CAF approves $350 million for Colombia’s territorial development

In order to support the Colombian government in promoting territorial development from different perspectives of institutional strengthening, CAF – the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean – announced the approval of a loan of US$ 350 million to implement a program aimed at regional transformation in the country.

The aim of this initiative is to help the national government identify proposals that start from the territoryin line with the strategic axes of the National Development Plan for 2022-2026, Colombia World Power of Life, and promotes the protection of biodiversity and integration in these territories.

In addition, the programme aims to support the country’s efforts in the decentralisation process and to develop methodologies and strategies to strengthen the financial, administrative and technical capacity of the regions, as well as to enhance sustainable development and social balance.

“Since its creation in 1968, CAF has supported Colombia through broad-based development initiatives and projects, as well as by strengthening its technical and regulatory capacity to implement priority public policies. With this new funding, we want to provide the country’s regions with the mechanisms and tools that will allow them to transition towards sustainable and inclusive development, providing opportunities to all Colombians“– said Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF.

The programme consists of a set of public policy proposals and guidelines that the government implements based on a public policy matrix (PPM) consisting of five components: (i) competences between levels of government; (ii) sources and use of resources for development; (iii) institutional strengthening and governance in the territory; (iv) open government and territorial participation of citizens; and (v) governance and strengthening of the territorial dimension.

Over the past five years, CAF approved operations worth USD 8,991.3 million, which amounts to an average of USD 1,798.3 million per year. In addition, during the same period, total distributions amounted to USD 6,768 million, representing 14.9% of the total amount distributed to shareholder countries. As of December 2023, Colombia’s portfolio amounted to USD 3,954.8 million, representing 11.6% of the CAF portfolio.