CARICOM Development Fund
2025 Annual Highlights
Increasing CDF’s Contribution to Resilience
and Cohesion Building
The CARICOM Development Fund's (CDF's) Annual Highlights Report previews the CDF Annual Report and allows timely communication of CDF's contributions to resilience and cohesion building within the Caribbean Community.
This first edition of the Annual Highlights Report and the upgraded CDF website are components of a wider strategy to increase the CDF's visibility and strengthen relationships with development partners and the beneficiaries of our financial and technical assistance.
The CARICOM Development Fund (CDF) is a treaty-based organization established under Article 158 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Its primary purpose is to provide financial and technical assistance to disadvantaged countries, regions, and sectors within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Reducing Vulnerabilities and Increasing Cohesion
The Caribbean is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate-related hazards but is also faced with other vulnerabilities associated with:
- high public debt that limit governments' capacity to invest and a low level of participation of the private sector in financing development.
- a high dependence on imported fossil fuels and the high cost of energy.
- business competitiveness and economic growth that lag comparator countries (Fig 1).
- water insecurity.
- a high dependence on imported fresh and processed food.
Reducing these vulnerabilities increases resilience and social and economic cohesion within and between Caribbean countries – and is, therefore, a priority for the CDF.
Em Asia = emerging markets Asia (China excluded); Em. Europe = emerging markets Europe; MECA = Middle East and Central Asia. Source: IMF Working Paper No. WP/2025/157
In 2025, these vulnerabilities continued to influence CDF's programming priorities and the partnerships that the CDF established/maintained to increase our contribution to resilience and cohesion building.
CDF continued to support Member States to conclude the implementation of projects from the previous operating Cycle, and with the identification and preparation of Cycle 3 (2024-2028) projects. At the start of the year, the active portfolio opened with 21 projects representing a CDF investment of US$ 68.5m and total investment (by CDF and other partners) of US$177m. CDF invested US$ 20.7m in 2 additional projects and supplemental funding for an existing project during 2025. Three projects representing CDF investment of US$ 3.4m were completed and exited the portfolio. The portfolio closed at the end of 2025 with 20 active projects representing a CDF investment of US$ 84.8m and total investment of US$ 200m.
Realising the Vision of a More Resilient Barbuda
CDF joined the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and several regional and international partners in financing projects aimed at reducing Barbuda's vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events – including the Green Barbuda Project and the Barbuda Energy Resilience Project (BERP).
The Green Barbuda Plant was completed and became fully operational in March 2024. The 719-kW solar PV power plant is already providing Barbuda with a more reliable, lower cost and greener energy.
BERP is aimed at making the energy infrastructure more resilient and includes the undergrounding of electricity cables; increasing the generation capacity of the solar PV power plant by 410 kW; installing Hybrid Solar plus Battery systems on 3 government buildings; and reconnection of homes that remain disconnected from the electricity grid. By year end, project activities were completed and post-completion identification, documentation and resolution of defects were in progress.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is now set to realise its vision of a more resilient future for Barbudans.
Reducing Member States' Reliance on Fossil Fuels
Collaborative and Innovative Financing Facilities to Realise Member States' Geothermal Energy Vision
CDF's investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency and reducing Member States' reliance on fossil fuels now stands at US $ 33.4m. This includes CDF's contribution of US$ 15m to a US$ 49.8 m CDF-Caribbean Development Bank debt financing facility for the Dominica Geothermal Plant Construction Project. This innovative facility achieved financial close on September 1, 2025.
The milestone was met with much celebration as its success, and the lessons learned during the establishing of this facility augur well for advancing the transition to geothermal energy in other CDF Member Countries.
On November 25, 2025, the Dominica Parliament was updated on the status of the project and informed that commissioning will begin in December 2025, paving the way for full commercial operation in March 2026.
Geothermal Energy will provide a stable source of electricity for the island and reduce the overall reliance on diesel generation.
