CO-M1058 : Support to the Social Financing Program of Empresas Publicas de Medellin

The general objective is to increase access to productive financing for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the Department of Antioquia. The specific objective is to expand the Social Financing Program of Empresas Públicas de Medellín, by developing a sustainable model for a public utility to provide financing for MSEs. The project will be complementary to the US$10 million ¿Opportunities for the Majority¿ (OMJ) loan to expand the scope of EPM¿s Social Financing Program, and its execution will be closely coordinated with OMJ. First, it will introduce microenterprises as a group of potential customers with specific needs and dynamics not addressed in the original design of the Social Financing Program. Second, it will introduce, for the first time in Colombia, systems of ¿credit scoring¿ for informal segments that otherwise would not have access to financing because of their risk profile, thus, the risk for EPM in serving these markets will be lowered. The MIF support will facilitate better execution of EPM lending operations with low-income sectors, which will be financed in part with OMJ funds. Third, both the OMJ and the MIF projects will be executed by the Business Projects Management Unit of EPM, ensuring that the two instruments will be implemented in harmony. The goals of these two projects are closely coordinated.