COFIDES to collaborate with Peru's Norandino Savings and Credit Cooperative to promote digital transformation

The agreement provides for a non-refundable contribution under the Triple Inclusive Finance (TIF) Program

COFIDES and Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Norandino (COOPAC Norandino) have signed an agreement for the implementation of a technical assistance project, within the Triple Inclusive Finance (TIF) Program, which will promote the digitalization of COOPAC Norandino's internal and external processes.

The TIF Program is the first blended financing or blending project led by COFIDES in Latin America in collaboration with the European Union and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), through the Fund for the Promotion of Development (FONPRODE).

The agreement with COOPAC Norandino includes a non-refundable contribution of up to €480,000, which complements the US$4M loan previously granted to the cooperative by Spanish Cooperation through FONPRODE for the productive strengthening of Peruvian micro, small and medium-sized companies, especially those of rural areas and with a special focus on the agricultural sector. The European Union is also involved in this new alliance, as it is one of the partners contributing to the TIF Program through its Latin America and Caribbean Investment Facility (LACIF).

This initiative seeks to strengthen and deepen COOPAC Norandino's digitalization processes and actively promote the financial/digital inclusion and culture of its members, as well as to guide and re-design financial products and services to better serve its members/customers. These are the activities contemplated:

- Digital ecosystems:

• Digital transformation plan "from partner to partner": Preparation, design and implementation thereof.
• Consolidation of the digitalization phase: Correspondent agents, digital skills training plan and analysis of technical-structural problems in isolated areas.
• Improvement of technical processes in isolated rural areas.
• Dissemination actions on inclusion and financial/digital culture aimed at members/customers.

- Climate-smart agriculture: Promotion of climate-smart and sustainable finance among farmer partners through demonstration videos.

- Institutional strengthening: Training of different areas of COOPAC Norandino in management and new trends, exchange of experiences oriented to technology management.

ABOUT COOPAC NORANDINO

COOPAC Norandino is a cooperative that emerged in 2005 as a result of the initiative of 24 farmers supported by different coffee cooperatives and with the objective of offering its members, from the rural regions of northern and northeastern Peru, a financial alternative adapted to their needs. This entity is regulated and monitored by the Peruvian Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and PFAs, and is authorized to take deposits from its members. It has 24 offices (agencies and information points) covering four regions in northern Peru (Cajamarca, Piura, San Martín and Amazonas). As of December 2023, it had 36,568 members, 36% of whom were women. Its portfolio amounted to US$36.4M placed with approximately 18,630 clients, mainly located in rural areas (70%) and with an agricultural focus (55% of the total portfolio).

ABOUT COFIDES

COFIDES is a state-owned commercial company specialized in managing State funds that provides financing for private investments to achieve various public policy objectives. For over three decades, it has been managing resources aimed at supporting the internationalization of Spanish companies, and since 2021, the FONREC, a fund aimed at strengthening the solvency of Spanish companies severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. COFIDES has been assigned the direct management of two new financial instruments: the Co+-investment Fund (FOCO), to attract foreign investment to Spain in activities mainly linked to green and digital transitions, and the Social Impact Fund, aimed at reinforcing the national ecosystem of impact investment. Additionally, COFIDES supports the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in managing financial cooperation resources. The Spanish state owns 53% of the capital, while the remaining 47% is held by Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).

ABOUT THE EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union manages the Latin America and Caribbean Investment Facility (LACIF), a regional blending mechanism. LACIF promotes the mobilisation of funds from European and regional financial institutions, governments and the private sector to carry out sustainable development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. LACIF's objective is to help these countries by way of the finance of projects in key sectors for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, such as: renewable energy, environment, water and sanitation, urban and rural transport, and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises.

ABOUT AECID- FONPRODE

The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) is the principal management body for Spanish Cooperation. Attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, it manages the Development Promotion Fund (FONPRODE) with the aims of eradicating poverty, reducing social inequality and inequity among people and communities, and promoting gender equality, defense of human rights and human and sustainable development of poor countries.