Duration: April 1995 - April 2010

Geographic Focus:  National

Description:
The Albanian American Enterprise Fund (AAEF) is a non-political, US corporation established pursuant to the Support for East European Democracy Act of 1989. It was incorporated in 1995 and maintains offices in New York and Tirana.

The Fund’s primary purpose is to enhance the development of the Albanian private sector through investment in private enterprises, dissemination of Western business expertise and promotion of business policy reforms. The United States Government provided AAEF’s initial capital of $30 million through a grant from USAID.

The AAEF not only provides financial aid but also functions as investor. Since its establishment, AAEF has invested nearly $62 million in various sectors of the Albanian economy, including the creation of the American Bank of Albania and the modernization of the Mother Teresa International Airport.

Key Accomplishments:

• 62 investments in 25 Albanian companies;
• Assisted companies contributed $419 million to GDP and created over 2,700 jobs;
• A principal investor in the new terminal of Mother Theresa International Airport through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession agreement with the Government of Albania;
• SIGAL, the Fund’s insurance company investment, leading the market with a 30% share;
• American Bank of Albania is now serving 60,000 clients with $582.2 million in deposits and the largest loan portfolio of any bank in Albania at $236 million as of September 2006.