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The OPIC Blog
Insights into the renewable energy sector: A conversation with Lynn Tabernacki, OPIC’s Managing Director of Renewable and Clean Energy ProgramsOctober 29, 2012OPIC’s focus on renewable resources supports projects in wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower, biomass and other sustainable sources of energy, which will reduce carbon emissions, improve access to electricity and support economic growth. In recent years, the share of OPIC’s portfolio devoted to renewable resources has grown dramatically. In 2009, OPIC’s finance and insurance commitments in renewables totaled $131 million. That 
Featured photo: Improving financial inclusion through microfinanceOctober 26, 2012OPIC President & CEO Elizabeth Littlefield, Equity Bank founder James Mwangi (far left) and other bank representatives visit a branch in Nairobi, Kenya, to learn more about improving financial inclusion through microfinance and mobile banking technologies. The OPIC-supported Helios Sub-Saharan Africa Fund invested in Equity Bank, which has operations throughout East Africa. 
Expanding access to banking and credit in Sub-Saharan AfricaOctober 23, 2012Financial inclusion – the access to basic financial services like savings accounts and credit – can be essential to individuals trying to lift themselves out of poverty. Financial inclusion provides an opportunity to invest in a business, a home or an education. Rates of financial inclusion are low throughout much of the developing world, but particularly low in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
Featured photo: Expanding Horizons conference in ChicagoOctober 19, 2012At the latest Expanding Horizons conference in Chicago, GWA Innovative Technologies’ Thomas Anokye (center) and John Martinson (right) meet with Alison Germak-Gatchev, OPIC’s director of business development, to discuss a proposal to redevelop a marketplace in Accra, Ghana. The Expanding Horizons conference, which drew 118 small business owners from 14 states, educated small U.S. businesses about the ways OPIC products 
OPIC has another record-setting year for renewable resourcesOctober 17, 2012This week, OPIC announced that its commitments to renewable resources projects rose 41 percent in Fiscal Year 2012, which ended September 30, to set a new record of $1.55 billion. The news follows last year’s record setting pace, and as the graphic shows, marks a sharp and steady increase in OPIC’s support for projects in clean energy and sustainable agriculture 
On World Food Day, some facts about food and developmentOctober 16, 2012Tuesday, October 16 is World Food Day, which marks the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 67 years ago, and calls attention each year to the persistent problem of world hunger. While FAO says that progress has been made and that there are 130 million fewer hungry people today than there were 20 years 
Featured photo: Students singing at Nairobi’s Ongata Pine Breeze AcademyOctober 12, 2012Lillian Alwi, right, leads students in song at the Ongata Pine Breeze Academy outside Nairobi, Kenya. As school director, Alwi has used two loans from the Kenya Women’s Finance Trust (KWFT) to build Pine Breeze into a bustling source of hope for more than 500 children from a poor community in the Ngong Hills – “my passion,” she says. OPIC 
OPIC monitoring trip to KenyaOctober 09, 2012An interdepartmental OPIC team traveled to Kenya in June to monitor the performance of three financial institutions whose microfinance lending is supported by the agency: Musoni, the Kenya Women’s Finance Trust, and Equity Bank. Over the course of three days, members of OPIC’s Office of Investment Policy, Portfolio Management Department, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Finance Department, and Office of External 
Featured photo: Support for OPIC’s renewable energy effortOctober 05, 2012Lynn Tabernacki, OPIC’s Managing Director of Renewable and Clean Energy, right, leads a discussion with National Renewable Energy Laboratory staffers Laura Harrington, Adam Warren and Jeff Bedard (from left), and OPIC’s Sarah Carta. National Renewable Energy Laboratory supports OPIC’s renewable energy & energy efficiency effort The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) – the only national laboratory which takes renewable energy Monthly news wrap-up: September 2012October 03, 2012Last month, the General Assembly of the United Nations convened to begin the General Debate of the 67th Session and leaders from 193 countries congregated in New York City to discuss some of the world’s toughest issues. As reported by the State Department, some of the United States’ priorities include building on the progress made toward achieving the Millennium Development |
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