CAF Pledges USD 500 Million to Accelerate Colombia’s Digital Transformation of the State

The Board of Directors of CAF—development bank of Latin America—approved a USD 500 million loan in favor of Colombia, in recognition of the government’s progress in terms of policy reforms to promote the strategic use of digital technologies to modernize the state and economic revival, provide high-quality digital public services, and harness data and artificial intelligence to improve public policy.

The Support Program for the Digital Transformation of the State for revival has the following strategic axes:

• Reduction of barriers that hinder the incorporation of digital technologies in government agencies by setting the conditions that enable digital innovation in the public sector.
• Generation of economic and social value through new processes and products associated with the use of technology.
• Articulation of policies on digital transformation in the different government agencies, guaranteeing a comprehensive vision and an articulated process.
• Promoting the development of data governance and artificial intelligence considering its role as a digital transformation accelerator.
• Strengthening the institutional framework and capacity building in the State to help the nation get back on the path of development as it was when it was hit by COVID-19.
• Integration of digital transformation in the State as the axis of the nation’s economic revival strategy.

“This loan is a support for the progress that the Colombian government has made in recent years in terms of digital transformation. The funds will help accelerate the digital modernization of the state, economic recovery and further streamline the nation’s public management,” noted CAF interim executive president Renny Alberto López.

The institution has underpinned this agenda through advice and technical assistance in areas such as public innovation, data governance, artificial intelligence, regulatory streamlining, and GovTech entrepreneurship.

In the last five years (2016–2020), CAF approved operations for Colombia for USD 9.16 billion, for an average of USD 1.83 billion per year, equivalent to 14% of the total approved by CAF in that period. Furthermore, in the same period, total disbursements amounted to USD 9.80 billion (19.8% of the total disbursed to shareholder countries). At the end of December 2020, the Colombia portfolio stood at USD 3.03 billion, equivalent to 10.6% of CAF’s overall portfolio.