The Alliance between Empropaz and Gran Tierra Energy seeks to strengthen local businesses in Putumayo

Empropaz and Gran Tierra Energy formalized the signing of their alliance, which aims to strengthen businesses and the social fabric in Putumayo within the framework of the Productive Entrepreneurship for Peace –Empropaz- and Emprender + programs of Gran Tierra (formerly the Emprender Paga program). This alliance will benefit microentrepreneurs in Putumayo, specifically in the municipalities of Puerto Asís, Mocoa, Orito, and Villagarzón.

The main purpose of integrating these two initiatives is to continue supporting microentrepreneurs in Putumayo, so they can take their businesses to the next level and, at the same time, contribute to economic reactivation and development in their municipalities. This Alliance will implement strategies in the region, allowing participants of the Emprender + program to continue improving their business development.

The Emprender Paga project, implemented by Gran Tierra Energy, aimed to promote the creation and development of businesses and ventures in the areas where the company operates. This initiative, which supported 423 local entrepreneurs in Putumayo and 752 in the Valle del Magdalena Medio, provided seed capital to 280 of them. More than 70% of the beneficiaries who received support or resources to start or improve their businesses were women.

This great alliance seeks to articulate actions in the region that allow participants of the Emprender Paga program to continue their business development process, linking them to Empropaz to access an opportunity for specialized support and training, as well as facilitating the delivery of financial products and services such as loans, savings accounts, CDT’s, insurance, and financial education, with which they have already served more than 97,000 people, 60% women, in the 76 municipalities where the project is present.

Only in the last two years, more than 2,900 entrepreneurs and microentrepreneurs, 66% of whom are women, have received support and specialized training from the Empropaz program led by Bancamía, an entity of the BBVA Microfinance Foundation, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Corporation of Women Colombia, and the World Corporation of Women Medellín. As part of the agreement between Empropaz and Gran Tierra Energy, during the year 2021, two calls will be made in which microentrepreneurs who have completed the Emprender Paga program can subscribe to the Empropaz project, accessing training programs and different financial products.

All efforts within the framework of this alliance will seek to support the transformation of the territories most affected by violence and poverty. Entrepreneurship opportunities are a proven path to productive economic development, and Empropaz and Gran Tierra Energy will support beneficiaries towards sustainable business practices in economic, social, and environmental terms in the long term.