first time, the Department of Commerce hopes to help U.S. businesses
find their next customer abroad and create jobs in Africa.

Note: This post is part of the U.S.-Africa Business
Success Stories series highlighting the work of the Department of Commerce to
strengthen the economic relationship between U.S. and African businesses. This
series will lead up to the U.S. Africa Business Forum on August 5th,
the first of its kind event, which will
convene African heads of state and government, U.S.
government officials and business leaders to
discuss trade and investment opportunities on the
continent.

The
geographic distance between Texas-based Arnold Oil Company and Sub-Saharan
Africa may be thousands of miles, but their economic relationship has never
been closer. U.S. businesses like the Arnold Oil Company are increasingly
finding economic opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa: between 2001 to 2012, U.S.
trade to sub-Saharan Africa tripledOil Company with financing its exports.

But
the USEAC took its assistance one step further, introducing the Arnold Oil
Company to a buyer in Cameroon, who eventually was signed as a distributer. As
a result of this relationship, the Arnold Oil Company was able to ship their
first exports of oil lubricants to Morocco, generating revenue of more than
$24,000 in 2013. With assistance from the USEAC, the Arnold Oil Company was
able to expand its business into one of the most economically dynamic regions
in the world.

With its
fast-growing middle class and tremendous human, agricultural, and mineral
resources, the continent of Africa is attracting investors and businesses from
all around the world. Home to seven of the world’s ten fastest-growing
economies, Sub-Saharan Africa outpaces global average growth. That is
why, in 2012, President Obama launched the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD)
on