Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive president of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), and Pablo Arosemana Marriott, Minister of Economy and Finance of Ecuador, signed a loan contract for USD 200 million, for the implementation of the Program of Reinforcement of Electrical Distribution Networks for the Aquaculture Sector, which will allow replacing fossil energy with clean energy in the shrimp agroindustrial sector.

Thanks to the CAF loan, shrimp farmers on approximately 42,000 hectares in Ecuador will have access to sustainable energy in the provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabí, Guayas, El Oro and Santa Elena. The project also includes a rural electrification component that covers 135 projects close to the intervention areas.

“At CAF we continue to provide financial tools to support countries in the region to move towards cleaner, more inclusive and environmentally friendly production models. With this credit to Ecuador, plus the previous ones signed in areas such as health and education, we join the country's efforts to develop projects that have a high impact on social, economic, productive and energy efficiency,” said Díaz-Granados.