DFC Visits Morocco to Explore Private Sector Investment

 

RABAT, MOROCCO – U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler visited Morocco to explore opportunities to facilitate private sector investment and strengthen economic growth. The visit advances new initiatives announced in December that would mobilize $5 billion in investments in Morocco and North Africa.

“I’m pleased to be back in Morocco to pursue investments that will increase economic opportunity, especially women’s economic empowerment, in the country and across North Africa,” said DFC CEO Adam Boehler. “We value our strong partnership with Morocco and look forward to continuing our work together.”

U.S. Ambassador Kelley Currie, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State, and Charity Wallace, Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Managing Director for the 2X Women’s Initiative at DFC, joined Boehler on the trip and hosted a global women’s economic empowerment roundtable to recognize the recently announced 2X MENA Initiative.

DFC also announced it is working with Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) to create a $100 million fund, with DFC potentially providing up to $50 million, that will focus on market opportunities and tackle endemic problems in Morocco that need innovative solutions driven by local entrepreneurs. The proposed fund will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in the impact sectors of agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, water and sanitation, and clean energy. SEAF will use the 2X gender lens approach and apply its Gender Equality Scorecard on all investments. This fund would be a leading SME-focused effort in advancing DFC’s $3 billion memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Morocco and the new regional Prosper Africa office to be based in Rabat while building on prior work by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In December, Boehler visited Morocco and announced the opening of a Prosper Africa office, signed an MOU with the Government of Morocco to invest $3 billion over the next four years for projects in Morocco and with Moroccan partners in Sub-Saharan Africa, and launched the 2X MENA initiative—supporting DFC’s broader 2X Women’s Initiative and the Administration’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP)—to catalyze $1 billion of investments in projects that advance women’s economic empowerment in the Middle East and North Africa.

 

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U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is America’s development bank. DFC partners with the private sector to finance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the developing world today. We invest across sectors including energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and technology. DFC also provides financing for small businesses and women entrepreneurs in order to create jobs in emerging markets. DFC investments adhere to high standards and respect the environment, human rights, and worker rights.