IDB and France Expand Latin America Partnership, Strengthen Sustainable Development Impact

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of France, through the French Development Agency (AFD) Group, continue expanding their fruitful and strong partnership.

Today, IDB President, Mauricio Claver-Carone and Director General of AFD Group, Rémy Rioux, met in Paris to celebrate the partnership's achievements to date and explore additional opportunities to encourage greater investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This high-level meeting marked the end of the sixth AFD-IDB Deep Dive Meeting, which highlighted the impressive track record and collaboration between the institutions. Since the signing of the co-financing agreement in 2018, IDB and AFD have mobilized together $4.7 billion in joint projects and the private sector arms, Proparco and IDB Invest, have jointly financed projects for a total of $565 million. Furthermore, AFD has committed $5 million in grant financing to IDB projects related to gender, aging and climate change.

As part of the reinvigorated commitment to continue growing and expanding the AFD-IDB partnership, President Claver-Carone and Director General Rioux signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to streamline the process for all grant contributions from AFD to IDB technical cooperation. This agreement will allow the institutions to effectively mobilize additional financial resources and knowledge for IDB projects promoting sustainable development and poverty alleviation in the LAC region, with a particular focus on social and climate sustainability. Furthermore, the integration of Expertise France to AFD Group as of 1st of January this year paves the way for increased cooperation in the area of technical assistance and cooperation among the two development banks.

"AFD and Proparco have become key partners of the IDB in its mission to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean and I am proud to say that the AFD Group is now our largest European bilateral financing partner institution. It is with pride that we acknowledge that today, up to 20% of AFD Group investments in the region are done with the IDB Group each year" said IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone.

"The IDB is one of the main and historic partners of AFD in Latin America since we started our activity in the region in 2007. Over the years, our partnership has strengthened and deepened, covering today a wide range of countries, sectors and subjects, with two shared priorities: the fight against climate change and the fight against all forms of inequalities. Proud of what public development banks can achieve when working together and looking forward to our future collaboration in many new areas such as social protection or sustainable cities" said AFD general director Rémy Rioux.

Further proof of the flourishing partnership between AFD and the IDB is the joint pipeline for 2022 of approximately $593 million for the private sector and more than $1.5 billion in sovereign guaranteed operations in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Ecuador in decarbonization, transport, climate change, and solid waste, with a focus on policy-based loan (PBLs), which have been a key instrument in the success of the partnership as they provide flexible and liquid funding to support policy reforms and/or institutional changes in the region.

France has historically been a key non-borrowing member country and essential partner of the IDB in its mission to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean, throughout the years the IDB has collaborated successfully with the French Ministry for Economy and Finance, AFD, Proparco and with French Corporations via MEDEF and Business France.