The IDB has offices in all 26 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean where it finances programs and projects. That is the big difference with the World Bank, which is active in almost every country in the world. But the fact that the IDB focuses on a smaller market could be beneficial for your company. Projects that work in one country, most likely will work in the other as well. This means that when you are succesful you are likely to be known in the market. The IDB is open to new innovative ideas but like the World Bank, experience in the countries you want to be active in is very important when trying to win tenders. We would also suggest your company contacts the local offices to find out more about the pipeline of projects before wanting to meet with IDB representatives. When you are in town send us an email and we can discuss visiting the IDB. Below a short description of the IDB and examples of tenders within the Energy and Water sector.

IDB
Besides the World Bank there is another large multilateral international finance institution (IFI) headquartered in Washington, DC, being the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group). The IDB Group is comparable to the World Bank Group, but its projects focus solely on Latin American and the Caribbean. Just like the World Bank, the IDB supports efforts by Latin America and the Caribbean countries to reduce poverty and inequality and to bring about development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way. There are 26 borrowing members, being the Latin American and Caribbean countries, who together have the majority ownership of the IDB group. Then there are 22 other members, of which the Kingdom of the Netherlands is one, that also have ownership of the IDB Group, including votes. Just like the World Bank, the IDB provides financing in the form of loans, grants, guarantees, equity investments, and additionally provides advisory services like project preparation facilities. Additionally, like the World Bank Group, the IDB group is organized in three pillars, being the IDB (the IDB Group equivalent of the IBRD & IDA together), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC, the equivalent of the IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a pillar that has no World Bank Group equivalent.

IDB, IIC & MIF
Just like the IBRD & IDA on the World Bank Group side, the IDB provides loans to governments of borrowing members to finance large projects in the respective countries. As part of the Kingdom, all countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, being the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and St Maarten, are member of the IDB. None of the four countries is a borrowing member, but companies from all four parts of the Kingdom are eligible to participate in IDB projects or tenders.

The IIC is comparable to the IFC as it promotes private sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The IIC is committed to providing SMEs with greater access to financial resources and technical assistance to expand and improve their operations, create jobs, and promote environmental and social sustainability.

The third pillar of the IDB Group is the MIF, the Multilateral Investment Fund. The MIF supports economic growth and poverty reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean through encouraging increased private investment and advancing private sector development. The main difference with the IIC appears to be the vast reliance of the MIF on cooperation with private partners, on providing technical assistance to engage in capacity building and therewith develop the private sector as a whole.

Energy

The IDB wants to help member countries expand the coverage and quality of energy services such as electricity and natural gas, but additionally finances programs to improve energy efficiency, foster cross-border energy integration, and diversify the energy matrix by sustainably exploiting renewable and non-renewable energy sources (see below at the climate change paragraph as well). They identify three general areas of action in the energy sector, being renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy integration. The IDB makes it clear that new sustainable energy sources are also very much the focus of their attention as they finance large-scale wind farms, solar power systems for rural areas, biofuel facilities that co-generate electricity and programs to promote efficient lighting.

Water & Sanitation

One of the other key topics at the IDB is water. The IDB is convinced that countries in Latin America and the Caribbean can close the coverage gap in water and sanitation services in the near future. To reach that goal the Water and Sanitation Initiative offers a new set of tools and flexible financing. Launched in 2007, the initiative has developed strategic guidelines, specific targets and special financial products to support solutions tailored to each country’s needs.

Tender & Projects

We have listed some potentially interesting projects below which are currently being executed or tendered in the Caribbean.
• Preparation for KMA Water Supply Improvement Project, Jamaica (Technical Assistance Project). $1.48 million (all IDB financing)
o http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=JA-T1069#doc
• Water Management Program in Artibonite Basin, Haiti. $27,5 million ($25 million IDB financing).
o http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=HA-L1087
• Power Sector Development Program 2012-2016 (Reventazon Hydroelectric Project), Costa Rica. $291.7 million ($250 million IDB financing).
o http://www.iadb.org/en/projects/project-description-title,1303.html?id=CR-L1049