CAF, the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean

The mandate and the shareholder structure

CAF's purpose is development and regional integration across Latin America and the Caribbean. It is owned by its shareholder countries, and that ownership shapes eligibility: its financing is directed at supporting the development and growth of enterprises in shareholder countries and their participation in securities markets.

The practical read for a manager is that CAF's geography is defined by membership rather than by a broad regional description, so a fund's exposure to shareholder countries is the first thing to be able to evidence.

The instruments, from senior loans to equity in funds

On the debt side CAF provides loans as a creditor under agreed terms, structured as senior or subordinated, and short term up to one year, medium term between one and five years, or long term beyond five years. A single loan can finance a set of interrelated projects as a programme, or a portfolio of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises through financial partners, which is CAF's second-tier route.

On the equity side CAF describes its investments as the purchase of common stock, preferred stock, or equity shares, as well as subordinated and convertible debt securities and similar instruments, in companies, funds, and public, private, or mixed financial institutions, and in special purpose financial instruments.

Two forms are named specifically. CAF invests through investment funds aimed at acquiring, holding, managing, and selling securities of companies or infrastructure projects, and through quasi-capital investments such as subordinated loans, preferred shares, and loans convertible into shares. CAF also provides financial advisory services, which may or may not be linked to obtaining a specific financial product.

The numbers in the offering circular are approval limits

CAF's 2025 medium-term note offering circular sets out an internal delegation. On the recommendation of the Committee, the Executive President may approve loans of up to $75.0 million for sovereign credits, loans of up to $50.0 million for private credits, and investments of up to $25.0 million in the case of equity investments.

Those are authority thresholds inside CAF's own governance, not a published range for a client. An amount above one of them is not unavailable; it goes to a different approval level. Reading the $25.0 million equity figure as a maximum equity cheque, or as a typical one, would misstate the institution in both directions.

No standard client ticket is publicly stated. CAF does not publish an expected investment size for its private-sector or fund activity on any of the sources cited here.

Direct, fund-level, and second-tier at the same time

CAF can finance private-sector companies directly, invest in funds and financial institutions, and reach small and medium-sized enterprises through a second-tier structure where a financial partner holds the client relationship and CAF finances the portfolio behind it.

For a manager the fund route is the relevant one, and CAF's stated criteria for equity participation are worth reading as diligence questions rather than as background. They include the external resource mobilisation achieved as a result of the investment and the strategic nature of the investment, both of which are additionality tests expressed in CAF's own vocabulary.

What this means for a manager preparing to approach CAF

The general development finance readiness layer applies, and the DFI pathway guide covers it. What is specific to CAF is the mobilisation question and the shareholder geography.

• Quantify what CAF's participation mobilises. External resource mobilisation is a stated criterion, so a fund should be able to name the capital its involvement would bring in.
• Evidence exposure to shareholder countries rather than to Latin America as a general region.
• Consider quasi-capital structures, since subordinated loans, preferred shares, and convertibles are explicitly part of how CAF invests.
• Do not size a raise against the offering circular's approval thresholds, and ask CAF what it is currently writing.
• Prepare the strategic case, because CAF names the strategic nature of an investment as a criterion alongside the financial one.