CAF Grants a $450 Million USD Development Loan to Colombia

The Development Bank of Latin America, also known as a Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), has granted a $450 million USD loan to Colombia to support its post-conflict transition as the nation’s peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) enters its final stages.

The funds, which will be managed by both the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and the National Planning Department (DNP), are intended to promote sustainable urban development and improve the nation’s public transportation, according to the Caracas, Venezuela-based bank.

Specifically, the loan aims to help the nations’ most vulnerable populations by fostering a better urban/rural integration and improving urban mobility through a CAF initiative it calls Modern Cities and Infrastructure for Sustainable Territorial Integration.

“Today, more than ever, we need more inclusive, competitive, efficient, and sustainable cities that place the citizen at the center of action so that they are the real engines of economic growth,” said Enrique Garcia, president and CEO of CAF. “This is why investments to improve urban and interurban infrastructures are so important, as they have a positive impact on the environment and contribute to the necessary, productive transformation of the country.”

While Colombia is getting the biggest chunk, the loan is a part of a larger, $1.9 billion USD development fund that will be distributed by CAF to seven Latin American countries. The others receiving development loans are Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Only Colombia and Argentina will receive loans in excess of $220 million USD.

“These loans represent an important contribution for the governments in the region to successfully meet the main development challenges in their countries,” said Garcia, according to Colombia’s Caracol network.

Photo: CAF is hoping to help Colombia improve, among other things, its rural/urban integration. (Credit: Jared Wade)