The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) convened this Thursday morning, May 5, representatives of the private sector and the Government, in your new headquarters from Managua, opened alone on March 16, by Dante Mossi, executive president of the regional entity. The appointment is for discuss with “the private sector and representatives of the Government of Nicaragua, to improve our support”, as briefly anticipated.
Since the international donor community stopped the disbursements and the approval of new loans for the dictatorship, CABEI became the most important source of resources for Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, to the point that the Bank is approaching to the limit that it can lend to Nicaraguawithout exceeding the reasonable amounts that can be lent to a single customer.
The directors of three chambers affiliated with the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), confirmed to CONFIDENTIAL —On the condition of anonymity— that there will be a presence of that entity born in 1972. In addition, small and medium-sized companies organized in the Association for the Development and Sustainability of Nicaragua (Aprodesni) will attend. “I understand that we are going all of us who were invited”, said the director of a Cosep chamber. This source highlighted that some media outlets stated that only the businessmen related to the dictatorship“but that is not true”, because Cosep and some chambers were invited, in addition to issuing invitations to some figures from the private initiative, in a personal capacity.
The source said that “César Zamora, president of Cosep, will not go to the meeting” because he has a trip abroad. Other sources revealed that the executive director of Cosep Eduardo Fonseca will attend. CONFIDENTIAL consulted with Zamora, but until the publication of this note, the head of the entity had not responded.
this thursday in #Managua we will have a day of discussions with the private sector and representatives of the Government of #Nicaragua to improve our support from the @CABEI_Org
— Dante Mossi (@DanteMossi) May 2, 2022
The invitation is from CABEI, not from the Government
Although there is a clear understanding of the discredit that sitting with the dictatorship would mean, while the country goes backwards in terms of governability, democracy and respect for freedoms, the businessmen who decided to go, based on —at least— three premises.
The first is that “it is not the Government that invites: it is the Bank”, said the director quoted above. “CABEI has 60 million dollars that it has not been able to allocate, and I am curious to see what they have to say,” he admitted.
It refers to the ‘Support Facility for the Financial Sector for Financing Mipymes’, launched by the Bank in 2020, with the intention of “providing liquidity to Mipymes to contribute to their adaptation, solvency and transformation, as part of their economic reactivation in the face of the effects of the pandemic.”
The program is endowed with 350 million dollars, of which US$83 million come from German financial cooperation through KfW, and US$28.5 million from the European Union, according to data published on the regional entity’s website. “To date, disbursements have been achieved for the sum of US$72.6 million, and in turn the conservation of 36,509 jobs”, highlights the publication.
“The problem is that the commercial banks are the ones that intermediate those resources, and they are releasing the credits by the dropper, but that same decision causes them to have excess liquidity. CABEI provided the money, and the banks do not process it due to the high country risk”, he explained.
“With the meetings that we have on the agenda, we identify initiatives that allow us to promote the growth of the sector and therefore generate employment and development for the country; At the same time, we will be sharing the working mechanisms and instruments that we have… to contribute to the recovery and revitalization of the economy,” Mossi said.
The micro, small and medium enterprises of #Nicaragua they have received $73 million in soft loans that have saved jobs and opportunities. The @CABEI_Org support the private sector!
— Dante Mossi (@DanteMossi) May 4, 2022
Cadur will ask for your funds
One sector that will undoubtedly take advantage of the meeting is that of the Chamber of Developers of Nicaragua (Cadur), to ask Mossi why he does not approve the disbursement of 171 million dollars that were already approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors, to build houses in Nicaragua.
Although there is already a green light to transfer the resources, Mossi a deadline extension was grantedwhich expires on September 8, 2022, to comply with that decision.
“We have more than a year of waiting for the money to be releasedbut absolutely nothing has happened: they do not explain why, nor do they make the disbursement, and that is a problem” for construction companies, material suppliers, construction workers, banks that mediate resources, and families that they could apply to those funds,” said a source from the sector.
A total of 100 million dollars would be used to build 7,000 low-income homes, while the remaining 71 million would allow granting loans and subsidies under favorable conditions to build and acquire another 11,660 homes.
“The invitation was made directly by CABEI, and Cadur had wanted to meet with them for a long time to see about the loan,” said this source, who is also aware of the reputational risk they run for the public, as reflected by some exchanges of opinions published on Twitter.
“I think it is Cosep’s duty to maintain employment, and for that financing is required. I hope this serves as an approach [con el Gobierno de Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo] to talk about political prisoners, and seek their release. That should be the priority”, he assured, thus finishing off the second and third premise for which they decided to respond to the Central American Bank’s call.
“This type of meeting is in line with the CABEI Institutional Strategy 2020-2024which aims to strengthen relations with the private sector at the regional level, so that CABEI becomes the benchmark in the mobilization of private resources and foreign direct investment,” added the Bank.
