The Latin American ICT projects receiving multilateral support

By approving over US$260 million for ICT projects in El Salvador, Brazil and Haiti, Latin American development bank CAF and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) are providing fresh impulses.

BNamericas takes a look at the investments.

SUBMARINE CABLE

Last week, CAF approved a US$145mn loan for El Salvador's first submarine cable.

Announced in December, the high-capacity cable will connect to other countries in the region and is backed by the MCDF, a group of multilaterals focused on development financing.

The program also aims at strengthening regulator Siget.

SUPPORT FOR ISPs

IDB approved a US$100mn loan to support investments by Brazilian internet service providers. Funds will be disbursed under a program by the communications ministry that will benefit 2.5mn people.

The initiative had been announced in May 2023.

One component of the program will facilitate access to credit for small providers in municipalities with fewer than 30,000 residents for the deployment of fiber optics cables and installation of telecoms equipment, among others.

Another component focuses on implementing an IT system to complement credit rating mechanisms and contribute to reducing information asymmetries between small service providers and financial credit institutions.

The disbursement is the sixth operation linked to the conditional credit line for Brasil Más Digital investment projects, approved in 2021.

DIGITAL GOVERNMENT

The IDB also approved a US$16mn subsidy for the digital transformation of Haiti's public services.

The initiative seeks to increase the institutional capacity of the digital government agency and the efficiency of the central management systems led by the economy and finance ministry, as well as the monitoring and cybersecurity capacity of public agencies.

Improvements in digital infrastructure, including connectivity, energy and cloud, will be financed.

Funds will be disbursed over five years.

LABORATORY

Paraguay opened an IDB Techlab laboratory focused on emerging technologies. The laboratory will serve as a strategic center for the Southern Cone and allow experiments with generative artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, robots and drones, among others.

The first such laboratory was opened in 2017 in Washington, DC, and the second in Panama in 2022.

Another one, covering the Andean region, is planned to be opened in Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago will host one for the Caribbean.