LOANS
ARGENTINA. . .
$38 million to support a program that expands access to essential social services among female heads of household, indigenous communities, youth at risk, the elderly, and the disabled.
The initiative, to be carried out by the Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, will seek to institutionalize a participatory planning process that encourages groups and individuals to develop and carry out their own social service projects at the community and neighborhood level. Funds will also be used to support the development of a Universal Family Identification and Registration System intended to improve the government's capacity to focus resources on the neediest sectors of the population.
BOLIVIA. . .
$20 million from the Fund for Special Operations to support projects that will contribute to the development of approximately 70,000 poor children under six years of age in rural or marginalized urban areas.
The main objective of the program, which will finance 360 child services projects in 200 municipalities, is to assist the process of consolidating services that provide basic child needs, including primary health care, nutrition, stimulation of early learning capacities, and protection. The program will establish comprehensive child care centers serving 25 to 40 children each for 11 months out of the year, and it will also offer training in child care for local families and communities. The program will be coordinated by Bolivia's Social Investment Fund.
COLOMBIA. . .
$38.5 million to support a program to modernize land titling and the registry of deeds and cadastre.
The project is designed to consolidate and strengthen an open, transparent, and efficient land market that will make access to the financial system easier for urban and rural property owners. Registered titles will be awarded for approximately 100,000 parcels of land in 200 rural municipalities and 150,000 parcels of urban property in 50 municipalities.
The land registry systems of existing recording offices will be computerized, paper records will be transferred to magnetic media, and some 1.5 million properties will be digitally mapped and geographically referenced to create a geographic information system.
ECUADOR. . .
$40 million to improve the water and sewerage services of the city of Guayaquil.
The program includes granting long-term concessions to the private sector to promote greater service efficiency and investment in the system. The funding will enable the Empresa Cantonal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Guayaquil (Ecapag), a municipal agency, to undertake technical, legal, and financial studies and to prepare bid specifications to award the concession. Ecapag will be reorganized to function as an oversight agency, while the private companies will be responsible for operating the water and sewerage system.
GUATEMALA. . .
$107.65 million to support reform of the infrastructure and investment sectors.
The project, to be carried out by the Ministry of Economy, is designed to increase the efficiency, quality, and coverage of the telecommunications, aviation, and electricity sectors.
The IDB financing consists of a loan of $100 million to support the sector reform as well as a second loan of $7.65 million to finance technical assistance.
The program is also being supported by a grant of $1.15 million from the Multilateral Investment Fund, an autonomous fund administered by the IDB, which is supporting the aviation sector reform.
JAMAICA. . .
$17.7 million to assist in a reform program to improve the equity, efficiency and quality of health services.
The resources will support the development of a National Health Insurance Plan, strengthen the policy-making and regulatory roles of the Ministry of Health and assist its decentralization, and improve human resources.
PARAGUAY. . .
$22.2 million for microenterprise credit.
Approximately 12,000 loans are expected to be granted to microentrepreneurs under the program, creating an average of 2.5 jobs for each loan. The project expands the successful first phase of a microenterprise credit program that was supported by a $12 million IDB loan approved in 1992.
PERU. . .
$45.6 million to increase agricultural productivity, especially exports, by financing programs to control and reduce animal and plant diseases.
The resources will strengthen the National Agricultural Health Service and enhance agricultural health surveillance and defenses, with the goal of eventually assuring the inspection of 100 percent of imported farm products. New agricultural checkpoints will be built at airports and seaports and campaigns will be launched to control pests such as the fruitfly and hoof-and-mouth disease, among other activities.
URUGUAY. . .
$123 million to upgrade national highways and bridges that connect the countries of Mercosur, the southern South America common market.
The resources will help rehabilitate and improve 520 kilometers of national highways and 26 bridges that are on integration corridors and improve the quality of pavement on 360 kilometers of roads in Montevideo. The Ministry of Transportation and Public Works and the National Highway Department will be strengthened, and increased private sector participation will be promoted in the transportation sector.
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TECHNICAL COOPERATION
REGIONAL. . .
$845,000 to help provide advanced academic training in macroeconomics to government professionals from throughout Latin America.
The courses will be conducted at the Economics Institute of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Two previous phases of the training program at the university were supported by $3,380,000 in IDB nonreimbursable financing.
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MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT FUND
ECUADOR. . .
$1,260,000 to establish a pilot program providing technical training to microentrepreneurs.
The project will train about 30,000 microenterprise workers and owners in business management, technology, and small-scale manufacturing, utilizing a voucher system as an incentive for participants to enroll and improve their skills.
NICARAGUA. . .
$1.2 millon to finance training to improve productivity of small and medium-sized agricultural producers in the regions of León and Chinandega.
The objective is to increase the producers' income through the adoption of better business practices. Among the training areas are business organization, management, marketing and credit.
The project will directly benefit 1,500 small and medium-sized producers and indirectly another 1,550 producers. The representatives of 30 nongovernmental organizations, which in turn will train thousands of other producers.
URUGUAY. . .
$2.2 million for workforce training.
The funds will be used to help finance the design of a national system of skills standards and a registry of training organizations. Two private, nonprofit institutions that are leaders in job training--Talleres Don Bosco and the Del Plata Hotel and Tourism School of the Asociación Cultural y Técnica--will be strengthened to serve as models for other training organizations.
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INTER-AMERICAN INVESTMENT CORPORATION
ARGENTINA. . .
$20 million loan to Hidronihuil S.A. to help finance the construction of a 30 megawatt hydroelectric power plant under a 15-year concession granted by the province of Mendoza.
The IIC will fund $10 million of the loan, and the balance will be funded by international commercial banks mobilized through the IIC's cofinancing program.
BARBADOS. . .
$4 million in preferred share equity to "take-out" a bridge loan to help finance construction of the $21.7 million Accra Beach Hotel Limited.
The project will help ensure continued growth of the tourism sector and provide $75 million annually in foreign exchange earnings in the first 12 years of operations.
COLOMBIA. . .
$10 million loan to Corporación Financiera Santander S.A., which will on-lend the funds to small and medium-sized companies primarily in the states of Santander, Tolima and Huila.
The resources are expected to enable at least 20 companies to expand and improve their competitiveness, creating 600 jobs and more than $40 million in export earnings.
MEXICO. . .
$5 million equity investment in The Baring Mexico Private Equity Fund, L.P., to support a $60 million fund that will invest in small and medium-sized companies.
The fund is intended to support firms with strong growth potential that need long-term capital for capacity expansion. Reaching several economic sectors and geographic areas, the fund will serve as a pilot to be replicated in five individual country funds under a $250 million umbrella scheme.
REGIONAL. . .
$5 million equity investment in Newbridge Andean Partners L.P. to support a $60 million private equity fund, complemented by a $100 million loan guarantee from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, to invest primarily in Bolivian, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Venezuelan companies.
The fund will provide medium- and long-term capital to a region where capital is often available only to the largest firms. The use of the stock market placements as the preferred exit mechanism for these investments will assist in widening and deepening local capital markets. The fund will also provide companies with better management techniques and modern technologies that are essential to increase efficiency and improve access to long-term debt financing.