The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) announced a joint effort creating a $350 million political risk facility to support agribusiness investments in countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The facility will protect each of the investments made by agribusiness-focused private equity fund, the Silverlands Fund with OPIC providing the primary coverage and MIGA serving as the reinsurer covering 60% of each investment. The coverage is offered on pre-agreed general terms and is then tailored to meet the needs of each individual investment and is expected to attract more investments into alternative and frontier markets through offering investment managers an effective tool to mitigate losses due to political unrest, currency inconvertibility, and expropriation. The Silverlands Fund aims to invest across the entire agricultural value chain in sub-Saharan Africa including fruit, grains, soya, sugar, poultry and livestock through a “hub-outrgrowers” model linking the Fund’s commercial agribusiness with local farmers.
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