Central America Business: IFX Bets US$400 Million on AI Data Centres
Central America · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- —IFX more than US$400 million of investment announced for 2026-2027
- —Footprint 27 data centres in 18 countries, 150,000 km of fibre
- —Honduras US embassy reaffirms backing as Liberals draft a counterproposal
- —Guatemala 924 informal settlements mapped; Enade wants homicides halved by 2036
- —El Salvador food inflation 2.49% in July; overall rate third-lowest in the region
A nine-figure data-centre bet, an energy-reform tug of war and a security-focused business summit frame the isthmus’s economic week.
Data-centre operator IFX has unveiled a new corporate identity and a regional expansion worth more than US$400 million, capping a busy stretch for Central America business news in the week of Tuesday 25 August 2026. Elsewhere in the isthmus, the United States reaffirmed its backing for Honduras’s energy-sector modernisation as ruling and opposition deputies haggled over the electricity reform, Guatemala published a national registry identifying 924 informal settlements while business leaders set a target of halving the homicide rate, and El Salvador posted one of the region’s lowest food-inflation readings.
IFX unveils a new identity and a US$400 million expansion
The biggest Central America business story of the week came from IFX, a Latin American digital-infrastructure company with 27 years of history. The firm announced it will invest more than US$400 million between 2026 and 2027 to expand data centres for artificial-intelligence applications, strengthen its regional fibre-optic network and grow its cloud and cybersecurity operations. The announcement coincided with the company’s first major rebrand since its founding. IFX operates 27 of its own data centres, the most recent being Orión in Guatemala, more than 150,000 kilometres of dedicated fibre from Mexico to Argentina, and serves over 6,000 corporate and government clients with 3,000 employees, according to the company’s announcement.
Chief executive Samuel Mezrahi said the investment is the company’s bet that the region will host artificial-intelligence capacity on its own territory, and that IFX aims to become the operator on which much of that new economy relies. Country-level tranches are already emerging: IFX will invest US$169 million in Colombia to boost data centres and AI infrastructure, Colombian business daily Portafolio reported, and close to US$19 million in Argentina, according to local media there. Priority sectors for the cycle are banking, retail, government, health, education and critical industries, with a goal of becoming the region’s reference digital-infrastructure operator for enterprise AI by 2030.
US backs Honduras energy reform as Liberal deputies split
In Tegucigalpa, the chargée d’affaires of the US embassy, Colleen A. Hoey, met Congress president Tomás Zambrano to discuss the modernisation of the Honduran energy sector, local daily El Mundo reported. During the meeting, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to keep working with Honduras towards a more efficient and reliable energy system capable of attracting investment. The government of President Nasry Asfura is pushing a package of reforms to reorganise state electricity company ENEE and strengthen the sector’s institutions, an effort Washington has publicly backed since June.
The bill, however, remains stuck in Congress for lack of consensus. The legislature’s board hopes to win over the Liberal Party bench, but that bloc has raised objections to the original text: deputy Francis Cabrera has said his caucus will not accompany the reform in its current terms, and the Liberals are expected to present an improved counterproposal in the coming week. The split matters for Central America business confidence because the reform aims to cut ENEE’s losses, improve service quality and set clearer rules for private investment in generation and distribution.
Guatemala maps 924 vulnerable settlements as Enade targets homicides
Guatemala’s government reported this week that the national Registry of Informal Settlements (RAI) has identified 924 informal settlements located in nine of the country’s ten urban nodes, a first national mapping intended to guide housing and basic-services policy for vulnerable communities. The registry, detailed on 24 August, gives authorities a baseline for prioritising water, drainage, electricity and risk-mitigation works in settlements that have historically been absent from official statistics.
The following day, Tuesday 25 August 2026, the Foundation for Development (Fundesa) presented the twentieth edition of Enade, the Central America business community’s flagship summit in Guatemala, under the motto A Paso Seguro. Fundesa noted that Guatemala cut its homicide rate from 31 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2014 to about 16 today, but that progress has stalled; the business group proposes halving the rate to 8 per 100,000 by 2036 through stronger institutions, better coordination and more investment in security and justice. Fundesa estimates the criminal economy costs the country the equivalent of 7.7 per cent of GDP. Former Colombian president Iván Duque and former Israeli police intelligence chief Guy Nir are among the announced speakers.
El Salvador records the region’s second-lowest food inflation
El Salvador offered a rare bright spot in Central America business data this month. Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.49 per cent year on year in July, down from 3.02 per cent in June, according to Central Reserve Bank figures compiled by regional outlets. Overall inflation also decelerated, to 2.49 per cent from 2.76 per cent in June, the third-lowest reading in Central America after Costa Rica, where consumer prices fell 0.28 per cent in the year to July, and Panamá, at 1.8 per cent.
The contrast across the isthmus is sharp. Honduras posted the region’s highest annual inflation at 5.58 per cent in July, while Guatemala registered 2.70 per cent and Nicaragua 4.0 per cent, according to national figures compiled by regional outlets. Analysts credit El Salvador’s dollarised economy and softer food and fuel prices for the relief, which supports household purchasing power even as the government faces questions over debt and formal job creation.
What it means for Central America business
Taken together, the week sketches a Central America business agenda defined by infrastructure and credibility. IFX’s bet signals that regional capital sees the isthmus and the wider Latin American market as a viable home for AI-era infrastructure, provided energy and connectivity keep pace. That is precisely where Honduras’s stalled reform and Guatemala’s security push intersect: both aim at the basic conditions, reliable power and safer streets, that investors price in before committing money.
The near-term signposts are concrete. In Honduras, the Liberal counterproposal will determine whether the electricity reform advances in September. In Guatemala, Enade’s planned cooperation agreement among security and justice authorities will test whether the homicide target is more than a slogan. And in El Salvador, the question is whether low inflation can hold while remittances and public investment carry growth. For executives watching the region, Central America business this week was a reminder that the fundamentals, not the headlines, set the pace.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is IFX investing and where?
IFX will invest more than US$400 million between 2026 and 2027 across Latin America, focused on AI-ready data centres, fibre, cloud and cybersecurity. The company operates in 18 countries; disclosed tranches include US$169 million for Colombia and close to US$19 million for Argentina.
Why is Honduras’s electricity reform stalled?
The reform to reorganise state utility ENEE lacks consensus in Congress. The Liberal Party bench has objected to the current text and plans to table a counterproposal, while the United States has reaffirmed support for modernising the sector to attract investment.
What did Guatemala’s settlement registry and Enade 2026 propose?
The RAI mapped 924 informal settlements in nine of ten urban nodes to guide housing and services policy. Enade 2026, presented by Fundesa on 25 August, proposed halving the homicide rate to 8 per 100,000 inhabitants by 2036.
Connected Coverage
El Salvador First Submarine Cable Tender
Honduras Bets on an Energy Reform to Stop a $600 Million Yearly Drain
Sources
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times