Above: operations at Project MediShare, which received grants from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (Photo: CBHF)
By Alexander Britell
The Multilateral Investment Fund will be assuming responsibility for the portfolio of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which is scheduled to wind down operations Dec. 31, the Inter-American Development Bank announced Thursday.
The MIF, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund have signed an agreement transferring the Fund’s remaining grants to the MIF.
The fund was launched in January 2010 by former US Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton following the earthquake in Haiti, seeking to promote job creation and economic growth in the country.
“We are honored to have the trust and support of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund,” said MIF General Manager Nancy Lee in a statement. “We share a common vision and approach to empowering Haiti’s people through access to finance, to markets and skills, and to basic services and green growth. We welcome this chance both to increase our presence in the country and to work with new partners.”
The news answers the question of what was to become of the commitments of the fund, which announced it would close earlier this month.
It received more than $55 million in contributions from over 200,000 individuals, businesses and organizations, helping to fund projects from Haitian insurance companies to hotel developments.
The Clinton Bush Fund said it selected the MIF to assume its portfolio because of its focus on private-sector-led development.
“We appreciate the MIF’s leadership as they step in to manage our programmes and investments,” Clinton Bush Haiti Fund CEO Gary Edson said in a release. “We have a high degree of confidence in the strong teams they have both here and on the ground in Haiti.”
The Fund said it has committed “both cash and repayments” from its remaining loans to the MIF. The MIF will then use those to invest in programmes and activities in Haiti “consistent with the shared mission of economic opportunity,” the IDB said.