CAF and Ecuador's Government sign USD 200 million loan agreement

Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF—development bank of Latin American and Caribbean—, and Ecuador's Economy and Finance Minister Pablo Arosemana Marriot, signed a USD 200 million loan agreement for the "Power Distribution Reinforcement Program for the Aquaculture Sector." The program is expected to help replace fossil energy with clean energy in the industrial shrimp sector.

The CAF loan is set to provide shrimp farmers in some 42,000 hectares along Ecuador's coast with access to sustainable and renewable energy in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabí, Guayas, El Oro, and Santa Elena. The Project also calls for rural electrification, with 135 initiatives near the intervened areas, which were selected from the rural electrification project database kept by the National Electricity Corporation (CNEL EP). Thus, the project is expected to benefit 5,025 homes without power supply and 1,378 homes with unreliable service.

"CAF continues to deliver financial tools to underpin countries in the region in transitioning towards cleaner, more inclusive, and environmentally friendly production models. With the Ecuador loan, in addition to previous disbursements made in areas such as healthcare and education, we join the nation's efforts to conceive projects with a high impact on social, economic, productive issues, and energy efficiency," said CAF Executive President Sergio Díaz-Granados.

In the last 3 months, CAF has signed off three significant loans for Ecuador's development.The first, for USD 150 million to fund the Annual Educational Investment Program 2023–2025, targets innovative, inclusive, and high-quality education by modernizing the National Education System, revamping school infrastructure, improving teaching performance, broad adoption of technology for learning, and curriculum readjustment, with a focus on the most vulnerable groups. 

The second, totaling USD 20.2 million for the New Architectural Model Program for Educational Infrastructure, underpins the modernization of the National Education System, by adapting, adjusting, and revamping school infrastructure, under a new architectural and pedagogical model that ensures universal, inclusive, and high-quality access to students in rural and marginalized urban areas.   

And the third, for USD 117 million to fund the Public Health Investment Plan Implementation Program, aims to reinforce the National Health System and assist in the implementation of public health policy to ensure a comprehensive health care model for newborns, pregnant and lactating mothers, teenagers, young people, and vulnerable groups in general, with criteria of inclusion and respect for cultural diversity.