OPIC approves investments in Meridiam African fund and I Square Asia fund

The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s Development Finance Institution, has recently approved new financing to support investment funds working in emerging markets with strong opportunity for development impact.

The funds approved for planned OPIC commitment will invest in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin-America, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Turkey, in sectors including new healthcare, financial services, renewable energy and infrastructure.

The investments in infrastructure/energy funds announced by OPIC are the following: 

Up to $200 million in financing to ISQ Asia Aggregator, Ltd., a private equity fund managed by I Squared Capital. The fund will make infrastructure investments across South and Southeast Asia. The economies ISQ will support with OPIC financing traditionally face difficulty in attracting commercial capital for infrastructure, a critical foundation for lasting development.

Up to $50 million in financing to Meridiam Infrastructure Africa Fund, managed by Meridiam SAS. This fund will make investments across Africa in key OPIC focus sectors to build lasting development, including renewable power, transportation and other essential infrastructure. Through investments in energy projects, the fund’s work also shares goals with President Obama’s Power Africa initiative

Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO, said:

“When fully implemented, the funds approved for OPIC financing today will show the spectrum of development impact that private investors can achieve with the right catalytic support. Spanning four continents and investing capital into key sectors like healthcare, financial access, energy and infrastructure, these investment funds present sound strategies for financial returns that bring with them social and development returns. With over a billion dollars in new catalytic capital to spark these strategies, I look forward to the results from this exciting group of new funds led by a dynamic and innovative group of private equity managers.”

Brooks Preston, OPIC’s Vice President for Investment Funds, added: 

“Emerging market private equity is one place where investors are finding development impact strategies at scale. And in any market, the key to sound financial strategy is cutting-edge fund managers – all of whom are central to the funds approved today for OPIC support. The high quality of these fund managers is exciting, and they have potential to transform the countries and sectors where they operate. Our team looks forward to partnering with these funds to show that financial performance and development goals can complementary.”