1971, OPIC has supported nearly $145 billion worth of

investments that will generate $65 billion in U.S. exports and create more

than 254,000 American jobs.

For general information, contact OPIC’s

InfoLine at (202) 336-8799. For information via the Internet please go to

http//www.opic.gov. 

April 2003