MSMEs, low-income households to get financing

The COK Sodality Cooperative Credit Union (COK) has embarked upon a pilot programme to provide financing to establish renewable and energy-efficient energy systems (RE/EE) for micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs) and low-income households.

Dubbed the EcoMicro programme, the initiative is a partnership between COK and Enclude BV, a Dutch microfinance platform, in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and LAB, a green solutions company.

The US$17 million facility is established to pilot green finance for MSMEs, including small farmers and low-income households in Latin America and the Caribbean. Addressing Tuesday’s launch, COK’s Sodality CEO, Ambassador Aloun Ndombet Assamba, noted that the goal of the programme is to facilitate green finance as a means to increase access to RE/EE products and to assist in adaptation to climate change. “The project aims to provide COK with the knowledge of how to finance renewable energy or energy-efficient technologies for MSMEs and low-income households that complement, reduce the usage of, or substitute unreliable supplies of energy and displace energy from fossil fuels.

“After going through an elaborate interview process for choosing a recommended consultant, we chose the consultant who has the expertise and experience in renewable energy (RE)/energy efficiency (EE) and green financing to guide us in the implementation and execution of this project,” she pointed out. Ndombet-Assamba stated that by the end of the project, the following results are expected:

(i) Four hundred MSMEs and low-income households adopting RE/EE technologies;

(ii) US$650,000 in financing mobilised from COK’s balance sheet for RE/EE technologies and strategies accessed by micro and low-income clients;

(iii) One hundred and five COK employees trained in RE/EE green product(s);

(iv) One hundred per cent of the micro loans portfolio analysed for vulnerability to climate change.

She said diminishing the dependence on fossil fuels and increasing the share of renewable and low-carbon energy sources in the energy portfolio was essential to mitigate climate change and overcome the negative implications for growth and productivity. “In Jamaica, where the primary source of energy is fossil fuels, high energy costs – coupled with unreliable supply and poor connectivity – increase the energy burden for low-income households as well as business costs for MSMEs,” she explained. “At COK, we have succeeded for over 50 years as a result of innovation, and being first movers in the market, as we strive to continuously improve the lives of our members. We are happy to be in this partnership and we thank the entire team for this opportunity, and look forward to great things during the life of the project and beyond,” she added. Ndombet-Assamba also revealed that COK had cut its energy bill in half at its Cross Roads location by installing solar panels, inverter air conditioning, and LED lighting.

Terry-Ann Segree, private finance operations specialist with the IDB, in her comments, noted her organisation’s ongoing commitment to implementing green solutions at the institutional and household levels in Jamaica, and congratulated COK for its innovative approach to promoting the green economy, a position echoed by the other speakers, including Stefan Platteau, project manager at Enclude BV. Support for the initiative also came from Le-Anne Roper, senior technical officer (adaptation), from the Climate Change Branch of the Economic Growth and Job Creation Ministry.