An example of regional success in financing renewable energy and energy efficiency

The Green MSME Initiative is a mechanism established by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) with financial support from the German KFW Development Bank and the European Union through its Latin American Investment Facility (LAIF).

The initiative’s objective is to contribute to climate and environmental protection and to promote investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy by small and medium enterprises.   During 2015, this financing mechanism provided resources to 59 Intermediary Financial Institutions (IFIs); 18 of them established technical assistance funds, 34 participated in training processes to identify energy projects and 17 were actively involved in providing funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

The Initiative’s beneficiaries are composed of small and medium enterprises belonging to the economic sector of energy and transportation; 7,398 men and 2,223 women for a total of 9,621 beneficiaries.   In order to provide continuity to this successful initiative, CABEI and the German government signed a technical cooperation agreement amounting to 41.0 million euros.

The agreement was signed by German Ambassador to Honduras, Mrs. Beatrix Kania, on behalf of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and CABEI Executive President, Dr. Nick Rischbieth.  

"Given the success achieved by the Green MSME Initiative during its first phase and the vision of giving continuity to the Initiative, the German government has allocated an additional 41.0 million Euros, which is equivalent to approximately 1.0 billion lempiras, to contribute to climate and environmental protection through Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Central American region," stated Ambassador Kania.  

She added that, "The funds will be used to accomplish highly specific objectives, such as funding MSMEs applying for loans to invest in solar panels or modernizing public transportation systems with buses that use less fuel." For his part, CABEI Executive President Dr. Nick Rischbieth noted that, "The signing of the agreement reinforces the financial cooperation between Germany and CABEI."  

He also highlighted the fact that, "CABEI has maintained a long-standing relationship of financial cooperation with Germany, having signed an aggregate amount of more than US$450.0 million in loans with the German KfW Development Bank aimed at fostering the region’s sustainable development and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency projects at MSMEs."