Progress of Rural Electrification Project in Suriname
CDF has also invested US$ 10.5 m (concessional loan of US$10.01 m and grant of US$ 0.49 m) in the US$11.8 m Suriname Rural Electrification Project. The Project installs 2 hybrid renewable micro-grid systems in 2 regions - Cajana and Galibi - comprising 10 rural villages and 1,906 persons. The project contributes to reducing Suriname's reliance on fossil-fuel based energy, CO2 emission, and cost of electricity. The project also reduces the socioeconomic inequalities experienced by the indigenous residents - caused by the disparities in the supply of electricity.
The project was approved on August 28, 2023, and the Loan and Grant Agreements were established on April 18, 2024. The planned duration of the project was 18 months with a projected completion date of November 30, 2025. At year end, construction of the 2 microgrids was substantially completed and the focus had shifted to post-construction quality control on the microgrids and upgrade of the distribution system. Commissioning of the microgrids is scheduled for Q1 2026.
CDF and the United Nations Development Programme are also collaborating to mobilise funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to support the implementation of additional microgrid projects and empower other rural communities in Suriname.
Attracting Private Sector Financing for Regional Development
In 2025, the CDF continued efforts to mobilise development financing on behalf of the Region - in accordance with a decision of the 32nd Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM.
Caribbean Community Resilience Fund (CCRF) on Track to Year End Target
CCRF is a blended finance resilience fund that combines equity and debt components, with a target capitalization of US$100-135 m.
The debt sub-fund of the CCRF achieved first close on September 12, 2025, and the equity sub-fund achieved first close on 05 December 2025. A healthy project pipeline has been established, and CCRF is expected to achieve second close by year end 2026.
Imminent Launch of the Green, Resilience and Sustainable Facility (GRSF)
In February 2025, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and CDF signed a €708,000 Grant Agreement to support the development of the GRSF.
The GRSF is intended to increase Member States' access to blended concessional financing for enhancing regional resilience, sustainability, and economic adaptability. The GRSF directly complements the CCRF, and development finance instruments recently initiated by other development partners.
The design of the GRSF proceeded at pace under the technical guidance of a team of consultants and highly experienced Afreximbank staff. The launch of the GRSF is expected by Q3 2026.
CRAF Rolled Out in Dominica
The CDF's Credit Risk Abatement Facility (CRAF) continued the development of the market for energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) services; and incentivising the adoption of EE and RE solutions by SMEs, and the financing of solutions by domestic financing institutions. A key objective of CRAF is to increase commercial banks' participation in climate financing and to incentivize the supply of financing from the region's banks to SMEs.
On September 10, 2025, CRAF was rolled out in Dominica starting with a Project Identification and Sensitisation Forum which attracted 56 EE/RE ecosystem actors – SMEs, financial institutions, Energy Service Providers, utility regulators, and government representatives. The Forum was followed by field visits to 8 of the sensitised SMEs and preliminary assessments of the SMEs' operations were conducted to identify opportunities for the deployment of targeted EE/RE solutions. CRAF has now been rolled out in 5 countries - Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, and St Lucia.
Improving Business Competitiveness
CDF's active project portfolio aimed at creating a more enabling business and investment climate peaked at US$ 40 m in 2025 – including lines of credit designed to provide US$14.2 m to 470 MSMEs to finance business start-up, innovation and expansion; and US$ 17.5 m for infrastructure works critical to improving business competitiveness.
The construction/upgrade components under several infrastructure projects - aimed at improving national or sector level business competitiveness - were completed in 2025:
- The ceremony marking the reopening of the upgraded Grenada Bureau of Standards compound was held on May 20, 2025. The upgrade of the physical space and laboratory equipment prepares the Bureau to deliver testing services critical to increasing Grenada's export capacity.
- The ceremony for the reopening of the upgraded Mirabeau Meat Harvesting and Processing Plant, Grenada was held on May 24, 2025. The Processing Plant has been upgraded in accordance with the requirements of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points food safety management system. The upgraded Plant immediately strengthens the supply chain for local meats and will incentivise the expansion of the local livestock sector.
- The significantly upgraded Morne Layby (now known as The View at the Morne) was reopened on April 30, 2025. In addition to improving visitor experience, the upgraded facility houses 21 vendor booths and tourism SMEs.
Increasing Water Security
The gravity of water insecurity and the extent to which it adds to the vulnerability of Member States was reiterated in the findings of a Development Bank of Latin American and the Caribbean study released in April 2025.
