As geopolitical competition for infrastructure influence intensifies across the Caribbean, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda has drawn a clear red line for international development financing: the small island nation will never cede full ownership of its critical national assets to foreign entities, even as it explores new funding options from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
The DFC, which is actively expanding its footprint in the Caribbean to offer regional governments a Western-backed alternative to Chinese infrastructure lending, recently sent a delegation to St. John’s to pitch its multibillion-dollar development funding pool. Initially, the Antigua and Barbuda government had its sights set on securing approximately $100 million in DFC financing to upgrade the country’s main port and boost its growing transshipment operations, a key driver of the national economy.
But a core structural feature of DFC’s funding model quickly sparked concern from Browne’s administration. Unlike direct government-to-government lending, the DFC does not extend loans directly to sovereign states; instead, it channels capital to private sector actors looking to invest in emerging market projects. Browne warned that this framework would almost certainly lead to foreign corporations taking full control of strategically important national assets, with all profits generated from those investments sent overseas rather than reinvested in Antigua and Barbuda’s domestic economy.
While the prime minister confirmed the government has not ruled out working with the DFC entirely, he emphasized that this private-sector led model is not Antigua and Barbuda’s preferred path forward. “I believe in domestic ownership. Ownership is empowerment,” Browne stated in a clear articulation of the government’s development philosophy.
Browne drew a direct contrast between the DFC’s model and the concessional financing Antigua and Barbuda has previously secured from China for major infrastructure projects, including the country’s primary airport and seaport. Under the terms of those Chinese loans, Browne noted, Antigua and Barbuda retains full ownership of both the completed assets and all revenue they generate throughout the loan repayment period. “Our development model is one of ownership and retention of profits,” he said. “not one for opportunistic investments to facilitate the repatriation of profits.”
The prime minister went a step further, framing foreign-controlled development as an extractive economic model that echoes the Caribbean’s centuries-long experience of colonial rule, when outside powers owned the region’s most productive assets and siphoned nearly all generated wealth out of local communities. Browne argued that the government’s preferred sovereign ownership model lets Antigua and Barbuda retain control of investment gains, keep revenue within national borders, and reinvest profits into ongoing social and economic development that benefits local citizens directly.
Despite his strong reservations about the DFC’s standard financing structure, Browne noted that constructive discussions with the U.S. agency will continue. He added that the government remains open to exploring a modified joint ownership arrangement if proposed interest rates and other contractual terms are ultimately favorable to the small island nation.
Browne’s public stance comes amid a sharpening geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China for economic and diplomatic influence across the Caribbean, a region that has historically been considered within Washington’s sphere of influence but has seen growing Chinese investment and diplomatic engagement over the past two decades.