CGColombia

completed

Consistent with IFC's long-tested CG programmatic approach, which has been shown to have greater long-term impact on improving practices in a market, the project consists of activities across 4 inter-related components: 1. Macro Level: - Conducting and speaking at awareness raising events on the business case for improving CG for various stakeholders in Colombia, helping share best practices and case studies. Project partners will be engaged in this effort, such as the Confecamaras, local chambers of commerce, educational institutions. - Disseminating best practice publications and tools to encourage greater adoption of good practices. - Providing support to local networks promoting good CG practices such as the Colombian Companies Circle. - Developing and promoting methodologies to analyze and improve corporate governance of various types of firms. The project will seek to develop an appropriate regional-specific CG methodology for SMEs (also utilizing the work done under the SECO-funded project in Colombia on SME governance), MFIs and, possibly, cooperatives. - Working with interest groups, on issues such as gender equality, to increase the awareness of relevant topics in CG. 2. Regulatory Level: Project activities under this component will be the responsibility of WB and will be accounted in a separate WB project. More specifically WB will support the development and/or improvements of CG-related regulations, conduct country/sector diagnostics, provide training to the staff of the regulators, etc. 3. Market Level: - Supporting the creation of a new institute of corporate governance in Colombia and helping develop its capacity to provide CG services to firms. - Supporting market intermediaries such as Confecamaras, local chambers of commerce, educational institutions to build their capacity and understanding of CG issues to enable them to become change agents in their respective investment programs. - Conducting workshops for market intermediaries, training institutions and the media to help build their expertise. - Roll out and disseminate the IFC's toolkits on director training organizations, board leadership, media, alternative dispute resolution and others. - As capacity building of local intermediaries is a key element of this project, the team will monitor the progress of the partner's capacity to deliver CG services, following the methodology developed in ECA region. 4. Firm Level: - Conducting CG assessments or consultations for selected private companies to help them implement better CG practices with the focus on IFC investment clients and pipeline. - Provide CG AS services to select SMEs directly or through the local partners as a continuation of the SECO project implemented by Confecamaras and local chambers of commerce. - Providing other specialized advisory services to select firms and groups of companies in the forms of workshops, consultations, one on one advice. This may include general CG training for directors and executives or more specific topics such as Banking, Family Governance, SME CG, and other. - Some of the firm-level work will be conducted in conjunction with local intermediaries in order to build their capacity in delivery these types of firm-level services.