Citi Joins USTDA's Access Africa Initiative to Spur Investment in Information and Communications Technology

Washington, D.C. – Citi and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency announced today that Citi has joined USTDA's Access Africa initiative as an industry partner.

Access Africa is a multi-stakeholder partnership between USTDA and U.S. companies to support the development of inclusive, secure and sustainable connectivity across Africa. Access Africa partners are collaborating to strengthen the regulatory and business environment that is necessary to help meet Africa's increasing demand for access to information and communications technology (ICT).

As part of its partnership with Access Africa, Citi will host trade delegations from African nations to share Citi's technological expertise. Citi will also participate in Access Africa partner roundtables and support USTDA workshops and conferences held in Africa on ICT topics. Citi will also continue to work with USTDA and its partners on identifying and realizing emerging opportunities for U.S. and African firms to support the expansion of ICT and related sectors in Africa.

"We believe this unique partnership with USTDA will motivate the resources and combined commitment of the U.S. and African governments, financial partners and other private sector partners to undertake a coordinated effort as governments and investors," said Peter Sullivan, Public Sector Group Head for Africa. "Our collective goal is to spur new investment in the information and communications technology sector in Africa."

Growth in the African ICT sector holds great promise for economic development in the continent as a whole. A 10 percent increase in mobile broadband penetration in Africa, for example, would generate a 2.5 percent increase in per capita GDP, according to analysis by the International Telecommunication Union.

Citi has the largest presence of any global bank in Africa and has been on the ground for more than 50 years. The bank operates in nearly 40 countries in Africa with offices in 16 countries; Algeria, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.

Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi.

Media Contacts
Nicole Curtin (Paris), +33 1 70 75 50 23 (office), +34 6 03 91 01 72 (mobile)
Rob Runyan (Washington), 202-879-6878