Elizabeth Littlefield on OPIC's growth and changes in development finance
This story is part of a series of exit interviews Devex is conducting with the leaders of Obama administration aid agencies.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation went through a reorganization process during the Barack Obama administration — putting in place stronger systems, targeting more vulnerable areas and doubling its annual portfolio, former President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield told Devex in a recent interview.
OPIC also played a role in shifting the conversation about the role of the private sector in development, she said. Created by Richard Nixon in 1971, OPIC launched at a time when official development assistance dwarfed foreign direct investment. But in the intervening years, those trends have reversed. Now development finance institutions globally are growing.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
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