Powering small business in Honduras

Small businesses keep Honduras running. They generate roughly half the country's GDP and around 80 percent of its jobs, some 1.4 million of them. Yet many owners, especially women, still struggle to get the financing they need to grow.

A new US$50 million loan from the OPEC Fund to Banco de América Central Honduras (BAC Honduras) aims to change that. The agreement will open up credit for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises across the country, with a particular focus on women-owned businesses that have long faced steeper barriers to finance.

The financing has a second purpose too: helping Honduras prepare for a harsher climate. Hurricanes, floods and droughts are a growing threat, and the loan will support climate-smart investment in sectors from agriculture to water and infrastructure.

"Small businesses are central to employment and economic activity in Honduras, yet many continue to face significant barriers to finance," said OPEC Fund President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa. The partnership with BAC Honduras, he added, will channel resources to entrepreneurs while strengthening the country's resilience to climate change.

It's the latest step in a long-running relationship between the OPEC Fund and Honduras, this time reaching entrepreneurs directly through the private sector — deepening a partnership built on financial inclusion and climate action.