4 October 2012: EcoMicro, a technical assistance programme co-financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, announced it will help four microfinance institutions (MFIs) from Bolivia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru to develop “green” financial products that promote clean energy and energy efficiency, and reduce the vulnerability of their portfolios to climate change impacts.

The announcement was made in St. Michael, Barbados, at the annual meeting of Foromic, the forum for supporting and financing microenterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small farmers, hosted by the IDB Group’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

The four MFIs are just the first of 12 that will receive such assistance from EcoMicro, a US$7 million programme co-financed by MIF and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). The four were selected from 54 MFIs in 15 countries responding to an EcoMicro request for proposals issued in spring 2012. EcoMicro plans two more rounds of RFP to select the remaining nine recipients of capacity building in green microfinance products.

EcoMicro will help the Banco Los Andes Procredit (Bolivia), Te Creemos (Mexico) and Caja de Arequipa (Peru) to develop financial products to help their clients use clean energy and energy efficiency to reduce their operating costs and improve their competitiveness. In Nicaragua, the Fondo de Desarrollo Local (FDL) will use EcoMicro help to pilot an adaptation finance product that combines technical assistance, loans for adaptation measures and crop microinsurance. [IDB Press Release] [EcoMicro Website]