New Development Bank Americas Regional Office

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, the Minister of Finance, Eduardo Guardia, and the president of the New Development Bank (NDB), K.V. Kamath, signed yesterday, July 26, in Johannesburg, South Africa, an agreement for the establishment of the NDB Americas Regional Office. This marks yet another step in the institutional development of the NDB and demonstrates Brazil's firm commitment to strengthening the bank, which was founded by the BRICS member countries.

Since its opening in 2015, the NDB has approved 23 loans totaling US $ 5.7 billion to finance projects in the areas of renewable energy, transportation infrastructure, water supply, sanitation and social infrastructure. Brazil has been granted four loans totaling US $ 621 million in the areas of renewable energy, environmental protection, sustainable urban infrastructure and transportation. The NDB anticipates that, by 2021, about two-thirds of the resources disbursed will go to sustainable infrastructure projects.

The NDB Americas Regional Office will be headquartered in Sao Paulo and have a representative office in Brasilia. The new office will enable the NDB to expand the scope of its operations by encouraging the prospection and development of projects to be financed by the bank in Brazil and in the region. Through the office, the NDB may also, in the future, raise funds in the domestic market to finance activities in local currency. The first regional office of the institution was launched in Johannesburg, in August 2017, with a mandate to operate in the African continent.