Rafael Castillo

Rafael Castillo-Triana is a leasing and asset-finance specialist who has spent more than four decades helping emerging-market economies expand access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. He leads the Latin American Region and Emerging Markets practice of The Alta Group, the world’s largest equipment-leasing advisory firm, advising governments, central banks, development finance institutions and the private sector on the legal, regulatory and market reforms that make leasing a practical, collateral-light source of capital for underserved businesses.
Because leasing finances the asset rather than relying on the borrower’s credit history or real-estate collateral, it is one of the most effective instruments for reaching SMEs that the banking sector typically cannot serve. Mr. Castillo-Triana has built that case in practice across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caucasus — drafting national leasing laws, designing supervisory and tax frameworks, and training legislators, regulators, judges and lenders to put them to work.
SELECTED WORK ADVANCING SME FINANCE
• World Bank Group / IFC: diagnosed and reformed leasing laws and built market capacity in Tanzania (drafting the Tanzanian Leasing Act), Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda, Cameroon, Kenya, Guatemala, Afghanistan and Yemen, and is currently supporting the Government of Angola on developing its leasing industry.
• Global standards: member of the UNIDROIT Advisory Board for the Model Law on Leasing and government delegate to its diplomatic conferences — the international framework designed to extend leasing to emerging markets.
• Market building: founder of the Colombian Leasing Association (FEDELEASING), long-standing contributor of emerging-market country reports to the World Leasing Yearbook, and chair of leasing forums across Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
• Thought leadership: author of books and studies on equipment leasing and, most recently, on climate finance as a commercial opportunity for asset financing in emerging markets.
EDUCATION & LANGUAGES
Doctor in Law and Master in Socio-Economic Sciences, Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá). Works in Spanish (native), English (daily working language), French and Portuguese.