La Jornada: Afore resources are not enough to develop infrastructure

Retirement fund administrators (Afore) are committed to investing in infrastructure, but workers’ savings are not enough and the needs are many, so it is necessary to join forces, said Guillermo Zamarripa, president of the Mexican Association of Retirement Fund Administrators (Amafore).

During the GritoBiva Fibra eMX, in which this infrastructure and real estate trust held its second subsequent issue for an amount of up to 10,276 million pesos in transportation infrastructure, backed by institutional and individual investors, Zamarripa maintained that an intermediary that draws attention is the Afore, since they can participate as capitalist partners.

“We tell the government that the Afore sector is willing to invest in infrastructure, but our money is not going to be enough; we need to join forces, boost Afore money, attract foreigners and that is why it is relevant that there are administrators with the capacity to attract foreign capital because we need it to complement,” said Guillermo Zamarripa.

The representative of the Afore recalled that Plan México seeks to invest in infrastructure (roads, ports and electricity, mainly) to grow. “The big challenge is to start landing it.”

They bet on roads

María Ariza, director of the Institutional Stock Exchange (Biva), said that road infrastructure is an engine of economic growth, since a 10 percent improvement in this infrastructure can translate into increases of 1.3 percent in the local gross domestic product (GDP), by reducing logistics costs, shortening travel times and increasing competitiveness.

On February 12, Fibra eMX carried out its second subsequent issuance of energy and infrastructure trust certificates (CBFE) for 10,276 million pesos, which it uses to acquire stakes in strategic highway assets, including GANA (Amozoc-Perote), CIBSA (León-Salamanca) and META (San Luis Potosí bypass).

Rodrigo Núñez, general director of Fibra eMX, revealed that the trust’s growth strategy is aligned with Plan México in the face of the growing infrastructure investment needs in the country, particularly in the transportation segment.

“Plan Mexico is going to generate important investment needs in the country and our partnership strategy will allow us to support that growth,” said the manager.