In Ecuador, PROPARCO has signed two new projects in the agribusiness and telecoms sectors

Ecuador is one of the main producers of white shrimp, making this shellfish the country’s second main export product after oil. SONGA (Sociedad Nacional de Galápagos) Group is a pioneer in the farmed shrimp sector in Ecuador. It covers the entire shrimp value chain, from production to marketing. In 2020, the company was the 3rd largest exporter in Ecuador with a market share of 8.9%.  

PROPARCO has been supporting SONGA since 2017, when it allocated a first loan for the development of its production capacity. A new USD 15m loan has just been signed with SONGA. It will finance its investment plan by increasing its production and storage capacity (modernization of the current plant, new cold storage room and power substation) and installing a plant that will treat all the company’s wastewater. By supporting the growth in SONGA’s activity, the project will contribute to generating an additional annual EUR 1.1m of net public revenue over the next five years, compared to the revenue created today. The project will also support some 5,703 direct and indirect jobs.

Helping improve digital coverage during Covid-19

Phoenix Tower International (PTI) Group was set up in 2013. It is a leading independent telecommunications infrastructure company with a portfolio of over 8,000 telecom towers, mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean. PTI’s main investors are the Blackstone and John Hancock funds and Phoenix Tower International Ecuador (PTIE) is the subsidiary of PTI Group in Ecuador.

PTIE's financing was syndicated by IDB Invest, a multilateral development bank member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) group, which is committed to promoting the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean through the private sector.

Proparco was invited by IDB Invest to participate in the financing of PTIE through a loan of USD 25 million and CIFI, a leading non-bank financial institution in infrastructure and energy financing in Latin America and the Caribbean participated through a loan of USD 11.8 million.

This successful mobilization leverages the strong track record of collaboration between IDB Invest and Proparco since signing a co-financing framework agreement in 2017.

The financing provided will allow the refinancing of the acquisition of 1,408 telecom towers owned by Otecel. It will also finance a CAPEX plan that will allow PTIE to continue to develop its asset portfolio (new towers, antenna systems distributed…).  

This project will contribute to bridging the digital divide in the country by allowing operators to increase and improve their mobile coverage based on the model of shared infrastructure. It is being implemented in the current pandemic situation where connectivity has more than ever been key to maintaining school, government and economic activities.

These two projects in Ecuador will contribute to SDGs n° 8 (“Decent work and economic growth”), n° 9 (“Industry, innovation and infrastructure”), n° 12 (“Responsible consumption and production”) and n° 17 (“Partnerships for the Goals”).