Africa growth fund

AGF will be managed by Equator Holdings Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). OPIC will oversee the activities and, based on its own eligibility and policy guidelines, approve/disapprove potential AGF investments. Capital for the fund will be provided through (1) $20 million in OPIC-guaranteed notes, and (2) $10 million in equity subscriptions. To obtain the latter amount, limited partnership interests will be offered to 5-20 U.S. corporations and institutional investors at a cost of $1 million each. Equator will be the general partner of AGF, responsible for directly managing the fund, but will not make equity investments. Funds will be invested to start a wide range of productive ventures, expand others, and finance the privatization of state-owned enterprises. These investments are intended to serve as a catalyst in increasing capital formation and private sector development - leading to an overall increase in employment, foreign exchange revenues, and demand for raw materials, goods, and services from sub-Saharan Africa. AGF investments will also generate new opportunities for U.S. exporters of equipment, components, supplies, and technology, and provide OPIC with a permanent presence in several important African markets and supplement its other investment activities in the region. Examples of projects for possible investment are: (1) diversification of a Kenyan ranch owned by a U.S. corporation, (2) establishment of a fish/shrimp trawling venture off the Nigerian coast, (3) rehabilitation of a Zambian stone crushing operation, and (4) privatization of Tanzanian cashew processing.