81297952a-Consulting on capacity building of banks and municipalities for financing sustainable urban infrastructure projects

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is expected to be commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) to implement the bilateral technical cooperation project Sustainable Intermediate Cities II (Ciudades Intermedias Sostenibles, CIS II) in Ecuador between May 2021 and April 2024. The project"s objective is to support Ecuador in achieving measurable progress in implementing the AHSE 2036 and the urban related Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). CIS II builds on the first phase of the project, which ran until April 2021. The first project phase focused on supporting the Ecuadorian government in the elaboration of the Sustainable Habitat Agenda Ecuador (Agenda Hábitat Sostenible Ecuador, AHSE 2036), ensuring its conformity with the 2030 Agenda, the New Urban Agenda, and the Paris Agreement. BMZ intends to extend the CIS II project until August 2026 and to integrate co-financing by the European Union (EU). Under the Team Europe Initiative (TEI), the European Union (EU) is actively supporting Ecuador in the process of "greening" its economy in the frame of the "Green Deal for Ecuador". The objective is an inclusive, sustainable and resilient economy, stimulated by innovations and investments at decentralised level. Urban settlements and developing the bankability of low carbon and climate mitigation projects - play a key role in achieving this objective. CIS II aims at strengthening the capacities of key national and local agencies involved in the development and implementation of public policy on sustainable urban development in the framework of the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the project aims to promote measurable progress in the implementation of sustainable urban development policies, in line with the AHSE 2036. Additionally, the project seeks to contribute to the generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in areas relevant to and from the actions of cities. Key objective of the CIS II extension is to increase the capacity of municipal administrations in project preparation for sustainable urban infrastructure projects ready for financing, to enable cities to develop projects themselves and access climate finance (demand). In addition, by advising and training public banks (BDE, others) in the development of financial instruments for sustainable urban infrastructure projects, climate finance is made available to cities (supply). Public counterparts of the CIS II project are the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MIDUVI), the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition (MAATE), the Ministry of Finance (MEF) and the National Development Bank (BDE), which has as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and municipal governments (GADs) as its shareholders. Potential private sector partners are private banks that will be involved into the intervention, in particular Produbanco and Banco Procredit Ecuador, which are developing their green loan portfolio and have already expressed interest in supporting matchmaking with the private sector. Representatives of civil society are important stakeholders to promote participatory governance at local level and to support local administrations as implementing partners, which are Decentralised Autonomous Governments (GADs) at provincial, municipal and parochial (three) levels and their representatives: AME (Ecuadorian Association of Municipalities) and CONGOPE (Consortium of Autonomous Provincial Governments of Ecuador) Universities, Middle Cities and the Private Sector.