The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a loan agreement with Banco de Ahorro y Credito FONDESA S.A. (BANDFONDESA), to boost access to finance for women and rural borrowers, and for people living close to the Haitian and Dominican Republic border. The EIB credit line will support up to 10,000 microloans in the Dominican Republic, providing access to credit to disadvantaged populations and students from low income households.

The loan was signed under the Caribbean and Pacific Impact Finance Facility (CPIFF) - a EUR 40 million lending facility which supports microfinance markets in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, targeting poverty reduction. Last year, the EIB also provided a loan to Banco Adopem de Ahorro y Credito, another microfinance provider in the Dominican Republic under the CPIFF. The European Microfinance Week is taking place in Luxembourg, and many of the EIB’s microfinance partners will attend the event.

Commenting on the new loan during the European Microfinance Week, Vice President van Ballekom said: “Giving women, young people and rural borrowers an opportunity to study and to start their own micro-businesses is a crucial factor in reducing poverty. The European Microfinance week taking place in Luxembourg, provides a good forum for discussing new ways of collaborating with key local and international microfinance partners. The EUR 5 million loan for BANDFONDESA, a partner institution I met with during my visit to Santo Domingo last year, confirms the EIB’s commitment to support private sector development in the Dominican Republic and the wider Caribbean region.”

BANDFONDESA President, Mr. Cristian Reyna said: “The increasing support of EIB to microfinance and rural development institutions in the Caribbean region, reflects its commitment to helping the most vulnerable in getting access to financial services, and also allowing microfinance institutions to provide hope for a better future for urban and rural areas”.

With EUR 77.5 billion of investments in 2015, the EIB is the largest multilateral public bank in the world and roughly 10% of its lending targets investments outside of the European Union.

The European Investment Bank is the world’s largest international public bank and has supported development and economic activity in the Caribbean with loans and equity investment worth EUR 1,6 billion since its first operation in the region. In the Dominican Republic, the EIB has provided a total of EUR 409 million to projects, including in the energy, small business and transport sectors.