Photo: IDB Sustainable Cities, Solar energy project in Jamaica. The Caribbean energy sector is ripe for change – its long-standing dependence on fossil fuels has ensured that citizens pay some of the highest energy rates in the world. However, by making a commitment to changes in infrastructure, investment in sustainable energy, and the modernization of the legal and … [Read more...] about Three Strategies to Transform the Caribbean’s Energy Sector
Caribbean Development Bank
Jumpstarting Sustainable Microfinance in The Bahamas
The English-speaking Caribbean has its own particular brand of microfinance. Microentrepreneurs in these countries tend to rely on personal savings and informal sources of funds to finance their businesses, rather than the microcredit that is favored in the rest of Latin America. Savings rates in the English-speaking Caribbean average more than 90%, significantly higher than … [Read more...] about Jumpstarting Sustainable Microfinance in The Bahamas
I survived boot camp / strengthened the PPP muscle
I just wrapped up my third and last boot camp on PPPs (Public-Private Partnership) in Kingston, Jamaica last week. I was not alone; we did it together with more than 45 Caribbean public officials. The first was held in Barbados last September and the second was in Trinidad and Tobago last November. … [Read more...] about I survived boot camp / strengthened the PPP muscle
Rethinking Logistics and Connectivity
We need to reconsider the way we move! A recent blog by the Caribbean Economics Team mentions that “the global landscape for the sector has become more competitive and traditional source markets for the Caribbean are less dynamic”, referring to the recently published Caribbean Quarterly Economic Bulletin’s special report on tourism. When I read of the need to diversify our … [Read more...] about Rethinking Logistics and Connectivity
Caribbean Growth Forum: A Step in the Right Direction
In June of this year, IDB's President Luis Alberto Moreno delivered a thought provoking keynote address to the Regional Caribbean Growth Forum (CGF) Workshop that suggested the forecast for continued weak economic growth in the US and Europe was bad news for the Caribbean's tourist industry, and that the Caribbean "cannot depend on an improvement in external … [Read more...] about Caribbean Growth Forum: A Step in the Right Direction