Christian Asinelli

Interview

Q/ What are the main contributions of development banks, and of CAF in particular, in the design and implementation of development policies?

Development banks operating in Latin America and the Caribbean face a series of fundamental challenges that lie in accompanying the countries of the region so that no one is left behind. In this field, their main contributions can be summarized, among many other functions, as making substantial contributions to the generation of projects and investment programs to create, improve, and maintain the quality of infrastructure works, for example, throughout our region; to achieve increasing levels of financial inclusion for individuals, for companies, for SMEs, for institutions and communities; to collaborate with the adoption of new technologies and the digitization of services to improve the efficiency and transversality of these initiatives; and also to guarantee environmental sustainability in each project we undertake, but also in the support we provide to the countries in our region.

We also promote the diversification of funding sources, mobilizing resources to reduce dependence on public funds and also attract private investment. We also offer advice, training and courses to improve the management capacities, competitiveness and general skills of civil servants, business leaders and representatives of civil society in general.

In the specific case of CAF, as a development bank for Latin America and the Caribbean, we have a series of tools that allow us to differentiate ourselves from other development banks. Some of these tools include the great flexibility that is based on the fact that we offer short, medium and long-term financing, a greater capacity to respond to the demands and needs of member countries, agility in decision-making thanks to our quarterly board meetings and also to a very broad, diversified portfolio of investments in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainability, infrastructure, water services, sanitation, among others.

Some specific examples of our work in the region are, for example, in the green field, what we did last year, which was to establish an alliance with the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance in Ecuador to improve the sustainability of the Galapagos Islands. There we invested more than USD 3 million. In terms of a just energy transition, we are carrying out the Presidente Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline (GPNK) project for the transportation of gas to the central and northern provinces of the country.

In health, for example, we are implementing the telemedicine system in El Salvador. This will improve access and coverage for patient care on technological platforms. In infrastructure and water and sanitation, we have approved more than USD 2 billion in projects of this type in the last five years, fulfilling a commitment we have made in various international forums.

In terms of digital transformation, we have contributed more than USD 2.7 billion in a huge number of operations for almost all the countries in the region. In education, we are also developing programs to improve the quality of education. For example, in Trinidad and Tobago, to improve the quality of education in that country.

In terms of approvals, in 2024, we ended up with more than USD 15.8 billion, USD 9.1 billion in disbursements, a consolidated portfolio that reached almost USD 35 billion, of which USD 12 billion was allocated to investment programs and projects.

Q/ From your perspective, what role does knowledge play in adding value to CAF’s instruments in the public sector?

Well, in principle I would say that the main and most important value of CAF is that it has become the most important regional public good in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are an institution that accompanies, that responds, that has a very clear roadmap to closely follow the needs, urgencies and specific interests of each country. For this reason, in the 1990s, our directors decided to expand the original structure, which was made up only of the Andean countries, in order to be able to cover all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean with more and better resources. This led us to go from six countries to the current 25.

We also had a series of historic capitalizations that have allowed us to expand an initial capital of USD 100 million to a final capitalization of more than USD 7 billion. For this reason too, since 2021, with our president Sergio Díaz-Granados, we set out to continue strengthening the distinctive brand that our institution has through the improvement of our operations, the modernization of our strategic agenda, which we constantly talk about. For this reason, we made the decision, as I was saying, to extend the shareholding structure to Caribbean countries with their own particular characteristics and idiosyncrasies.

One of the issues is that these are countries that are very prone to vulnerability, to the natural disasters caused by climate change. They also have a series of specific needs in terms of resilient infrastructure and enormous potential in the fields of sustainable tourism and agriculture. But in order to meet these particular requirements, we were able to open a regional office for the Caribbean. And all this is part of an agenda that includes transforming the institution into what we call the Green Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean. This means, among many other things, that by 2026, 40% of our operations will be totally green, something we already achieved in 2025.

And we are also continuing with a series of lines of work that include green components as part of our road, transport and telecommunications infrastructure plans, and especially in the integration and strengthening of state capacities. These are some of the components of the CAF Agenda with which we seek to guarantee the regional integration of our countries, their sustainable development. And we do this with the firm conviction that on the road to progress and growth in the region we must leave no one behind.

Knowledge is an essential part of our daily work for many reasons. I can name that, first, because it is fundamental for the development of our business. Through our research, publications, reports and training, we aim to strengthen and expand our structure and our impact in the region. Secondly, because we value and prioritize the generation, management and dissemination of relevant knowledge, as well as evidence-based decision-making. In this way, we seek to support countries in the analysis of public policies and also in the dissemination of good practices. Thirdly, because we understand that a development organization has the responsibility to cover and provide tools to work on thematic areas that are fundamental for the present of the region, such as urban development, climate change, crime prevention, working with subnational governments, education, equity, health. All these are issues that our Report on Economic Development has covered over the last 20 years.

We are very, very proud to be celebrating these first two decades of our flagship publication, which we have successfully presented at global forums, at academic events, in government spaces in all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the private sector throughout the region and we also have the enormous privilege of being able to create knowledge from and for the region itself. We have the support of economists, political scientists, analysts, top-level specialists and, for this reason, I would particularly like to thank them for the contribution they make to the institution through reflection, the daily discussion of the main issues of the socio-political and economic situation and the enormous commitment to closing the gaps that Latin America and the Caribbean still face in social, economic, digital, climatic and gender spheres, among many others.

As the Gardel and Le Pera tango says, 20 years is nothing, but in this case, at the same time, it is a lot. 20 years have been effort, work, reflection on the best way to guarantee progress and growth for our region, for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Congratulations to the entire team of the Directorate of Socioeconomic Research for this historic work that transcends time to bring us closer, to show us a future of progress for all. There have been and are many people from our institution who work to achieve these results, results that in one way or another improve the quality of life of Latin Americans and Caribbean people in our region.