Currently some 61 IIRSA projects, including a number of trans-border projects, are slated for implementation in Ecuador. Together these projects require an estimated investment of $7.0 billion. Nearly all of them fall within 2 integration hubs, Amazonian and Andean, with the great majority falling in the Amazonian hub. The majority of projects correspond to the transportation, border crossings, and hydroelectric energy sectors.
The support of the Ecuadorian Government for IIRSA is evidenced by the large number of projects in the country’s infrastructure portfolio relative to the country’s size. Many of the most problematic projects are concentrated in the “Morona-Marañón-Amazon Waterway Access” group, which is cluster #6 in the Amazon hub. This cluster includes 11 hydroelectric projects and 3 highways that would link remote inland places, such as the to-be-constructed Port of Morona, with the Port of Guayaquil on the Pacific coast. Its ultimate objective is to connect the commercial ports of Ecuador with Brazil and the Atlantic Coast through a waterway encompassing the Morona, Marañón, and Amazon rivers. The project, which could bring uncontrolled development to the heart of the Amazon Basin, is currently estimated to cost about $5.5 billion.
Also, in the past few months the Andean Development Corporation (CAF) has nearly doubled the amount of its lending to Ecuador. CAF’s most recent loans to the country totaled $300 million, and it is possible that these loans could be used to finance IIRSA projects.