Developing Anchorr Compan nies, Boo osting Sm mall Producers. Compettitive Produc cers for Com mpetitive Com mpanies Credit iss the boost sm mall and medium enterprises in Latin Am merica need m most. It givess companies that anchor d distribution chains the opportunitty to integrate e small produc cers into the formal f econo my. This creates jobs, stre engthens dom mestic marketts proves access s to exports, while w increasing productivitty and betteri ng the lives o of poor produccers at the ba ase of the and imp pyramid d. Bank’s (IDB) Opportunity for er-American Development D f the Majoriity Initiative (O OMJ) is lendin ng up to $3 m million to the The Inte Fondo d de Desarrollo de Emprendiimientos Sociialmente Responsables (P PymeCapital S S.A,) to bolste er small and m medium manufacturin anchor ccompanies in agriculture, agroindustry, a ng, and touris m in nine cou untries in Cen ntral and Soutth America. Through h the OMJ loa an, PymeCapital will provid de credit and technical t asssistance to SM MEs and small producers in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Guatema ala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, R Perru, Paraguay, El Salvador, and Colombia. The fund lends to nies whose bu usiness mode els incorporate e social and environmenta e al impact, and is thus developing a portffolio with a compan triple bo ottom line. Training g Competitiv ve Small Prod ducers Agricultu ure and manu ufacturing are e two of the most m importantt sources of e employment in n Latin Ameriica and the C Caribbean. Ye et many workers in thes se sectors have low produc ctivity and are e poor. Theyy can’t obtain capital and m many have few w organiza ational and ad dministrative skills. Since the majority of small prod ducers live in rrural areas, th hey are often hampered by y geograp phy, cut off fro om formal ma arkets and exp ports by a lac ck of infrastruccture and info ormation. SMEs a also need to be b more comp petitive and prroductive, and d increasing tthe capacity a and sustainab bility of their ssmall produce ers helps them m do so. Pym meCapital has s developed a win-win mod del for SMEs with expansiion plans thatt have a socia al vision, a and producers s that need a stable ancho or within a disttribution chain n. Thanks to o OMJ, the fund will offer S SMEs access to mediu um-term finan ncing and technical assista ance to maxim mize their com mpetitive adva antage, expan nd integration n and strength hen their linka age with more e small produc cers along the e value chain . All of the e businesses in the fund’s portfolio are linked to a ba ase of small p producers. Bu usinesses mu ust have operrated in their market ffor at least three years, ha ave an expans sion project with w a social im mpact vision a and be an imp portant part o of their productiion chain. er Businesse es, Better Pro oducers Stronge The fund d offers comp panies to whic ch it lends two o kinds of tec chnical assista ance: producttion and mana agement. Su upport for improve ed manageme ent, corporate e governance and formaliza ation develop ps and strengtthens businessses. Support for small produce ers strengthen ns businesses s and produce ers, both, sinc ce companiess in the portfo olio buy raw m materials, sup pplies and other inp puts from pro oducers at the e base of the pyramid. p Tec chnical assista ance is provid ded with the a aim of improvving productiivity and irriga ation and assisting small producers p to qualify q and ap pply for organic certification n. These are among many y servicess offered throu ugh specialize ed institutions s with which the t fund has ccooperation a agreements. el for Many Sectors S A Mode PymeCa apital specialiizes in providing credit, tec chnical assista ance, consultting services and aid to SM MEs in Latin A America, particula arly those req quiring structu ured mechanis sms in their business b deve elopment. As OMJ’s loan ssupports a reg gional project, d monitor the the fund d uses its parttners in individ dual countries s to originate, execute, and e portfolio with hin a standard dized framewo ork. The pro oject is expectted to raise in ncomes of sev veral thousan nd low-income e small producers at the ba ase of the pyramid d. As several sectors are in nvolved, the project p expec cts to have a p positive demo onstration effe ect. It can b be replicated and sca aled through other o venture capital funds and financiall institutions a and support S SMEs in these e and a varietty of different sectors across the re egion.
For more information abbout the progrram contact OM MJ‐IDB@iadb..org