MARKET DEVELOPMENT

• Supporting decent employment: The loan is expected to contribute to local market development by sustaining local employment, which is considered high-quality in the region; 
• GDP contribution through economic value-added: The transaction is also estimated to contribute direct economic value addition to local economies. 

GENDER EQUALITY

• Advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment: CIFI has a Gender Equality Policy and a Gender Implementation Strategy through which it is actively working to support women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in its own operations. This includes clear objectives and targets to ensure that its leadership and workforce reflect a balance between men and women and identify opportunities to support and advance women. Currently, women comprise 25% of CIFI’s senior management team and 46% of its direct employees. CIFI is also working to reduce existing salary gaps between male and female employees; 
• Given its high share of female employees and corporate commitments to gender equality, FinDev Canada’s investment in CIFI also qualifies for the 2X Challenge: Financing for Women, a pledge by development finance institutions (DFIs) to mobilize substantial capital for investment in business activities that will benefit women.

CLIMATE AND NATURE ACTION

• CO2 equivalent emissions avoided: The loan received from FinDev Canada will help CIFI finance the building of renewable energy projects, including solar, wind, mini-hydroelectric and biomass power plants, as well as water and sanitation infrastructure. With FinDev Canada’s support, CIFI is expected to finance an additional 270 MW of generational capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean. This additional capacity is projected to generate approximately 828,000 MW hours of renewable energy per year, leading to approximately 644,000 tons of CO2 avoided, as well as significant improvements in water treatment and sewage processing in the project areas. With FinDev Canada’s support, CIFI’s green growth financing opportunities will serve an estimated 328,000 people with clean low-carbon energy annually, based on the calculations using the 2019 International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy statistics on kWh consumption per capita for CIFI’s pipeline companies.