Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (COFIDES)

Summary: 

Organizational profile:

The Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, COFIDES, is a state-owned trading company founded in 1988. It provides medium and long-term financing for viable private investment projects that, based on profitability criteria, contribute both to the development of the host countries and the internationalization of the economy and of Spanish companies.

To fulfil this dual purpose, COFIDES uses its own resources to finance investment projects in emerging or developing countries and manages the Fund for Foreign Investment (FIEX) and the Fund for SME Foreign Investment Operations (FONPYME) on behalf of the State. COFIDES also lends support to the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo-AECID (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) in managing FONPRODE - Fondo para la Promoción del Desarrollo (Development Promotion Fund), manages the combined financing of the European Union (blending) and mobilizes resources from the United Nations Green Climate Fund. 

The global intervention capacity of COFIDES, through the mechanisms and financial instruments in which it participates, is nearly €2.5 billion. Since its creation, COFIDES has approved more than 1,000 projects in close to 90 countries through loans and equity participations. It has committed more than €3.6 billion.
COFIDES finances mitigation and adaptation projects with its own resources and with the FIEX and FONPYME funds. Moreover, it has participated since 2011 in the Interact Climate Change Facility (ICCF), whose purpose is to finance feasible private projects that contribute to mitigate climate change and promote energy efficiency and renewable energy in countries receiving Official Development Assistance. 

Financing Instrument: Equity, Loans, Corporate bonds, Project financing

Project scale: COFIDES operates under a risk-sharing model whereby the volume of resources that COFIDES invests in a project does not generally exceed the contribution made by the developer to the project company. Through its financial products, COFIDES can contribute with amounts ranging from €75,000 to €35 million per project.

Recipient countries/regions/country groups: Global

Recipient categories: Businesses

Eligibility Criteria:

Using its own resources and the funds it manages, COFIDES is able to finance viable private investment projects in any country in the world.
COFIDES financing is available to Spanish companies that, through a subsidiary or branch or through a joint venture, engage in any of the following types of projects abroad:

  • Creation of a new company
  • Expansion of existing facilities
  • Acquisition of an existing company

COFIDES considers sustainable development to be a fundamental aspect in achieving proper corporate governance. To this end COFIDES typically promotes the internationalisation of a Spanish company through the financial investment they make, ensuring compatibility with economic growth and investment viability, with the end goal of protecting both the natural and social environment. In order to achieve this goal, COFIDES makes use of an environmental and social evaluation process, as an integral part of its due diligence procedures. COFIDES financial instruments are tailored to the needs of each project as regards financial conditions, duration and the guarantees that need to be provided. COFIDES can finance the following project categories:

  • Those with a Project Finance structure
  • Cash flow from the international operation or assets of the project itself as the main guarantee
  • Corporate guarantee from the developer

Application guidelines: Companies can present a project to COFIDES once they have identified the country or region, the sector, the amount and the impact on the development of the project area. COFIDES, as an accredited entity, is the interlocutor between the EU and the company and is in charge of the whole process. See https://www.cofides.es/en/presenta-tu-proyecto

Last updated: 14 September 2023

Publication Date
Thursday, 01 April 2021
Applicable location
Africa
Americas
Asia
Oceania
Europe
Topic/Theme
Climate change
Database
Financing opportunities