Supporting high-impact infrastructure projects in Latin America

CIFI S.A. is based in Panama and is a nonbank financial institution investing in equity and debt in private sector infrastructure projects in Latin America. It currently has a portfolio of about 60 projects in nearly 15 countries, amounting to a total of close to USD 400m. CIFI also diversified its activity a few years ago by creating an asset management activity through which it structures and monitors projects for third-party investors. It has thereby created the CIFI Sustainable Infrastructure Debt Fund, which will be managed and supervised by CIFI Asset Management.

The project involves a USD 20m operation to finance infrastructure projects for sustainable development in Latin America through the creation of the CIFI SIDF fund.

The focus on renewable energies (over 50% of the anticipated portfolio) for projects located in South and Central America means that this operation is fully in line with Proparco’s current strategy to reduce GHG emissions. The project pipeline comprises up to 15 countries for potential investments, with an expected average project size of USD 9m in a wide range of high-impact sectors.

The fund is structured by CIFI S.A., a client of Proparco since 2010. This fund will invest in about 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean with an initial lifespan of 10 years. Its objective will be to mainly support renewable energy projects. This financing by Proparco is part of a syndication including DEG and the EDFIs in Austria (OeEB) and Finland (Finnfund).

The main development impacts are the support for about 20 infrastructure projects which will contribute to supporting 800 direct and indirect jobs.

The project will contribute to SDGs 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 8 (Decent work and economic growth) and 13 (Climate action).