CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean

CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean is a multilateral development bank focused on supporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The institution describes its purpose as helping its member countries improve quality of life, while promoting sustainable development and regional integration. It serves both public- and private-sector clients and provides multiple financial products and services to a broad client portfolio that includes 25 member countries, private companies, and financial institutions. CAF’s strategic direction is organized around long-term agendas. Its stated ambition is to become the region’s bank for green development and sustainable, inclusive growth. The institution presents these agendas as a roadmap for turning its regional development priorities into initiatives. Its work includes financing and support for projects and programs, as illustrated by its reported loan to Banconal for productive projects in rural areas of Panama, with emphasis on agriculture, agribusiness, renewable energy, and small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly those led by women. The bank also participates in initiatives concerning digital transformation, nature and infrastructure, and long-term investment governance. Its website reported a planned allocation of more than USD 12 billion over five years for initiatives and projects with significant digital-transformation components, and described work with partners on a framework for nature bonds supporting migratory bird routes. CAF’s public identity emphasizes sustainable development, inclusion, regional cooperation, and the contribution of its people to long-term prosperity and well-being.

CAF presents itself as a development bank committed to supporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, improving quality of life, and promoting sustainable development and regional integration. Its institutional description emphasizes service to both public and private sectors. It says its client portfolio includes 25 member countries, private companies, and financial institutions, and that it supplies these clients with multiple products and services. The available institutional material describes CAF’s strategy through long-term agendas intended to guide the organization’s regional work. Its stated strategic ambition is to become the region’s bank for green development and sustainable, inclusive growth. The agendas are framed as a roadmap, with long-term visions put into practice through initiatives. The supplied material does not establish the bank’s founding date, original institutional structure, or a dated sequence of historical changes, so those details are not asserted here. CAF’s reported activities span development lending and broader regional initiatives. In September 2026, its homepage reported a USD 500 million loan agreement with Banconal to support productive projects in rural Panama, including areas such as agriculture, agribusiness, renewable energy, and small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those led by women. The report described the transaction as CAF’s first A/B loan in Panama and said it would mobilize resources from seven international financial institutions. The same homepage described an announced plan to allocate more than USD 12 billion over five years to initiatives and projects with significant digital-transformation components. The institution also works with partners on environmental and investment-related themes. A September 2026 homepage item described a nature-bond framework created with BirdLife and Audubon to assess nature-based solutions and bird-friendly infrastructure along migratory routes in Latin America and the Caribbean. Another item described CAF-AM’s promotion of sound governance in investment vehicles as a means of managing risks, building trust, and mobilizing institutional capital for long-term infrastructure. Together, these activities reflect the institution’s stated emphasis on sustainable development, regional integration, and long-horizon investment.

• CAF and Banconal announced a USD 500 million rural-development loan in Panama.

• CAF announced a five-year digital-transformation investment plan.

• CAF, BirdLife, and Audubon presented a nature-bond framework for migratory routes.

A regional development bank positioning itself as a partner for sustainable development, green growth, inclusion, and Latin American and Caribbean integration.

• Development financing and loans

  Financing and support for public- and private-sector clients and development projects.

• Technical cooperation

  Technical cooperation and project-related support, including cooperation funded through CAF resources or partner mechanisms.

• Planned more than USD 12 billion over five years for digital-transformation initiatives and projects.Other

1. 1Quiénes somoscaf.com
2. 2CAFcaf.com
3. 3Empleocaf.com