Oikocredit, IDB Invest and Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo announce groundbreaking diversity and inclusion social bond

Amersfoort, the Netherlands – Social impact investor Oikocredit and IDB Invest are each providing US$ 10 million to Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Jardín Azuayo in Ecuador as a highly innovative, diversity and inclusion social bond with performance-based incentives.

Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo will use the finance to promote and expand access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Ecuador owned or led by women, people with low incomes or low educational attainment, members of Indigenous communities, ethnic minorities and migrants. Jardín Azuayo provides financial services and cooperative education in support of the solidarity economy and a caring society.

Oikocredit’s investing partner, IDB Invest, is the private-sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank. As part of its support, IDB Invest will provide advisory services to Jardín Azuayo in evaluating and improving credit decisions towards women and underrepresented groups and pay a results-based monetary bonus tied to reaching women entrepreneurs, including Indigenous and migrant women.

The new social bond has endorsement from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), an international partnership aimed at expanding financing and access to financial markets for women-owned and women-led MSMEs.

Juan Carlos Urgilés, General Manager of Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo, said: “For Jardín Azuayo, this first-of-its-kind performance-incentivised diversity and inclusion social bond strengthens our cooperative's foundational goal of improving living conditions and supporting community development.”

Marisela Alvarenga, Head of the Financial Intermediaries division at IDB Invest, said: “This initiative reaffirms IBD Invest’s commitment to financial inclusion in Ecuador and the region, strengthening access to financing for vulnerable MSMEs and promoting equal opportunities for credit access, business growth, positive social impact and equitable development.”

Lorena Torres, Oikocredit’s Investment Manager for the Andean Region, said: “We welcome this innovative new partnership with IDB Invest and Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo, which is well aligned with our community-focused strategy and will contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals targets on poverty, gender equality, decent work and economic growth.”

About Cooperativa Jardín Azuayo

Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Jardín Azuayo is a participative and inclusive member-owned cooperative society that contributes to improving the living conditions of communities in Ecuador through financial services and cooperative education. With branches throughout the country and guided by values of solidarity, mutual support, transparency and respect for nature, Jardín Azuayo’s financial client services include credit, savings and interbank transfers, alongside non-financial services such as advice to migrants.

For more information, visit https://www.jardinazuayo.fin.ec.

About IDB Invest

IDB Invest is the private-sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. Committed to economic growth and social inclusion, it finances projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that advance clean energy, modernise agriculture, strengthen transportation systems and expand access to financing. IDB Invest is owned by its 48 member countries, 26 of which are in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

For more information, visit https://idbinvest.org/en.

About Oikocredit

Social impact investor and worldwide cooperative Oikocredit has nearly five decades of experience funding organisations active in financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy.

Oikocredit’s loans, equity investments and capacity building aim to enable people on low incomes in Africa, Asia and Latin America to improve their living standards sustainably.

Oikocredit finances more than 500 partners, with total outstanding capital of € 1,010.6 million (at March 2023). 

For more information, visit www.oikocredit.coop.

-Ends-

Note for editors

For more information or to request an interview, please contact: Viviana Cordero, Communications Business Partner, Oikocredit International, telephone: +31 33 422 4040, email: vcordero@oikocredit.org.