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San Jose/Washington, D.C. July 27, 2011—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide $30 million to Costa Rica’s National Cooperative of Educators, R.L. (Coopenae) to expand access to finance for housing and small and medium enterprises, which provide 38 percent of formal employment in the country. This is IFC’s first investment in a cooperative in Costa Rica.
IFC will provide Coopenae up to $15 million in local-currency financing for its own account, and it will mobilize a parallel loan of up to $15 million, also in local currency, from the Netherlands Development institution FMO. IFC will also provide advisory services to expand credit operations to micro and small enterprises by helping improve Coopenae’s market strategy, credit methodology, and risk management.
Coopenae is a leading regulated, deposit-taking, finance company organized as a cooperative with over 70,000 active members in Costa Rica, and the second-largest local private sector financial institution in terms of assets and deposits.
“IFC’s financing and advisory services will enable Coopenae to expand financial and technical capacity to provide much-needed funding for clients and small and midsize businesses from various sectors throughout Costa Rica,” said José Eduardo Alvarado Campos, General Manager of Coopenae. “These operations will also support our growth strategy and help Costa Rica meet the demand for housing, particularly among low-income families.”
Chantal Schrijver, FMO Investment Officer Financial Institutions, said, “Supporting Coopenae and the cooperative financial sector of Costa Rica will enable us to reach the lower-income and still underserved micro and small enterprises sectors as well as strengthen the cooperative’s ability to provide low- and middle-income housing finance.”
The financing to Coopeane shows IFC’s catalyst role mobilizing resources and coordinating efforts of development finance institutions and private sector to help fill financing gaps caused by the retrenchment of commercial lenders.
Marcelo Castellanos, IFC Head for Financial Markets in Central America, noted, “IFC’s support to Coopenae is part of our commitment to strengthen the role of private sector financial institutions in expanding productive sectors in Costa Rica, in particular small and medium enterprises, which are an essential engine of job creation and competitiveness.”
IFC’s strategy in Central America focuses on helping improve access to finance for underserved segments of the population and in projects that promote growth. For more information about IFC in Latin America and the Caribbean, visit
www.ifc.org/lac
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For more information about FMO, please visit
www.fmo.nl
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About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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About FMO
The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the Dutch development bank. FMO invests risk capital in companies and financial institutions in developing countries. With an investment portfolio of EUR 5.3 billion, FMO is one of the largest bilateral private sector development banks worldwide. Thanks in part to its relationship with the Dutch government, FMO is able to take risks which commercial financiers are not - or not yet - prepared to take. FMO's mission: to create flourishing enterprises, which can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries. For more information, visit
www.fmo.nl
About Coopenae
Coopenae is a leading regulated, deposit-taking, finance company organized as a cooperative with over 70,000 active members in Costa Rica. It was created in 1966 to provide services to teachers and started its financing operations in 1983. As of December 2010, Coopenae has $600 million in total assets and over 320 employees. The company offers loans, savings, and insurance products nationwide through a network of 19 branches and serving around 50,000 clients. It is the largest of the 31 supervised financial sector cooperatives holding 27% of the cooperative market share and the second largest local private sector financial institution in terms of assets and deposits. For more information, visit:
www.coopenae.fi.cr
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