U.S. President Obama has made two trips to India during his time in office, and on both occasions Elizabeth Littlefield, chief executive of the Overseas Private Investment Corp., accompanied him.
Littlefield heads the roughly 250-person government agency that has come to embody the administration’s business-first approach to global development, and her position has become central to a growing debate about risk, return and impact in U.S. development finance decisions.
OPIC, which extends partial risk guarantees and other financial services that can incent investors to enter new or uncertain markets, straddles the line between corporate lending and social good. The agency looks for deals that will open new markets and spur development outcomes, but it also realizes a return on its lending and puts money back into the U.S. treasury year after year.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.
