Italy reportedly interested in financing Nicaragua irrigation project

The Italian government is interested in providing financing worth US$20mn for an irrigation project in Nicaragua's so-called dry corridor, Nicaraguan state news portal El Pueblo Presidente reported.

The corridor is a strip of land where 52% of soils are overused and 40% is strongly or severely eroded. It is also the area of the country most affected by droughts and climate change.

Laureano Ortega - son of President Daniel Ortega and investment advisor at investment promotion agency ProNicaragua - met Monday with members of an Italian delegation that is visiting Nicaragua.

Delegation member Antonio Guizzetti confirmed Italy's interest in providing the financing, which would be in the form of a long-term soft loan, according to the report, which did not provide more financing details.

A representative from Italian irrigation solutions company IRRITEC was also part of the delegation that met with Nicaraguan officials. The company would be in charge of implementing an irrigation system for the dry corridor, reported local news outlet La Voz del Sandinismo.

NATIONAL STRATEGY

The irrigation project is included in a US$5.2bn strategy entitled Development Policies and Projects for Fostering Investment 2017-2021, which the government launched in October last year. The strategy is in turn part of the country's new public-private partnership (PPP) law, which the government is already promoting to local and international investors, foreign governments, and financial institutions, to secure financial and political support. The law was approved in 2016.

The strategy includes a list of projects with the potential of being developed under PPPs. The initiatives range from airport and roads to fishing and agricultural initiatives.