Analysis | Nicaragua’s US$50b rival to Panama Canal ‘going ahead slowly’ as funding evaporates and Chinese investor keeps low profile
The canal, if finished, could give China a major foothold in Central America, a region long dominated by the United States
Nicaragua’s ambitious dream of building a canal to rival Panama’s famous waterway looks in peril as doubts pile up over whether its Chinese investor can cough up the $50 billion needed, analysts say.
The project “has remained completely unfinanced because it doesn’t meet reliability requirements,” said Eliseo Nunez, a former opposition lawmaker who is now a university professor.
The Chinese billionaire who came forward to bankroll the project is Wang Jing, through his Hong Kong-based HKND (HK Nicaragua Canal Development) Group.
Five years ago, he won the contract given by the government of President Daniel Ortega to build and run a 276-kilometre (171-mile) canal that would slice across the country, linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The deal made world headlines, both for its sheer scale but also as a sign of growing Chinese involvement in a region once considered the United States’ backyard.
