Colombia: support for strengthening the Bancafé

CAF Executive President Enrique García said that, in addition to these funds, the agreement also provides for advice and technical support to ensure a successful capitalization process. García praised as positive management efforts to strengthen the bank’s image to make it more attractive to private investment.

According to Bancafé President Jorge Castellanos Rueda, the operation is necessary because, although the bank itself could generate the amount, it is in a process of adjusting expenditure.

"In this case, it is better to call it an investment because the CAF has long experience in the process of assisting its member governments. The combination of financial support and accompaniment is important because it means we can maintain our rule of austerity," the bank official said.

García and Castellanos agreed on the need to strengthen the bank for the sole purpose of preparing it for transfer to the private sector on the best conditions.

For Castellanos, the results of the bank’s restructuring and strengthening process have been good, but there are some challenges for the future.

"There are still some aspects of institutional strengthening in terms of definition of what kind of offices we should have, what type of staff or systems, what is it worth strengthening, this type of thing," he said.

García said that the Corporation has been involved in this type of link with other projects in various countries, in which technical cooperation funds, which total about US$30 million annually, help institutions to improve many of their processes.