The Cerrejón Foundation for Progress in La Guajira and WWB Colombia, united for entrepreneurship
01 April 2009
An alliance between the Foundation and the WWB to finance micro-businesses in the department of La Guajira
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The Cerrejón Foundation for Progress in La Guajira and WWB Colombia (Women’s World Banking) signed an alliance today at Cerrejón’s offices in Bogotá. This union will strengthen the initiatives taken by micro-businesses in La Guajira, adding to the efforts of the Foundation’s microcredit program the enormous management capacity of the WWB, which has been in the country for 30 years with 250,000 clients and 65 offices.
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Since 1984 Cerrejón’s Foundation for Progress in La Guajira has approved 66,488 small credits for more than $18,841,343.05 US Dollars, 48% of this value has been managed in the past 6 years. In 2008, 73% of the Foundation’s credits were granted to Guajiran women.
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The micro-entrepreneur men and women of the region will benefit from a broad portfolio of credit services offered by WWB Colombia, an entity that will soon become a bank and will further expand the micro-financing coverage in La Guajira.
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Cerrejón
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Cerrejón is the largest open pit mining operation in the world, located in the peninsula and department of La Guajira in northeastern Colombia. The coal deposits are located among 69,000 hectares and the production capacity of coal for 2009 is estimated to be 32.3 million metric tons. The great strength of Cerrejón’s mining operation is the integration of its productive processes (mine-train-port) in order to guarantee a more efficient operation. BHP Billiton, Xstrata Coal and Anglo American are the three equal-part owners of Cerrejón.
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The Cerrejón Foundation for Progress in La Guajira
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The Cerrejón Foundation for Progress in La Guajira aims for La Guajira to “generate development based on the creation and strengthening of sustainable businesses, business generators, socially and fiscally responsible, that will exist longer than the mining contracts.” In order to achieve this the Foundation invests in financial, technical, and human resources along with the communities of the region as well as other entities so that together they can consolidate a financial culture made up of sustainable businesses that generate employment and richness within the Department, keeping in mind the necessities and strengths of the region.
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WWB Colombia
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WWB Colombia is a private intermediary microfinance organization that was created in Cali in 1980. It provides quick and easy access to micro-entrepreneurs with little resources, preferably to women. Its head office is located in Cali, Colombia, with a network of 65 offices. In La Guajira, its head office is in Riohacha and it has attention centers in Fonseca, Maicao, and San Juan as well as correspondents in Mingueo, Barrancas and Villanueva.
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For more information please contact:
comunica@cerrejon.com
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