MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC Announces $150m Loan to Produbanco of Ecuador to Support Women’s Enterprise, SME Lending, Green Projects

Banco de la Producción SA (Produbanco), a bank in Ecuador, recently agreed to borrow USD 150 million from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government-backed development finance institution. One half of the funding is for on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to support them in adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic. USD 45 million of the total is aligned with the 2X Women’s Initiative, which supports “projects that are owned by women, led by women, or provide product or service that empowers women.” The remaining USD 30 million is for Produbanco’s Green Lines Program, which lends to companies with carbon-neutral and energy-efficient certifications.

Produbanco was founded in 1978, and it was acquired in 2014 by the Panamanian holding company, Promerica Financial Corporation (Grupo Promerica), which operates commercial banks in nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Produbanco offers savings, loans and investment accounts through 115 branches and 12,000 agents across Ecuador. As of 2020, the bank reports deposits of USD 4.45 billion, a loan portfolio of USD 3.37 billion, total assets of USD 5.52 billion and one-year return on assets of 0.5 percent.

DFC was launched in 2020 to “help businesses expand into emerging markets, foster growth and improve lives in the developing world while reinforcing US foreign policy and national security interests.” The organization issues equity placements, insurance, technical assistance and research in areas such as “energy, healthcare, critical infrastructure and technology.” Upon its founding, DFC took over the work of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) as well as the Development Credit Authority of the US Agency for International Development. During 2020, DFC brought in net income of USD 232 million, closing the year with assets of USD 12 billion. As of 2021, DFC has USD 713 million invested in Ecuador’s private sector.

By Zachary DeLuca, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

DFC press release
https://www.dfc.gov/media/press-releases/dfc-loan-produbanco-drive-inclusive-development-ecuador

Produbanco homepage
https://www.produbanco.com.ec/

Produbanco financials 2020
https://www.produbanco.com.ec/media/703792/annualreport_produbanco_2020.pdf

DFC 2X Women’s Initiative
https://www.dfc.gov/our-work/2x-womens-initiative

Grupo Promerica homepage
https://www.grupopromerica.com/

Previous MicroCapital article on DFC
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-dfc-boosts-2x-womens-initiative-goal-to-12b-adds-climate-technical-assistance-components-announces-womens-world-banking-wwb-fund-partnership/

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