Unlocking Potential in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the OPEC Fund’s core regions with total approvals approaching US$4.5 billion across more than 30 countries. With this track record and a strong appetite to further deepen its footprint in the region the OPEC Fund participated in the Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and its private sector arm IDB Invest in March in Panama. “This is an important opportunity for us to meet with governments, institutions and businesses, explore new opportunities and share views”, said Public Sector Regional Director Miguel Linares. 

In more than 30 meetings the OPEC Fund team, which also included Ulrike Haarsager, Head of Development Effectiveness, Luis Aguilar, Senior Country Manager, and Luiscela Moreno, Senior Investment Manager, discussed urgent and long-term needs of the region and how to address those challenges. 

Special emphasis was put on engaging and mobilizing the private sector as the key to unlocking further development funding. “This very diverse region holds enormous potential for sustainable development and climate action,” said Ms. Haarsager. In addition to natural resources and arable soil, the region has a mobile, innovative and highly motivated workforce. “We stand ready to help the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean explore opportunities to further improve peoples’ lives while using resources responsibly and sustainably,” she added. 

Conversations with IDB counterparts but also other development partners such as CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, the FONPLATA Development Fund for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, as well as the global International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco, the private sector financing arm of the French Development Agency, provided opportunities to discuss and coordinate approaches and strategies. The OPEC Fund pays great attention to developing plans with partners with the goal of maximizing its leverage and impact. About four out of five OPEC Fund projects benefit from co-financing. 

This is also the case with a new support package in favor of the government of Paraguay, which will finance a national reform program designed to strengthen sustainable economic development and increase climate change resilience. The OPEC Fund signed its US$100 million loan at the sidelines of the IDB meeting: “Our loan will help Paraguay adopting measures to reduce its vulnerability to climate change”, said Mr. Linares. CAF also contributed to the program. 

The OPEC Fund’s presence in Paraguay also included the private sector. Most recently the institution signed a US$50 million loan to Banco Continental S.A.E.C.A for on-lending to local small and medium-sized enterprises. “Our loan will support core economic sectors of Paraguay’s economy, providing access to funding for agribusiness and livestock in order to secure food security,” said Ms. Moreno. 

There is still more to come. Following a Memorandum of Understanding with FONPLATA at the first OPEC Fund Development Forum in June last year, both institutions are now working on ways to intensify their cooperation. In a significant step forward they agreed on a regular project pipeline review in countries of joint interest. ”We are confident to implement this approach swiftly, because time is of the essence”, emphasized Mr. Aguilar. 

Also the host country Panama used a meeting with the OPEC Fund delegation to underline its commitment to further cooperation. In late December the OPEC Fund provided a US$120 million loan in support of a national climate action program.