Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Caribbean: Regional Development Banks to Continue Support for Renewable Energy

Caribbean Development Bank : CDB, IDB sign agreement to strengthen partnership (News Release)

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen their ongoing partnership in addressing the Caribbean's development priorities.

Through the MOU, signed at the IDB's headquarters in Washington, D.C. on February 21, 2017, both institutions have renewed their commitment to collaborating on programmes and projects that contribute to sustainable economic development in the region.

CDB and IDB presently collaborate on a number of initiatives, including in the areas of renewable energy and private sector development for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Sustainable Energy Facility (SEF) for the Eastern Caribbean is one of these initiatives. Launched in October 2015, the US$42 million package includes loan, grant and contingently recoverable grant resources from the IDB, provided to CDB as the executing agency, which also committed US$30 million of its own resources. Most of the funding is for supporting geothermal energy development in five of the six Eastern Caribbean beneficiary countries under SEF: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.