HOW EXIM IS SUPPORTING FLORIDA COMPANIES TO EXPAND THEIR FOOTPRINTS IN AFRICA
BY JANE LEMONS
With a long history of supporting U.S. trade financing for Africa, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) plays a key role in building pathways to economic partnership by helping U.S. based businesses of all sizes export their goods and services to Africa.
In 2024, EXIM is celebrating its 90th anniversary, and the federal agency’s support for Africa dates to nearly that beginning. Since its first deal with Angola in 1942, EXIM has been a strong and reliable trading partner for the continent.
In the eight decades since that initial deal with Angola, EXIM’s financing has been a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and greater prosperity throughout the region. In fiscal year 2023, EXIM approved nearly $1.6 billion in authorizations for sub-Saharan Africa.
“EXIM’s deep commitment to sub-Saharan Africa is in our founding charter, and we are firmly committed to financing U.S. exporters, large and small, doing business with African nations,” EXIM President and Chair Reta Jo Lewis said during the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa. “It was a pleasure to join my colleagues at AGOA to share some of our strong work on the continent and express our strong desire to continue advancing transactions that support U.S. exporters and promote economic prosperity for the U.S. and our partner nations in Africa.”
EXIM is currently open for business in many countries across Africa, and the latest information can be found via the Country Limitation Schedule. EXIM supports U.S. companies with trade finance tools that provide short, medium, and long-term options, including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, and loan guarantees. To underscore that commitment, EXIM recently signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire, each designed to facilitate up to $500 million in U.S. export financing and deepen the commercial relationship with those countries.
EXIM also signed MOUs, totaling more than $1 billion, with a trio of key African financial institutions — African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and Africa50. In addition, EXIM approved $900 million in financing to support SunAfrica, a Miami-based solar project developer, for two renewable energy projects the company is developing in Angola.
With state and national exports continuing to show strong growth, recent data tracking the upward trajectory for both Florida and U.S. exports illustrates the possibilities.
For the second year in a row, U.S. exports of goods and services surpassed $3 trillion with a 1.2 percent increase in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In Florida, the numbers are even stronger. Export growth has rebounded significantly from $44.8 billion in 2020 to $68.9 billion in 2023 — a 50 percent increase to the highest export level in the past 10 years, according to data from the International Trade Administration.
Nearly 90 percent of EXIM’s overall transactions directly support small businesses. That includes companies doing business in Africa, such as:
• DemeTech Corporation, a Miami-based manufacturer of medical supplies that has exported its products to Egypt.
• Weldy-Lamont Associates, Inc., an Illinois-based engineering firm that has worked with EXIM to provide rural electrification projects in Ghana and Senegal.
• Acrow Corporation of America, a New Jersey-based company that exports steel bridges to Angola.
“EXIM supports American exporters like Acrow with its holistic approach to ensuring overall project success, with a focus on positive stakeholder outcomes through to full implementation, above and beyond the transactional elements,” says Paul Sullivan, Acrow’s President of International Business.
Jane Lemons is a Business Development Specialist with the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
