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Fact Sheet - Base of the Pyramid and IDB's Opportunities for the Majority
June 20, 2011
About the BOP market in Latin America [i]
IDB and Energy
March 27, 2008
The Inter-American Development Bank’s energy portfolio includes a wide array of investments aimed at improving the energy security of its member countries by exploiting both conventional and renewable sources.
In 2007 the Bank approved US$2.5 billion in energy-related operations. Many of these loans will support high-priority gas and electricity infrastructure projects. For example, the IDB approved:
A US$32.7 million loan for a wide-ranging investment program to strengthen Nicaragua’s electricity system.
IDB in Brief
March 24, 2008
The Inter-American Development Bank was created in 1959 to help accelerate the economic and social development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and to promote regional integration.
The Bank has 47 member countries: 28 in the Western Hemisphere, 16 in Europe, as well as Israel, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The Latin American and Caribbean countries as a group hold half the shares in the institution.
IDB and Infrastructure
March 24, 2008
The Inter-American Development Bank, the main source of multilateral development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, plans to allocate US$12 billion for infrastructure projects in the region by 2010.
IDB loans for social development in Latin America and the Caribbean totaled $1.8 billion in 2006
February 27, 2007
The Inter-American Development Bank targeted $1.8 billion to social development investments in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2006, with an emphasis on poverty reduction and expanding opportunities for the majority.
The IDB last year launched its Opportunities for the Majority initiative and renewed its commitment to support its member countries in the region to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
The IDB and cofinancing
March 13, 2006
Cofinancing of Inter-American Development Bank projects has become an increasingly important source of development resources for Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years, supplementing IDB loans and grants with financing from other organizations.
Multilateral and bilateral cofinancing transactions, not counting the IDB Group private sector areas, or trust fund operations, totaled approximately $2.2 billion in 2005, substantially above the $1.6 billion average of the last five years.
New financial instruments
March 13, 2006
The IDB has recently introduced a series of new financial instruments that enables the Bank to offer a more flexible lending program that is more responsive to the needs of borrowing countries.
The Bank established a new, local currency facility in November 2005 that offers three options for local currency financing: local currency loans through currency conversion of disbursements or outstanding loan balances, direct currency swaps with Bank borrowers against existing Bank debt and local currency loans through the conversion of called guarantees.
Remittances
March 13, 2006
Latin American and Caribbean workers living abroad sent some $53.6 billion in remittances back to their homelands in 2005, up by around 17 percent from the previous year, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund.
The volume of these money transfers has grown dramatically during the past decade, to the point where remittances rival and in many cases surpass foreign direct investment and overseas aid in most countries in this region. In several nations remittances represent more than 10 percent of the gross domestic product.
The IDB and the private sector
March 13, 2006
The Inter-American Development Bank has launched a series of initiatives to further private sector growth in Latin America and the Caribbean through direct lending, guarantees, technical assistance and trade promotion.
During 2005 the IDB Board of Governors raised the financial ceiling for funding private sector projects to $200 million from $75 million per project. Under exceptional circumstances the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors may also authorize loans and guarantees for up to $400 million per project.
The IDB and microenterprise
March 13, 2006
The Inter-American Development Bank has long supported microenterprise as part of its efforts to promote private sector growth, expand economic opportunities for the poor and reduce income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this region alone there are some 57 million of these tiny businesses, which provide jobs for more than 100 million people. From a development standpoint, microenterprises help alleviate poverty and stimulate economic activity, generating income for people in vulnerable groups, such as female heads of household and underprivileged youths.