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Customers' Unmet Needs and Pains

Infrastructure in Argentina Current Pains Analysis

Argentina’s infrastructure users—businesses, institutions, governments, households, and individuals—are experiencing a convergence of pains that stem from a historic collapse in public investment, macro-economic turbulence, and chronic governance issues. The synthesis of customer-focused, social-sentiment, and demand-side analyses reveals five overarching pain domains:

  1. Stalled Expansion and Modernisation
    • Public investment in provincial infrastructure plunged 73.4 % in real terms in 2024, the lowest level in two decades (BBVA Research; BNamericas).
    • Over 60 % of all new road, energy, water, and transport projects are suspended or cancelled, freezing essential capacity additions (BNamericas).
    • Businesses cannot secure the additional transport links, energy supply, or digital connectivity required for growth; citizens wait longer for safe roads, potable water, or reliable public transit.

  2. Deterioration of Existing Assets
    • Maintenance budgets are eroded by high inflation (>200 % y/y) and peso devaluation, leading to deferred repairs and safety hazards (FIEL; Construmis).
    • B2B users face higher operating costs (vehicle damage, unplanned plant shutdowns); B2C users endure service interruptions, water leaks, and unsafe road conditions.

  3. Escalating Service Tariffs and Operating Costs
    • Utility and transport operators, squeezed by rising input costs and payment delays, signal fare hikes and tariff adjustments—directly impacting households’ disposable income and firms’ cost structures.
    • SMEs and low-income households are disproportionately exposed, compounding social inequities.

  4. Severe Project Delays and Payment Uncertainty
    • Contractors report average payment lags of 6–9 months on public works, undermining cash flows and resulting in >120 000 construction job losses and 4 000 firm closures (Construmis).
    • Delayed or abandoned works eliminate promised time-savings or productivity gains for end-users.

  5. Policy and Planning Volatility
    • Frequent shifts in concession rules, tender cancellations, and changing strategic priorities discourage long-term investment (BBVA Research; industry statements by Paolo Rocca, Techint).
    • End-users perceive little clarity on when or whether critical upgrades (e.g., rail freight corridors, urban water treatment) will materialise, deterring private-sector expansion plans and eroding citizen trust.

Unmet Needs and Pains

The following report details the specific unmet needs—defined as the gap between customer expectations or minimum acceptable standards and the reality delivered by Argentina’s current infrastructure ecosystem.

1. Reliability & Service Quality

Segment Unmet Need Illustrative Pains Evidence & Drivers
Households (B2C) Stable electricity, potable water, consistent broadband Rolling black-outs in summer peaks; water pressure drops; slow or no internet in peri-urban zones Under-maintenance, FX-driven cost spikes for imported spare parts, suspended upgrade projects
Businesses (B2B) Predictable logistics and energy availability Shipment delays; production stoppages; spoilage of perishables Deferred road resurfacing; stalled rail modernisation; ageing gas pipelines require overhaul

2. Affordability & Cost-Predictability

Segment Unmet Need Illustrative Pains Evidence & Drivers
Low-income households Affordable utility/transport tariffs Fare hikes outpacing wages; bill arrears risk disconnection Operators pass through inflation; subsidy cuts
SMEs & Producers Manageable energy/port fees Eroded margins; inability to plan budgets Tariff indexation to CPI; currency volatility

3. Capacity & Coverage Expansion

Infrastructure Domain Unmet Capacity Need Principal Affected Users Pains Experienced
Urban mass transit (Subte, commuter rail) Higher frequency, network extensions Metropolitan commuters Overcrowding, long waits, inefficient commuting times
National highways & rural roads All-weather connectivity, freight corridors Export-oriented agribusiness, logistics firms, rural communities Crop losses, high vehicle maintenance costs, isolation in rainy season
Water & sanitation Sewerage and treatment plants for secondary cities 10 + million residents without sewer access Health hazards, environmental degradation
Digital infrastructure Rural fibre & 5G coverage Remote learners, ag-tech, tele-medicine users Digital divide, lower productivity

4. Transparency, Predictability & Governance

• End-users and private investors need transparent, timely information on project pipelines, concession frameworks, and tariff-setting methodologies.
• Current pain points include unpredictable contract renegotiations and opaque tender cancellations, undermining trust.

5. Financing & Delivery Models

• There is a structural need for stable, FX-hedged, long-tenor financing vehicles (e.g., PPPs, green bonds) that survive political cycles.
• Without them, pension funds, insurers, and foreign developers remain sidelined, and users lack the infrastructure upgrades they require.

6. Innovation & Digitalisation

• Smart‐asset monitoring, electronic tolling, and data-driven maintenance could stretch scarce pesos, but uptake is minimal.
• Users therefore endure longer outages and higher life-cycle costs than technologically feasible.

Key Findings

# Key Finding Affected Customer Segment(s) Severity Source Highlights
1 73 % real drop in public infrastructure investment has paralysed new capacity All B2B & B2C Very High BBVA Research; BNamericas
2 Existing assets deteriorating due to under-maintenance and inflation All High FIEL; Construmis
3 >120 000 construction jobs lost, 4 000 firms closed—eroding capability to deliver future projects Workforce & entire supply chain High Construmis
4 Imminent tariff increases threaten affordability for households & SMEs B2C (low-income), SMEs High Industry operator statements; press coverage
5 Political and regulatory volatility creates planning uncertainty for end-users and investors B2B investors, institutional users Medium–High Paolo Rocca (Techint) remarks; BBVA Research
6 Rural and peri-urban areas lag in digital, water, and transport coverage, widening inequality Rural households, agribusiness High BNamericas project data; social listening themes

References

BNamericas – “Los proyectos de infraestructura detenidos en Argentina.” https://www.bnamericas.com/es/noticias/proyectos/los-proyectos-de-infraestructura-detenidos-en-argentina
BBVA Research – “Argentina: financiando la brecha de infraestructura.” https://www.bbvaresearch.com/publicaciones/argentina-financiando-la-brecha-de-infraestructura/
Construmis – “Desafíos para el 2025 en el sector de la construcción: 120 mil empleos perdidos y una lenta recuperación en marcha.” https://www.construmis.com.ar/desafios-para-el-2025-en-el-sector-de-la-construccion-120-mil-empleos-perdidos-y-una-lenta-recuperacion-en-marcha/
Fundación de Investigaciones Económicas Latinoamericanas (FIEL) – “Argentina: infraestructura, ciclo y crecimiento.” https://www.fiel.org.ar/publicaciones/informe-de-infraestructura-fiel-argentina-junio-2023
El Economista – “Rocca elogió los progresos de Milei, pero advirtió: ‘Hoy Argentina tiene entre 10 y 20 veces la conflictividad de otros países’.” https://eleconomista.com.ar/2024-09-paolo-rocca-logro-progresos-milei-advirtio-argentina-tiene-10-20-veces-conflictividad-otros-paises/