IDB Invest works to boost job creation through the private sector and ensure these opportunities reach areas with the potential to develop new productive sectors and generate formal employment. Financing energy and transport infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean has been crucial for creating quality jobs and increasing women’s workforce participation.
IDB Invest supports transport and energy infrastructure projects that transform local economies. These projects create formal jobs, provide training for women, and consolidate new productive sectors. A clear example of transformation is Pirapora, in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. This city, with more than 50,000 inhabitants, has become one of the leading centers for solar energy production in Latin America.
IDB Invest provided Atlas Renewable Energy with $150 million in financing for the construction and operation of six solar module plants, which have the capacity to supply the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of 390,000 families. The growth of the renewable energy sector in Pirapora has helped Brazil diversify its energy matrix.
Access to Formal Employment
According to Atlas Renewable Energy, its operations in Minas Gerais, Brazil, have generated more than 16,000 direct jobs—mainly during construction—and around 3,000 indirect jobs to date. IDB Invest actively offers incentives and technical assistance to help women develop the skills required in the sector. At least 2,100 women were hired to construct Atlas Renewable Energy projects.
The employment impact model developed in Minas Gerais has also been replicated in other Latin American countries through Atlas Renewable Energy’s vocational program, We Are All Part of the Same Energy. In total, 1,500 women have received training to work on renewable energy projects in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia. In the latter, IDB Invest also participates as a financier of another Atlas Renewable Energy project, promoting the hiring of women and ensuring at least 15% female participation. On average, women’s involvement in Atlas Renewable Energy projects has increased from 2% to 20% in some cases.
Natural Gas for All in Peru
The expansion of residential and commercial natural gas connections in Lima and Callao, Peru, by the company Cálidda over the past 20 years has been another high-impact social and economic project supported by IDB Invest. In 2020, amid the pandemic and the collapse of foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, IDB Invest considered it crucial to support Cálidda with $100 million to ensure the company could maintain its plans to add 180,000 new residential and commercial users in 2020 and 2021.
IDB Invest’s support for natural gas expansion has resulted in lower energy costs for households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in urban areas of the Lima Department and the Constitutional Province of Callao, home to more than 10 million people. To date, Cálidda’s total natural gas connections in the region are approaching 2 million users.
It is estimated that the expansion of natural gas service helped create 55,000 direct and indirect jobs in Peru in 2022, according to reports cited by Cálidda, which has been recognized for its efforts to incorporate women into traditionally male-dominated roles.
Infrastructure That Creates Jobs, Reduces Travel Time, and Shares Benefits
One of the most significant challenges in transport infrastructure projects is land acquisition. However, this was not an obstacle for the developers of the Xochi-Corredor de las Flores highway project in Guatemala. Landowners along the project route, between the municipalities of San Antonio, Suchitepéquez, and San Andrés Villa Seca, had the opportunity to become partners in the project, turning the highway into a model of capital democratization and community participation.
During the estimated 40-year lifespan of the 31-kilometer toll road, landowners who ceded part of their property in exchange for becoming partners will benefit from the project’s revenues. IDB Invest provided a $55 million loan to support the project.
The project’s impact is also measured in competitiveness and job creation. Xochi will help reduce travel time from more than three hours to less than 30 minutes on the Central American Highway 2 West, Guatemala’s most important logistics corridor.
During the construction phase, which is currently underway, the project is expected to generate 1,376 direct jobs and 3,097 indirect jobs, prioritizing local hiring.
Each project developed by IDB Invest’s 440 clients across 25 countries tells a story of impact on communities and the creation of formal employment. Notably, renewable energy infrastructure projects like the one in Minas Gerais (Brazil), the expansion of natural gas connections in Peru, and the Corredor de las Flores in Guatemala showcase the range of opportunities enabled by private capital mobilized by IDB Invest to support local development.