News from 2026-10-13 / DEG
Strengthening financial inclusion and women’s entrepreneurship in Peru
DEG is providing financing to Caja Arequipa, Peru’s leading municipal savings bank. The USD 50 million loan will strengthen the institution’s capital base and support the sustainable expansion of financing for micro and small enterprises, with a particular focus on underserved customers and women-owned businesses. This marks DEG’s first transaction with a savings bank in Peru.
Founded in 1986, Caja Municipal de Ahorro y Crédito Arequipa S.A. (Caja Arequipa) has grown from a regional financial institution into a nationwide provider of financial services. It is now Peru’s seventh-largest financial institution and its largest non-bank financial institution.
Caja Arequipa’s business model focuses on people and businesses that have limited access to traditional banking services. Its customers include micro and small enterprises, entrepreneurs and households in rural areas and underserved urban communities.
One of the entrepreneurs financed by Caja Arequipa is Leonidas Chipana, a biochemist based in San Ramón in the tropical highlands of eastern Peru. He first received financing from the bank in 2013 to develop his emerging fertiliser business. Since then, the business has grown, enabling him to diversify into ecotourism. He has established a mountain lodge that is managed in line with sustainability and resource-efficiency principles and complemented by reforestation activities.
Supporting small private businesses
DEG’s subordinated Tier II facility will strengthen Caja Arequipa’s capital base and enable it to expand its lending activities sustainably. The financing will particularly benefit micro and small enterprises, which play an important role in employment and local economic development but often face difficulties accessing suitable financial services.
A portion of the funds will be earmarked for financing women-owned businesses. In this way, the investment will help create greater economic opportunities for women while contributing to financial inclusion and reducing economic inequalities.
Patricia Roque is one of the women entrepreneurs financed by Caja Arequipa. She owns and operates a garment workshop in Puno, in the Peruvian Andes. Her first loan from the bank in 2010 enabled her to purchase overlock sewing machines and high-quality materials, increasing the productivity and efficiency of her business. Further financing has since allowed her to expand the workshop’s capacity and purchase a home.
A contribution to local development
Caja Arequipa is also an important driver of development in its home region. As a major regional employer, it contributes directly to the local economy. The municipality of Arequipa is the savings bank’s sole shareholder and uses the dividends it receives exclusively to finance infrastructure and projects with a social impact in the community.
Caja Arequipa’s contribution goes beyond access to finance. As part of its sustainability strategy, the bank provides financial education for schoolchildren, women, businesses and micro-entrepreneurs, while also supporting environmental education initiatives.
In 2025, for example, Caja Arequipa partnered with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru to provide financial management training to 1,931 women entrepreneurs in Lima, Arequipa and other regions of the country.
Combining financing with higher sustainability standards
DEG’s involvement will add value not only through the provision of long-term capital. It will also support Caja Arequipa in strengthening its approach to environmental and social risk management through an enhanced Environmental and Social Management System.
In addition, DEG is exploring opportunities to provide accompanying technical assistance. Potential areas of cooperation include green finance, gender equality and sustainability management.