Brazil: promoting women’s entrepreneurship with Sicredi

Banco Cooperativo Sicredi S.A. was set up in 1996 and is the central banking entity of Sistema de Crédito Cooperativo Sicredi, a federated cooperative credit system composed of 109 financial cooperatives (credit unions) with over 4.9 million members in 23 Brazilian States, making it one of the largest cooperative systems in the country.

The operation involves the allocation by Proparco and DEG of a senior credit facility for a total amount of USD 80m to support the Group’s development strategy, by financing microenterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) run by women and meeting at least one criterion of the “2X Challenge”. The loan will be to Banco Sicredi, which will subsequently reallocate the resources to the underlying cooperatives in the cooperative system.

This project should have the following impacts over the next 5 years:  

• Support for some 109,000 direct and indirect jobs, mainly in the MSMEs financed by  PROPARCO’s financing. More generally, PROPARCO’s financing will contribute to the business growth of MSMEs and the development of formal employment, mainly in the agrifood, retail trade and industry sectors. In Brazil, MSMEs account for over 70% of total formal employment and the MSME segment plays a key role in poverty reduction and the acceleration of economic growth. 
• Promotion of gender equality and entrepreneurship opportunities for women. PROPARCO’s facility will finance over 4,200 MSMEs owned or run by women, meaning the project qualifies for the 2X Challenge initiative.