News
Pandemic, War, China, Climate & Food Security make welcome remarks of Regional CDB Governors
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, June 25, 2022 – The 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank opened with in style, becoming the first face-to-face meeting for the CDB since 2019. The opening ceremony was held on Wednesday the 15th of June at the Ritz Carlton and attended by dignitaries across the Caribbean.
Board of Governors member for Guyana, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo spoke on behalf of the Borrowing Member countries warning people not to get lulled into a sense of security or think it was business as usual because covid, shipping delays, and the war in Ukraine were all still factors in play. He explained that not only was growth down in the borrowing countries, but debt was also up.
“The Caribbean needs the CDB, our bank, more than ever before as we tackle long-standing problems of infrastructure gaps, human capital development, access to basic social services, food security, and climate vulnerability.”
The Borrowing Members of the CDB include: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos.
Board of Governors Member for Brazil Roberto Fendt Junior delivered remarks on behalf of the regional non-Borrowing Member Countries reminiscing on what the pandemic taught governments in the region and their admirable efforts at resilience.
“We have learned that on this planet political borders cannot fully protect populations from being impacted and most of all we have learned that trustworthy information, knowledge sharing, and co-operation are key to overcoming man-made crises and natural disasters.”
In this vein, he praised the CDB’s efforts in creating a digital Knowledge Hub which will be a consolidated cloud of data that can be shared between member states. He stressed that in this effort the information should be both trustworthy and timely to avoid missed opportunities.
Mr. Sun Ping of China delivered the remarks virtually on behalf of the international Non Borrowing Member Countries. He expressed understanding of the difficult position Caribbean countries were in at the moment and maintained that China was ready to work with the bank to see how they could alleviate some of those issues.
“China attaches great importance to bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the Caribbean through trade investment and cultural exchanges, we will spare no efforts to support the CDB in key areas such as regional infrastructure, environmental protection, educational transformation, and pandemic response.”
During the keynote address, President of the CDB Dr. Gene Leon explained what the bank was trying to do in the Caribbean.
“The challenge before us is how best to navigate a safe path from legacy structural weaknesses to transformative development while maintaining debt sustainability, enhancing macroeconomic and financial stability and resilience.”
Leon mentioned several ways the bank planned to tackle this in 2022:
By advancing food and nutrition security,
By advancing energy security,
By advancing water security.
He explained that we are too reliant on overseas food noting that at least 2.7 million people in the English-speaking Caribbean were food insecure. Thus CDB has created a plan to reduce imports of food by 25 percent by 2025 food. In terms of energy, the CDB says member states are aiming to be 55 percent powered by renewable energy by 2939 at a cost of $ 20 billion.
In terms of water, Leon said they were partnering with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance facility on a Regional Water Utility Insurance company.
By creating access to Access to Adequate and Affordable Finance. Over the next decade, the Caribbean must drum up over 100 billion dollars in investments to hit all its goals. He said access to this type of financing would “shape a future where our citizens are able to live quality lives in societies that have embraced digitalization and have robust private sector partnerships with the requisite governmental arrangement to safeguard food and energy security.”
These goals are in line with the region’s aim to become the region of choice to live in and are essential if the Caribbean is to keep up with the rest of the globe.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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