MIGA COO Vijay Iyer in Kenya, Rwanda to Encourage Private Sector Investment

WASHINGTON DC, September 4, 2018— S. Vijay Iyer, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) - the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group – will be visiting Kenya and Rwanda from September 7-15.  The visit aims to enhance private sector investments in both countries in key industries such as energy, infrastructure and agriculture. 

In Kenya, Mr. Iyer will chair multiple business development roundtables and hold meetings with government officials, and while in Rwanda, will speak at the Development Finance Forum in Kigali and meet with senior members of the government and regional business leaders.

“Governments across the continent have set ambitious development targets. MIGA stands ready to provide support by securing capital from the private sector for high impact projects, which will act as economic multipliers and create jobs,” Mr. Iyer said.

MIGA has an expansive portfolio in sub-Saharan Africa, across a range of industries spanning agribusiness, manufacturing, power generation and infrastructure. For instance, MIGA currently provides political risk insurance for select power generation and distribution projects in Kenya, and water treatment and distribution facilities in Rwanda.

The Agency’s gross exposure in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole is $5.4 billion, and during the last fiscal year set $1 billion in new issuance for the region. Projects MIGA has supported in both countries are expected to generate 752 GWh of electricity annually, deliver 40,000 m3 of water, generate $73.4 million annually in government revenues, and support the creation of approximately 1,780 direct jobs.

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MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment in emerging economies by helping mitigate the risks of restrictions on currency conversion and transfer, breach of contract by governments, expropriation, and war & civil disturbance; and offering credit enhancement to private investors and lenders.

This year marks MIGA's 30th Anniversary. Over the last three decades, MIGA has directly supported almost $50 billion in investments for over 845 projects in 111 developing countries.

Contacts:

In Washington: Vamsee Krishna Kanchi, (202) 458-9771, vkanchi@worldbank.org

For more information, please visit: http://miga.org

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Note: This press release was updated on September 24, 2018.