Colombia’s Odinsa secures financial closure for 4G highway project

Grupo Argos' concession company, Odinsa, secured financial closing for the fourth generation Malla Vial del Meta project in Colombia from development bank Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) and commercial banks Bancolombia and Davivienda.

Worth 590bn pesos (US$153mn), the financial closure for the PPP project will allow for the signing of documents to start construction works.

In 2021, the project was reactivated after having been halted for five years and early work began on two sections of the corridor in Meta department.

It involves works on 267.5km linking the municipalities of Granada, Villavicencio, Puerto López and Puerto Gaitán, including rehabilitation and widening works, as well as a new 7.25km highway and 23 bridges.

The project will see total investments of 2.1tn pesos and is operated by concessionaire Vial de los Llanos, which is made up of Odinsa (81%), Construcciones El Cóndor (11%) and Sarugo & Cía (8%).

The highway network will benefit nearly 1mn people and is expected to improve daily mobility for close to 20,000 vehicles and the transportation of agricultural products, livestock and hydrocarbons.