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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Adjustment in the role of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in sub-Saharan Africa
Author:Hendrickson, Roshen
Year:2011
Periodical:Africa Today (ISSN 1527-1978)
Volume:58
Issue:4
Pages:67-86
Language:English
Geographic terms:Subsaharan Africa
United States
Subjects:foreign investments
foreign policy
economic development
External link:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/africa_today/v058/58.4.hendrickson.pdf
Abstract:The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), an American government agency that promotes private investment in developing nations, has been a contested agency since its inception in 1969. Critics contend that it subsidizes big business, distorts market signals, and supports projects that have a detrimental effect on local communities. Its supporters argue that it is central to the US foreign development-assistance strategy. In this article, the author analyses the historical debate over the role of OPIC and shows how systemic and domestic pressures triggered adjustments in its activities that enabled its survival. She illustrates these adjustments with an analysis of the role of OPIC in sub-Saharan Africa that draws out both the promotion of US economic interests and the evolution of progressive governance guidelines that increase its chances of promoting sustainable development. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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