Fortaleza (CE), May 16, 2024- During the second day of the 54^th Meeting of the Latin American Association of Development Finance Institutions (ALIDE) in Fortaleza, the ALIDE Awards 2024 ceremony was held, a contest that rewards the best practices and innovations in products and services within Development Banking in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as recognizing the work performed by these institutions to promote the economic and social development of the countries in the region.

During the seventeenth edition of the awards, 37 proposals from 23 institutions were submitted to the call, nine of which were winners:

Category I Financial Products:

Social Bond Product for Inclusive Development of Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Costa Rica.

The social bond was issued in February 2022, in collaboration with BID Invest and FinDev Canada, with a value of US$75 million. Its objective is to foster sustainable economic growth, especially for MSMEs led by women.

Compra de Campos (Field Purchase) Credit of Banco de la República Oriental del Uruguay (BROU), Uruguay.

Compra de Campos (Field Purchase) is a financial initiative to facilitate access to land ownership. Its main objective is to help agricultural and livestock producers acquire land to expand their productive activities or start new ventures.

Category II Management and Technological Modernization:

Caja Amiga Non-Banking Correspondent Service of Caja de Ahorros, Panamá.

Caja Amiga promotes access to banking services in rural communities of Panama through a mobile application for non-banking correspondents. This initiative brings financial services closer to those who lack access to conventional branches, improving their quality of life by offering them convenient and secure banking.

Category III Information, Technical Assistance and Social Responsibility:

Educação Empreendedora Program of Banco do Nordeste do Brasil S. A. (BNB), Brazil.

This program, launched in 2021, seeks to select accelerators to execute an entrepreneurial education program aimed at startups in the Northeast region and in certain municipalities in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. Its objective is to promote innovative entrepreneurship and sustainable development through training and business opportunities.

Technical Assistance Program for the Restructuring and Development of Public Transportation of Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional S.A. (FDN), Colombia.

The program provided technical assistance to private associations and Transcaribe to restructure the Integrated Mass Transportation System (SITM), addressing technical, legal and financial aspects.

Category ALIDE Green:

Linha de Financiamento BDMG Sustentabilidade del Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais S.A. (BDMG), Brazil.

The BDMG Sostenibilidade financing line aims to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, promoting a green economy and mitigating climate change by avoiding greenhouse gas emissions.

Floresta Viva Initiative of Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES), Brazil.

The Floresta Viva project seeks to restore ecological areas in Brazil with an initial investment of R$823 million (US$ 158.4 million) over 7 years. 25,000 to 35,000 hectares are expected to be restored, removing 8 to 11 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Category Support for Women Entrepreneurs:

BDP Women Program of Banco de Desarrollo Productivo S.A.M., Bolivia.

The program seeks to strengthen the productive initiatives of Bolivian women through credits, together with advice and training to improve personal and management skills. It offers two types of credits: «Semilla Mujer» (Seed Woman) and «Jefa de Hogar» (Female Head of Household), both with six-month grace periods for investment capital and competitive interest rates.

Category Extra-regional Banks

Sustainability Bonds Product of Export-Import Bank of India (Eximbank), India.

In fiscal year 2022-23, the Bank successfully issued a US$1 billion 10-year Sustainability Bond in January 2023. This issuance made history by making the Bank the largest single-placement ESG issuer in India, also opening the markets for dollar and sustainability bond issuances in 2023.

Bank of the Year

Banco Nacional de Fomento del Paraguay (BNF) was recognized as the Bank of the Year 2024, an award that recognizes the development finance institution that had the best performance during the previous year and takes into consideration its track record in supporting the development of its country.

It should be noted that BNF is a retail financial institution. Its assets are approximately US$3,104 million. Its relevance is focused on medium and long-term financing and investment, financial inclusion, gender inclusion, environmental sustainability focused on the SDGs, territorial inclusion from the perspective of financial inclusion, and other initiatives promoted by development banking.

More about the event

The 54^th Annual Meeting of ALIDE lasted three days and brought together more than 250 people from 26 countries. The event featured workshops, panels and lectures that addressed topics such as financial and social inclusion, reduced regional inequalities, infrastructure financing, sustainability and innovation. The meeting was co-organized by ALIDE and BNB, with the support of BNDES, the Government of Ceará, IDB, SP Global and Entrepay. For the complete program of the meeting held in Brazil, including lectures and workshops, please visit the event website.

Contact

Communnication Unit of ALIDE

Phone: +511-203-5520 |: Ext: 227
comunicaciones@alide.org, comunicaciones2@alide.org