José Carlos Villena
Director of Development Finance
COFIDES, S.A., S.M.E.
Madrid, Spain
About me
Director of Development and Blended Finance at Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, COFIDES S.A., the Spanish DFI and EDFI Member. COFIDES is an entrusted entity for EU budget implementation and for co-financing with the Green Climate Fund.
Graduate in Law, Business Administration and Management and Actuarial and Financial Sciences from Carlos III University. Master's Degree in International Business Management from the Centre for Economic and Commercial Studies (CECO), Master's Degree in Microfinance and Social Development from the University of Alcalá; MBA from the Centre for Economic and Commercial Studies (CECO).
During 2012 and 2013, he completed a Secondment at the World Bank, working as an Operations Analyst at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) in Washington. Prior to joining COFIDES he worked in the private sector in different positions.
He joined COFIDES in 2007 and since then he has held various positions in the Monitoring, Investment and Development Finance departments. He currently holds the position of Director of Partnerships for Development Division, responsible for supporting the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) in the management of the Development Promotion Fund (FONPRODE), including planning, identification, analysis, formalisation and monitoring. He is also responsible of the co-financing operations (Blending) with the European Union and with the Green Climate Fund (UNO). Professor at several Universities and Higher Education Institutions on various issues related to Climate Change Finance and Financial Inclusion.
My organisation
COFIDES is a state-owned company specialized in managing State funds that provides financing for private investments to achieve various public policy objectives.
In the area of internationalization, COFIDES provides financing through medium and long-term debt and equity instruments for viable private investment projects abroad in which Spain has an interest. In addition to its own resources, it manages the Foreign Investment Fund (FIEX) and the Fund for Foreign Investment Operations for Small and Medium Enterprises ( FONPYME).
Since 2021, it has managed the Recapitalization Fund for companies affected by COVID-19 (FONREC), aimed at strengthening the solvency of Spanish companies severely affected by the pandemic. As part of the Spanish Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan addendum, COFIDES has also been assigned the direct management of two new financial instruments: the Co-investment Fund (FOCO), to attract foreign investment to Spain in activities mainly related to green and digital transitions, and the Social Impact Fund (FIS), aimed at strengthening the national impact investment ecosystem.
COFIDES also supports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (through the AECID) in the management of reimbursable financing operations of the Development Promotion Fund (FONPRODE), lending its capacity and expertise in financial and non-financial risk analysis gained during its thirty years of work in developing and emerging countries.
COFIDES is one of the accredited entities for the delegated management of the European Union budget. It can present combined financing operations, known as Blending facilities, a financing instrument that combines a non-reimbursable contribution or one with high levels of concessionality from the EU with reimbursable financing from COFIDES.
COFIDES is accredited to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a United Nations initiative to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation projects in developing countries.
It is a founding member of EDFI , the association of European Development Financial Institutions, which works together with its counterparts in 15 European countries. It is thus able to co-finance projects with its European counterparts through co-financing mechanisms, i.e. the EFP (European Financing Partners and the ICCF Interact Climate Change Facility).
Additional questions
Organisation Type
Public Sector/Government