Sec. 7. Personnel

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The Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that not less than 10 total United States and Foreign Commercial Service officers are assigned to Africa for each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee and the Special Africa Export Strategy Coordinator, assign the United States and Foreign Commercial Service officers described in paragraph

(1)to United States embassies in Africa after conducting a timely resource allocation analysis that represents a forward-looking assessment of future United States trade opportunities in Africa. As soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall, using existing staff, assign not less than 1 full-time United States and Foreign Commercial Service officer to the office of the United States Executive Director at the World Bank and the African Development Bank. Each United States and Foreign Commercial Service officer assigned under subparagraph

(A)shall be responsible for— increasing the access of United States businesses to procurement contracts with the multilateral development bank to which the officer is assigned; and facilitating the access of United States businesses to risk insurance, equity investments, consulting services, and lending provided by that bank. Of the amounts collected by the Export-Import Bank that remain after paying the expenses the Bank is authorized to pay from such amounts for administrative expenses, the Bank shall use sufficient funds to do the following: Increase the number of staff dedicated to expanding business development for Africa, including increasing the number of business development trips the Bank conducts to Africa and the amount of time staff spends in Africa to meet the goals set forth in section 9 and paragraph

(4)of section 6(a) of the Export-Import Bank of 1945, as added by section 9(a)(2). Maintain an appropriate number of employees of the Bank assigned to United States field offices of the Bank to be distributed as geographically appropriate through the United States. Such offices shall coordinate with the related export efforts undertaken by the Small Business Administration regional field offices. Upgrade the Bank's equipment and software to more expeditiously, effectively, and efficiently process and track applications for financing received by the Bank. Of the net offsetting collections collected by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation used for administrative expenses, the Corporation shall use sufficient funds to increase by not more than 5 the staff needed to promote stable and sustainable economic growth and development in Africa, to strengthen and expand the private sector in Africa, and to facilitate the general economic development of Africa, with a particular focus on helping United States businesses expand into African markets. The Corporation shall report to the appropriate congressional committees on whether recent technology upgrades have resulted in more effective and efficient processing and tracking of applications for financing received by the Corporation. For purposes of this subsection, systems infrastructure costs associated with activities authorized by title IV of chapter 2 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) shall not be considered administrative expenses. Nothing in this section shall be construed as permitting the reduction of Department of Commerce, Department of State, Export-Import Bank, or Overseas Private Investment Corporation personnel or the alteration of planned personnel increases in other regions, except where a personnel decrease was previously anticipated or where decreased export opportunities justify personnel reductions.

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22 USC 231

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Sec. 7

Personnel

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