Stepping up its contribution to addressing this development challenge, the CDF in April 2025 approved additional financing of US $5.7 m toward 2 St Lucia-based projects, bringing its active portfolio of projects contributing to water security to US$ 19.6 m.
| Projects In Progress | Approval Date | Approved CDF Contribution (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| Rehabilitation and Upgrade of the Theobalds Water Supply System, St Lucia | Apr 15, 2025 | 4,903,750 |
| Patience Community Water Supply Rehabilitation Project (Supplemental), St Lucia | Apr 15, 2025 | 781,4930 |
| Rehabilitation of the Patience Community Water Supply, St Lucia | Aug 28, 2023 | 1,203,224 |
| 3Rs for Climate Resilient Wastewater Systems Augmentation Project, Barbados | Aug 4, 2022 | 12,700,000 |
Investing in National and Regional Food Security
Guyana
On April 15, 2025, the CDF Board of Directors approved a US$15 million concessional loan to support the implementation of Guyana's US $18 m Agricultural and Infrastructural Development Programme (AIDP).
The Loan Agreement was signed by the CDF and Government of Guyana on June 18th and a Project Start-Up Workshop, marking the start of implementation, was held in Georgetown on July 28-29. The approval of financing for the AIDP brings CDF's total investment in the development of Guyana's agriculture sector to US $ 35 m.
CDF's investment is strategic and recognises Guyana's leadership role in increasing the Region's food security and achieving the Caribbean Community's goal to cut food imports by 25 per cent by 2030. The inclusive design and approach to the implementation of the AIDP is also aligned to CDF's commitment to ensuring that women have equal access to opportunities presented by CDF-financed projects, reducing youth unemployment, and the empowerment of disadvantaged communities.
Key components of the Programme, which will benefit 4,300 agripreneurs, including 1,700 women and youth include:
- Construction and equipping of an abattoir and processing facility focused on swine slaughter, preparation, and processing.
- Establishment of infrastructure to manage the Carambola Fruit Fly, and improve surveillance and control efforts.
- Development and upgrading of processing facilities for value-addition in honey, peanut, coffee, cocoa and coconut.
- Training of agripreneurs and extensionists; and delivery of technical assistance to agri-enterprises and sector associations.
Grenada
Aging farmers and a shrinking agricultural workforce are among the key constraints to expanding sector output and improving food security. In parallel, the region is faced with growing youth unemployment.
CDF has, therefore, invested US $ 2.4 m in piloting a model for increasing youth participation in agriculture both as savvy youth entrepreneurs and skilled workers. The first pilot was implemented in St Lucia and the second is ongoing in Grenada.
The Grenada pilot - The Grenada Young Entrepreneurs in Agriculture & Agribusiness Project - is executed by the Ministry of Agriculture & Lands, Forestry, Marine Resources & Cooperatives.
Grenada Investment Development Corporation; Grenada Development Bank; and the Grenada National Training Agency. The Project seeks to attract 200 youth into the agriculture sector – 50% as skilled labourers and 50% as agri-entrepreneurs.
The main components of the Project are:
- Sensitising young people on investment and employment opportunities in the agriculture sector and the available support services.
- Delivering technical and entrepreneurial training to enrolled youth participants.
- Assisting those interested in business start-up with business planning; and job placement for those interested serving as skilled labourers.
- Establishing a special financing window to increase young agri-entrepreneurs' access to loan and grant financing.
- Providing wraparound support services to start-ups.
By November 2025, 60 participants on the Grenada mainland were completing technical and business training and the development of business plans; and the project executing agencies were engaging with and sensitising the youth residing in the Grenadian islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Technical Assistance Grants – Calling all Article 164 Firms
CDF has been mandated by CARICOM’s Council for Trade and Economic Development to coordinate A Programme of Support Measures aimed at improving the competitiveness of firms within the industries protected by Article 164 (A164) of Chapter 7 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
In December 2025, CDF launched a Call for Applications aimed at assisting Article 164 Firms with technology adoption and improving firm-level competitiveness. This Call is only one of several CDF initiatives, which support increased innovation in Article 164 firms.