CFE Panama

Business Financial Center is a private financial institution created to support the development of micro, small and medium enterprises.

CFE is a quasi-start-up Microfinance Institution (“MFI”) in Panama created by Desjardins DÃveloppement International (the Canadian Cooperative Movement) and Colac, the Confederation of Latin American Cooperatives. CFE Panama is run with the same CFE methodology and operating support that DID is successfully rolling out in Africa and Latin America and where BlueOrchard teamed up with DID in three countries already. After less than 2 years of operations, CFE has an outstanding portfolio of 11M USD and 1,700 clients, serving with financial services the “missing middle” with loans typically ranging from 2,000-15,000 USD a segment that banks do not attend in Panama and that is larger than the typical microenterprise segment served by the NGOs. One of the strongest differentiating factors of the CFE methodology is the Client and Employee Share Ownership Plan whereby all shareholders agree to offering up to 20% of the MFIâ€s equity to its clients and employees.