New ways to conduct business at the service of social and environmental aspects

CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, signed a strategic alliance with B Lab, creator of the B Company model, in order to promote the B movement at a  global level and contribute to solve social and environmental problems through market forces.  

B Lab, a non profit entity created in the United States in 2008, supports entrepreneurs at a global level through three inter-related initiatives: the certification of B enterprises, the adoption of legislation, and the use of the B Analytics platform, providing them with a legal infrastructure as well as support to find consumers, talent, and the capital necessary to climb up. The certification system demands high standards from companies in terms of responsibility, transparency, governance, and in forcing the company to protect the interests of its interest groups instead of focusing exclusively on the profits of the shareholders.  

The entity has also worked with the impact investing community on the development of  a rating tool called  "Global Impact Investing Reporting System (GIIRS)", which promotes investment in these type of triple impact companies. The B movement has quickly expanded and there are close to 1,000 certified companies in 34 countries.  

Enrique Garcia, Executive President of CAF, stated "The B Lab today becomes a strategic partner for CAF to promote social innovation in Latin America", and added " this collaboration underlines how important it is for companies to create public benefits, without sacrificing the maximization of their profits, in line with the Institution's development mission which promotes the balance of the forces of the economy, the environment, equity, and ethics to build better societies".

The CAF-B Lab alliance establishes a cooperation framework for the development of projects that include strengthening the B movement in CAF's shareholder countries and its promotion with the Institution's strategic partners at a global level, and the promotion of the use of B Analytics, a flexible platform that provides flexible tools for a comparative measurement and evaluation of their impact on enterprises and private funds. 

At the same time, Bart Houlahan, co-founder of B Lab, stated, "CAF's position and its convening power will facilitate the emergence of new B companies and the construction of an ecosystem that favors a social investment with greater impact and responsibility". 

In addition, the agreement will promote the initiative "Lo Mejor para América Latina: hacerlo bien y generando beneficio público" (The Best for Latin Ameria: doing it right and generating public benefit), an innovative contest to encourage and stimulate Latin American companies to use the power of businesses as a force for common good.  

This agreement is associated to the collaboration that CAF has established with System B, B Lab's sister organization for Latin America. which promotes an environment so that this new entrepreneurial paradigm may become a new way to conduct business in the region, in an economy where success can be measured by the wellbeing of people and societies, and by the respect toward the sustainability of nature.