IDB to support expansion of low-income microfinance programme

TIMES INT'L

Patrimonio Hoy, the housing microfinance programme of CEMEX, the world’s largest building materials supplier, will expand lending to low-income families in Mexico and four other Latin American countries. This was facilitated by a partial credit guarantee of up to US$10 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

As many as 750,000 families over the next five years are expected to benefit from this project.

Patrimonio Hoy is one of Latin America’s most successful social enterprises, providing low-income families earning less than four times the minimum wage in Mexico with access to micro loans for construction materials and labour, as well as technical assistance for the purpose of building or renovating their homes.

The IDB guarantee will allow the company to expand its offering of credit products that will, for example, allow them to pay for labour costs related to construction besides materials. The guarantee will also pave the way for the company to increase its operations in Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

The partial credit guarantee was approved on June 22 and the signing agreement was expected to occur during the BASE, the First Forum for the Development of the Base of the Pyramid, in São Paulo, Brazil on June 28.

Patrimonio Hoy was created in 1998 to meet the rising need for housing microfinance among low-income families, which are at the base of the pyramid in Mexico. This segment of the population lacks access to bank credit and government housing finance programmes.

Through the programme, CEMEX has supported more than 300,000 low- income families with the provision of micro loans to finance construction materials’ purchases and technical assistance with the participation of distributors.

The programme has also created a network of promoters of mostly female entrepreneurs from subject communities, helping generate an important number of jobs.

The partial credit guarantee was provided by the IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority Initiative (OMJ).

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