Lat Am-focused banks invest in El Salvador’s Tigo

Details: Vaughan O'Grady; Category: Investment; 29 July 2025; 9052 views

Two banks with a strong Latin American focus, development bank IDB Invest and multinational bank Bladex, have joined forces to provide a financing package to Millicom-owned operator Telemovil El Salvador – aka Tigo – of up to US$205 million.

IDB Invest is a multilateral development bank committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector. Bladex is a multinational bank founded in 1979 by the central banks of Latin America and the Caribbean to promote trade finance and economic integration in the region.

The package aims to support the expansion of Tigo’s fixed broadband network and the enhancing of the capacity and quality of its mobile infrastructure in El Salvador, and to refinance its maturing debt.

The partners explain that data traffic is expected to surge in the coming years, and thus that expanding and upgrading network infrastructure is crucial. By enhancing broadband services, the project aims to unlock access to digital education, telehealth and e-commerce opportunities for underserved populations.

The financing package includes a US$150 million loan co-structured by both institutions, with US$75 million contributed by IDB Invest and US$75 million by Bladex. The new assistance also includes a US$30 million revolving credit facility (RCF) and a US$25 million digital account receivables discount facility, both fully provided by IDB Invest.

The RCF will support the acquisition of specialised equipment, while the digital discount facility will finance the sale or lease of smartphones and digital services to clients, broadening access to mobile broadband, especially for middle and low-income users. Through this facility, IDB Invest says it may purchase receivables from Tigo and provide liquidity for device financing, helping to close the affordability gap in handset access.