Assisting Banco Guayaquil with its support for Ecuadorian women entrepreneurs

Ecuador’s third largest bank, Banco Guayaquil is a universal bank and a major player in the country’s financial sector, with a market share of 12% for loans in the banking system.

This new operation is a continuation of the partnership with CAF and Banco Guayaquil. The $137.5 million operation is syndicated by CAF in the form of an A/B Loan. The DFIs (CAF, Proparco and BIO) are investing $70 million as “A Lenders” and the impact funds (BlueOrchard, responsAbility), as well as several other Latin American commercial banks, are investing $67.5 million as “B Lenders”.

100% of Proparco’s $30 million investment will be allocated to financing Ecuadorian MSMEs which meet the criteria of the 2X Challenge initiative.

This senior financing is supporting a major player in the financing of the local economy in Ecuador. The operation aims to scale up the bank’s impact by assisting its strategy to support women’s entrepreneurship in the country. With the bank’s MSME client base and its unique nationwide network, the operation will have an even greater impact.

The expected impacts of this financing are as follows:

•  5,880 jobs supported over the next 5 years in the companies financed by the bank (indirect jobs)
• About 40 MSMEs supported
•  Contribution to gender equality through a commitment to finance companies aligned with the 2X Challenge (100% of Proparco’s financing). Proparco’s financing is aligned with the 2X Challenge on the basis of criteria 3 (Employment), 5 (Products and services) and 6 (Portfolio).

The project will thereby contribute to the achievement of SDGs 5 (Gender equality) and 8 (Decent work and economic growth).