Building Greener, More Equal Cities Across Colombia

Colombia is a highly urbanised country, with more than 80% of the population living in cities. Rapid urbanisation has often come without proper planning, putting pressure on public transport, housing, waste and water treatment, deepening inequalities and driving up greenhouse gas emissions. Better project preparation and improved tendering procedures in line with international environmental and social standards are essential to the multi-faceted urban transformation the country needs. 

Objectives

Building on previous experience from KfW, EIB and AFD, this initiative supports the implementation of sustainable urban development projects in Colombia. Effective cooperation between these institutions and the EU will leverage financing, speed up project implementation and ensure that projects are tendered according to international best practices, while creating market opportunities for European businesses. A Team Europe approach is central, encouraging participation from other JEFIC members already present in the country, such as AECID and CDP. 

The initiative delivers both financial and non-financial value by tackling challenges in governance and environmental, social and gender aspects from the design phase, making cities more equitable. 

Supported projects will align with national and sub-national climate change strategies and Colombia's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitments. They will also align with Global Gateway sectors and be closely coordinated with EU guarantee programmes, in particular the FAST-Cities guarantee, also implemented by AFD. 

Project activities

The programme provides technical assistance in two forms: 

• At the preparation phase: structuring early-stage operations in line with international best practices, enabling future project financing by one or more European development finance institutions.
• During implementation: offered alongside debt financing at the final negotiation stage or during the implementation phase, increasing the non-financial value of loans extended by European development finance institutions. 

Priority goes to projects aligned with the Global Gateway Investment Agenda that are of interest to European companies wishing to participate in tendering processes for pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, consulting services, and construction or operation contracts.  

(Expected) Results

The initiative promotes economic development through improved access to urban sustainable transport, sanitation, housing and education services while addressing climate mitigation and adaptation and advancing gender equality. 

It will mobilise additional funding from public and potentially private sources and create employment. It will also build the capacity of public institutions to plan and manage investments and projects in urban development. 

Depending on the projects selected, it will also deliver improved facilities for waste management, sustainable urban mobility, transport and logistics infrastructure, and water and sanitation. 

Implementing partners

AFD and other European financial Institutions such as EIB and KfW.