Banpro/Desarrollos Urbanos, Nicaragua.

Joint developer finance for Desarrollos Urbanos de Centroamérica, working with teachers’ unions. In June 2009, the Urban Finance team visited projects which offer high quality, affordable housing. Financing is provided by Banpro. UN-HABITAT was asked to provide USD 500,000 for co-financing the project for construction of 1,500 units in Managua.

Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (CReW), Belize .

Integrated water facility, infrastructure and housing improvement finance in Caribbean with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) under Global Environment Facility-funded CReW project . The Urban Finance team has been involved in negotiations to provide financing for individual water connections for the indigenous population in Garifuna, Placencia District, under the IDB project.

Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (CReW), Trinidad & Tobago.

Assessment of approximately 200 private wastewater treatment plants that are malfunctioning or abandoned.

Last mile hook-up facility for four water plants development in four cities, ultimately assisting one million people. Groundbreaking for plants is expected by June 2010. The possible project, with lending from UN-HABITAT is to work with local Microfinance Institutions to create a last mile hook-up microfinance lending programme.

FONAVIPO plans to sell up part of their current portfolio to raise funds to develop low income housing projects and increase lending capabilities to help deliver the national, anti-crisis plan and meet housing improvements targets. It benefits El Salvador on numerous levels: creating affordable housing, stimulating the construction sector, preventing job losses and positive impacts on related suppliers and industries.

Proposal for UN-HABITAT to provide financing for CREDISOL, a domestic Microfinance Institution working on low income and social interest housing programmes. CREDISOL works mainly in the low income housing sector providing finance for progressive improvements and new houses. They are geographically focused in Leon and Chinandega, main cities in western Nicaragua. CREDISOL S.A is a private company with Spanish and Nicaraguan shareholders.

In 2007, UN-HABITAT signed an agreement with Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Global Housing Foundation to develop scaled affordable housing finance programmes in Central America. This programme is now developing a strong pipeline in Panama and El Salvador. Local developers, banks and microfinance institutions which qualify under standards jointly developed by UN-HABITAT, GHF and BoA will be eligible for take-out financing of long-term affordable mortgage loans which Merrill Lynch will distribute to social investors, with credit enhancement provided by UN-HABITAT and partners. Discussions have been undertaken to see if UN-HABITAT would add a finance component for construction beyond the first 40 houses, using the Panamanian Government down payment subsidy and working with La Hipotecaria S.A.

Possibility to develop a follow up programme with La Hipotecaria S. A. de C. V. or Fondo Social or Fondo Nacional de Vivienda Popular . La Hipotecaria S. A. de C. V. based in El Salvador, along with La Hipotecaria S.A. ( Panama), is an non-bank mortgage company, dedicated to the origination, servicing and securitisation of residential mortgage loans.

Ayrlie Partners plans a mixed-use housing development project based in Managua, where Ayrlie would consult on sustainable construction and urban planning. The Multilateral Investment Fund for Central America of Inter-American Development Bank suggested that it could potentially provide guarantees to the project.

Proposal to participate in a guarantee scheme for ProCredit to provide financing for local water operators. The project lead is the Inter-American Development Bank, who will support the project through the provision of technical assistance for market research and the funding of the local institution. UN-HABITAT is currently supporting a related initiative to provide technical assistance to water operators through the Non-governmental Organisation, CARE.

FUSAI have asked for a loan to contribute to the Fondo Pro-Habitat fund plus funds for Technical Assistance. Opportunity to help the market move towards compulsory Technical Assistance as a norm, which is essential to guarantee quality and sustainability in any building work. This project could be done quickly and is innovative in the country.

Housing for all in Colombia to implement the pilot initiative in Bosa, Usme and Ciudad Bolivar, three areas in Bogota, Colombia. The estimated total amount for the project is USD 30 million to improve and refurbish 25,000 units.

Project from Habitat for Humanity International. The project co-sponsors and partners are Microfinance Institutions and the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American

Development Bank. Project is to build capacity in four Micro Finance Institutions in Peru and three Micro Finance Institutions in Honduras to provide new housing finance products. UN-HABITAT has been approached to lend funds to these MFIs for housing finance on-lending.

FONDO SEMILLA de Mejoramiento del hábitat para el acceso a la Tenencia Segura de la Tierra, barrio La Victoria de Esteban Echeverría, Argentina. Programme to finance connections to water and sanitation lines.

Potential Co-Funders for prospective deals in Latin America and the Caribbean

• Inter-American Development Bank – Opportunities for the Majority Initiative.

• Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Potential senior debt funding for developer finance in Central America.

• Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Central America. In September, 2009, UN-HABITAT signed an agreement with CABEI. CABEI has received significant funding from the Government of Mexico to apply to home construction and housing finance programmes in Central America. Programmes we may develop jointly with CABEI could include Developer finance programmes, microfinance and progressive build finance programmes involving the 130 local domestic banks and Microfinance Institutions in CABEI’s Global Line of Credit
• programme, such as Banpro.

• UN-HABITAT. Possibility to co-fund with UN-HABITAT’s Water and Sanitation Trust Fund for projects enabling household connections to water and sanitation lines.