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The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has officially completed the process to become a shareholder country of CAF – development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, with Shareholder Status Series C. This will allow access to agile, flexible and innovative financing to promote national sustainable and inclusive development initiatives.
In the last two years, the institution has expanded with the inclusion of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Chile, who returned to the institution as a member after years of absence. This geographical expansion responds to a comprehensive strategy to expand its impact and better meet the specific needs of its members, and is leading CAF to become the development bank with the highest coverage in the region.
The Caribbean has been one of the bets of the multilateral bank in recent years. Among the many reasons, the disproportionate affectation of the islands against global warming and sea level rise is especially important. Antigua and Barbuda is a small island country located in the Caribbean, in the region known as Las Antilos Minors, composed of three main islands: ancient, Barbuda and – the least known -round. This archipelago is home to 100,000 people and has a great biodiversity threatened by the climatic crisis and the increase in sea level. The latter becomes a great threat, especially for Barbuda.
While tourism is the main engine of the country’s economy, hurricanes often destroy their structures and homes. Hurricane Irma, 2017, destroyed practically all Barbuda infrastructure.
Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF, referred to the firm as a “key mile and materialize his vision of a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable future, ”he added.
In November 2024, another country of the Caricom, Bahamas, officially became a CAF shareholder, while other nations are in advanced stages of incorporation. The latter occurs a month after they announced a new financing of $ 1,445 million, an investment that seeks to increase large infrastructure projects and improve urban mobility, educational systems, migrants management, business fabric and social welfare in five countries in the region.