CABEI and KfW sign agreement to promote MSMEs in Central America

Tegucigalpa, September 25, 2015. -  The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the German KfW Development Bank  signed a loan for an equivalent in US dollars of up to EUR40 million to finance the Program “Entrepreneurial Development and Promotion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Central America,” better known as the DINAMICA Initiative.

The Program aims to promote an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the incorporation of innovative solutions at MSMEs in order to stimulate and diversify the economy, thereby creating employment, wealth and new technologies. It will also contribute to the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as strengthen the financial sector that attends MSMEs in order to support socioeconomic development and poverty reduction in the region.

In addition, a EUR3.8 million non-reimbursable financial cooperation agreement was signed with the European Union through its Latin America Investment Facility (LAIF) to finance complementary measures to the DINAMICA Initiative.

The purpose of the DINAMICA Initiative is to foster improved coordination and promote a sole initiative that integrates the different efforts and mechanisms implemented by CABEI, KfW and the European Union to promote innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible financing in order to stimulate and diversify the economies of the region’s countries.

The initiative involves intervention in several of the sub-stages of the entrepreneurial process, principally: identification of entrepreneurs and ideas; assistance in preparing business plans; selection of the best business plans; business management training; pre-incubation, incubation, acceleration and training courses; and financing targeted at MSMEs.

This CABEI effort is carried out in the framework of its Institutional Strategy "Integrating Sustainable Development and Competitiveness," specifically in its focus area of financial intermediation and development finance.