Green Móvil: Proparco and FDN finance the largest e-mobility project in Colombia

Bogotá has more than 9 million inhabitants, which is 20% of the Colombian population. Very densely populated and heavily polluted, the city has initiated an urban transformation through large-scale work targeting urban mobility by reorganizing the public transport system in the 1990s. Last year, Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), granted a loan to Electribus to finance the first fleet of electric buses in the Colombian capital, replacing an obsolete and highly emissive fleet of diesel buses. The objective was to significantly reduce air pollutants and improve air quality in Bogotá in accordance with the city of Bogota’s 2036 ambition to transform 100% of its public transport fleet to ecologically sustainable technologies.

The “Green Móvil” project is Proparco's third intervention in the urban transport sector in Colombia and confirms its commitment to the transition towards electric mobility, a strong strategic orientation of the AFD Group. This new project, with the financing of 406 electric buses and associated infrastructure, will contribute to make Bogotá, the city with the largest number of electric buses in circulation in Latin America and the Caribbean by the end of 2022.

In terms of impacts, the project will contribute to the improvement of public transport services with a better quality of travel for users (which are 100% wheelchair-accessible) and will ultimately have a positive impact on access to employment, economic services and essential services. In addition to having a positive impact in terms of climate change mitigation (it is to be noted that 100% the energy supplied to the buses comes from renewable energy), the use of electric buses will also improve air quality (especially in the city of Bogotá, which has one of the highest levels of urban pollution in Latin America) by limiting emissions of sulfur (SOx) and nitrogen (NOx) oxides and fine particles, with a positive impact on public health.

For Philippe Serres, Proparco’s Regional Director: “Green Móvil is the second electric bus project in Colombia to be financed by Proparco, after the “Electribus” project in 2021. With Green Móvil, Proparco is pleased to continue supporting clean mobility in Colombia, alongside its partner Financieria de Desarollo, by financing a fleet of over 400 electric buses. Bogotá, and more broadly Colombia, is making a sustainable commitment to clean, climate-friendly mobility."

For his part, Francisco Lozano, president of the FDN, said that “as an infrastructure development bank, this financing is very important because it is not only a project that will contribute to the mobility of Bogotá, but it is also a socially and environmentally responsible project, alligned with our policy of supporting sustainable infrastructure projects.”

Proparco’s financial engagement supports a thriving Franco-Colombian partnership between Transdev, French leader in public-transport operations and management services, and Fanalca, a Colombian firm specialized in the transport sector. Twenty years after their first engagement to operate a line of Bogota’s Bus Rapid Transport system, Transmilenio, the public entity in charge of the city’s urban transport, has reinstated her trust in both companies for the Green Móvil project. This project is particularly relevant for Proparco’s support to private development initiatives in Colombia as it will contribute to strengthen know-how transmission and cooperation between private French and Colombian firms. 

The project will contribute to SDGs #9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), #11 (sustainable cities) and #13 (climate change).

Media Contact:

Floriane Balac - presse@proparco.fr   

Juliana Restrepo - jrestrepo@fdn.com.co

About Proparco

Proparco is the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group). It has been promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development for over 40 years. Proparco provides funding and support to both businesses and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East. Its action focuses on the key development sectors: infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, health and education.

Its operations aim to strengthen the contribution of private players to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015. To this end, Proparco finances companies whose activity contributes to creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services and combating climate change. For a World in Common.

For further information: www.proparco.fr and @Proparco

About FDN

Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional is a private, specialized, technical and independent development bank that works to increase liquidity in the infrastructure sector. His specialization and knowledge in structuring and financing allow it to design sophisticated and innovative solutions, aimed at properly managing risks, outlining and attracting investors and financiers to participate in financing schemes for infrastructure projects.

The FDN, in its objective of overcoming barriers to financing and providing solutions, promotes efficient financial structures to obtain competitive sources of long-term financing and mitigate refinancing risks.

Its shareholders include Grupo Bicentenario, IFC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and CAF. The entry of the two multilaterals, as well as the Japanese private bank into the Company's shareholding, strengthened its autonomy by incorporating best international practices and solid corporate governance, as well as strengthening its technical capacity and its financial muscle to promote the financing of projects of the country's infrastructure.

For further information: www.fdn.com.co