MIGA Executive Vice President to Visit Côte d’Ivoire

MIGA Executive Vice President to Visit Côte d’Ivoire
Underscores Commitment to Boosting Private-Sector Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Washington, September 5, 2013 – Keiko Honda, Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group—is traveling to South Africa, Kenya, and Côte d’Ivoire on her first official trip as MIGA’s top executive. She arrived in South Africa on September 1st and then visits Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire, joined by Michel Wormser, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. The team will meet with government officials, investors, and lenders to discuss how MIGA can boost private sector investment in sub-Saharan Africa through its investment guarantees.

MIGA recently posted its strongest results to date in sub-Saharan Africa, issuing $1.5 billion in guarantees covering investments in the agribusiness, energy, services, and water sectors this past fiscal year. “MIGA’s exposure in the region has more than doubled in the last three years,” said Honda. “We’ve made it clear that sub-Saharan Africa is a priority for us, and we intend to continue our support for investments that generate jobs and growth."

In Côte d’Ivoire, where Ms. Honda will arrive on September 7th, MIGA’s investment guarantees have mobilized more than $2 billion in investment in the past two years. This includes significant support to the country’s energy sector. MIGA is backing the conversion of the Azito Thermal Power Plant from simple to combined cycle—which will double the ouput of the facility without the use of additional gas. MIGA’s political risk insurance is complemented by financing from the International Finance Corporation. The Agency is also covering investments and debt financing for the expansion of Foxtrot International’s oil and gas production platform. The company will  construct a new platform in its Marlin gas field, which is expected to go online in 2015. This project is further supported by a partial risk guarantee of $60 million from the International Development Association.

MIGA is also backing the construction and operation of Henri Konan Bedié toll bridge with $145 million in guarantees covering the project’s equity investor and lenders as well as a hotel in Abidjan operated by the Malian company Azalai Hotels SA. The Agency’s gross exposure in Côte d’Ivoire is $751 million, making it the second largest in MIGA’s portfolio.

“We are pleased to be working with our partners in the World Bank Group to help deliver investments that will transform Côte d’Ivoire’s infrastructure, especially as the country emerges from more than a decade of civil conflict that deeply impacted the economy,” says Honda. “I look forward to seeing the significant progress that the country has made and learning how we can further support Côte d’Ivoire in meeting its development goals by helping mobilize investments for infrastructure that improve competitiveness and enterprises that create jobs.”

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MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT GUARANTEE AGENCY
A Member of the World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433

MIGA Contact:
Mallory Saleson, MIGA
Tel: +1 202 473-0844
E-mail: msaleson@worldbank.org

Rebecca Post, MIGA
Tel: +1 202-473-1964
E-mail: rpost@worldbank.org

Cara Santos Pianesi
Tel: +1.202.458.2097
E-mail: csantospianesi@worldbank.org