100 million euro for Italian social finance companies. New resources also for SMEs and people afflicted by natural disasters
Social Impact Italia is the name of the platform presented at the Strategy meeting in Luxembourg, the annual meeting between CDP and the EIB Group.
The new instrument aims to develop Italy’s inclusive finance market in support of social entrepreneurship by directly funding specialised financial intermediaries - including micro-credit – and indirectly, by underwriting investment fund shares in the sector. The platform will have 100 million euro available, co-financed by the EIF and CDP in equal parts, renewing the fruitful partnership between the two institutions.
CEO Fabio Gallia explained: “CDP reaffirms its commitment to impact finance with the launch of the Social Impact Italia Programme, a new tool capable of supporting key market players through capital for social innovation. The agreement, coupled with new measures for families and SMEs and made possible by the established partnership with the EIB and the EIF, will catalyze further European resources for the Italian economic system".
Following the launch of the Social Bond, this new initiative further testifies to CDP's commitment to the social sector and expands the number of instruments available to promote social economy projects.
During the Strategy meeting in Luxembourg, CDP and the EIB Group also signed agreements to mobilise resources to help families and businesses afflicted by natural disasters and to identify innovative solutions in support of SMEs.
EIB is providing 530 million euro of finance to CDP especially for natural disasters, of which the first tranche of 230 million has been signed. Funds will be placed on an overall ceiling of 1.5 billion euro that CDP has raised for reconstruction work on the damage suffered by families and businesses as a result of 40 natural disasters – floods and landslides, etc. – that hit 16 Italian Regions in the last 4 years.The credit ceiling has a dual benefit: on the one hand it makes resources readily available in the area and on the other it allows the State to spread the burden of reconstruction over time. The Luxembourg meeting also included the signing of a framework agreement on the extension of the partnership between CDP and EIF in the area of support for small and medium businesses.
Since 2015 the two institutions have been at the forefront in this area, thanks to the many initiatives launched under the Juncker Plan, to promote access to credit through alternative channels of funding complementary to traditional ones such as debt funds.
From the social economy to natural disasters, through support to SMEs, the new agreements between CDP and EIB-EIF strengthen a long-term partnership with the capacity to mobilise financial resources for Italy's growth, making an active contribution to the economic, social and entrepreneurial development of the Italian economic system.