It's invigorating and astonishing to see how much economic progress has been
made in Nicaragua over not just the eight years I've been living in and writing
about Nicaragua but over the past two years in particular. The Nicaraguan
government gets circumspect credit for some of the legislative reforms that
have made this progress possible, but the lion's share of the praise goes to
Nicaragua's increasingly vibrant private sector which has been responsible for
an economic transformation that I find truly stunning. Here are ten things I
saw in Nicaragua in January 2006 that tell me Nicaragua is economically better
off than it was in 1998 when I first arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Cell phone coverage now reaches all the way out to my old Peace Corps site,
San Diego EstelĂ. I used to have to walk an hour each way to and from Condega
(about 7 kilometers) and wait on line at the ENITEL office to make a phone
call. Those evening walks were a pleasant escape, but the easy communication
is a big and positive change for the area. ENITEL was privatized not long ago
and the improvements in service evident since that privatization make a good
paean to careful privatization of formerly public services. I intend to write
more about this elsewhere.
Unparalleled commerce in Managua. Never mind the sheer number of billboards,
new shopping centers, and luxury boutiques cropping up all over the southern
half of the city, you can now purchase goods that were only a dream 8 years
ago.
Penetration of luxury goods. Managua now boasts both a BMW dealership and a
Volkswagen dealership. At the new Plaza Siman shopping center the shelves
glimmer with Louis Vitton, Gant, Benetton, and Armani. That's fun for the
nation's economic elite but doesn't affect the average campesino's quality of
life, but it is clear that the private sector has made great advances in
bringing new products to market in an economy that every day seems less like a
stagnant economic backwater.
Construction everywhere. I've written elsewhere about the real estate boom
underway in Granada and San Juan del Sur. But Managua is positively being
reshaped as condominiums and apartment complexes rise out of the landscape, as
bold new shopping centers boasting the latest architectural extravagances lift
their heads above the skyline and as old concrete Soviet-era buildings are
bulldozed for sumptuous modern structures.
Vehicles on the road. Eight short years ago the nation's taxi fleet was
overwhelmingly composed of Soviet-made Ladas, which were by no stretch of the
imagination luxurious. I only saw one Lada in over a week in Managua, while
newer Toyotas, Fords, and Hyundais now rule the roads. A new taxi represents a
substantial investment on the part of Managua's taxistas. They are clearly
investing in their futures individually. Once again, the rational consumer and
free market forces come out on top.
Credit card usage. Eight years ago a credit card was nearly useless, and a
year later there were only a handful of establishments that accepted anything
other than cold, hard cash. On this trip I was able to survive almost entirely
on a credit card with very few exceptions in out of the way areas. The
merchants in Mercado Huembes all take plastic now, as do even smaller
restaurants and shops. Somewhere out there, the folks at Credomatic Nicaragua
are making a fortune.
Institutionalization of the service market. Real estate agents are an obvious
first entry in this category, but I found a greatly expanded and professional
insurance market and several companies who private services with regard to
Nicaragua's growing stock market. You would be hard pressed to gather up
enough support for a socialist revolution these days, and if you are enough of
a dinosaur to suggest something of that nature Nicaragua's greatly expanded
capitalist class would be likely to throw you out on your ear. Keep that in
mind come November 2006 everybody.
Infrastructure and engineering. The road from Managua to Granada has been
greatly improved, though construction continues at a snail's pace. The
finished product is much improved over the old two lane asphalt strip however
and will make the link between these two important population centers even more
valuable over the next decade.
Airline service: I was surprised to fly out of Managua on American Airlines'
gorgeous new Boeing A300 wide body aircraft (8 seats across, with two aisles).
And the airport, quite possibly the world's slowest construction project is
largely improved, notably in the area of the ticket counters, which has always
been miserably designed. Why it has taken 8 years to do 1 year's worth of
construction is beyond me, considering construction continues to this day
(auditors, start your engines), but the new airport layout is much improved,
and the larger aircraft bear witness not only to Nicaragua's growing interest
for travelers but for the nation's airport infrastructure's capacity to handle
them.
Obesity. Returning to the United States usually means the rude shock of
realizing how big Americans are, physically, but Nicaraguans are increasingly
suffering from obesity as well these days and enrollment in the country's
gymnasiums is growing steadily. With wealth and consumerism comes obesity,
traditionally. There are certainly a lot of Nicaraguans that to this day
continue to go hungry, but if this past week is any indication, growing numbers
of Nicaraguans are no longer concerned with getting enough to eat.