MIGA issues $2.1b worth of new political risk insurances 2011 fiscal year

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) says its support for projects in developing countries has substantially increased in its 2011 fiscal year despite the global economic uncertainty.

According to the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group, it issued a “record high of $2.1 billion in new investment guarantees (insurance) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, representing a 43% increase from the previous year, closing the year with an outstanding gross portfolio of $9.1 billion.

“Our fiscal year results confirm that foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries has picked up since the sharp contraction of 2009, despite important, lingering economic concerns,” said Izumi Kobayashi, MIGA’s Executive Vice President in a statement.

Kobayashi adds that at the same time, events in the Middle East and North Africa have created a re-surging awareness of political risk.

“In this still-evolving economic and political environment, FDI is critical to growth and we have sent strong signals that MIGA is open for business,” she said.

MIGA indicated that its fiscal year results also show more diversity across sectors and regions, including four new host countries: Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, and the Republic of Congo.

“Of all fiscal year 2011 contracts signed, 72% fell into one or more of MIGA’s priority areas: investments in the world’s poorest countries, “South-South” (investment from one developing country to another) investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects,” the statement said.

By Ekow Quandzie