One of Barbados’ most ambitious competitive domino squads, De Bajan Travelers, is gearing up to deliver a standout performance at the upcoming FEMUNDO World Domino Championships, scheduled to run from October 28 to November 2 in the Dominican Republic. This annual elite tournament draws hundreds of top domino players from across the globe, with approximately 500 athletes competing across three distinct divisions: individual, four-person team, and pairs play.\n\nFor De Bajan Travelers, competing in high-profile international domino events has become a yearly tradition, rooted in a mission far broader than just chasing trophies. Team president Alicia Harewood outlined the group’s core goals ahead of the 2024 tournament: to grow awareness of 200-style dominoes, encourage new participants to learn the variant, test the team’s skill against the world’s best players, and secure a place on the podium to claim the event’s prize money.\n\nThis year, Barbados will field one of the largest national contingents in the team’s history, a marked shift from 2023 when the squad hosted the tournament and competed with a much smaller roster. Currently boasting 55 registered members, De Bajan Travelers expects all but roughly six members to make the trip to the Dominican Republic, and has added extra participants to bring the total delegation size to an estimated 60 athletes.\n\nTeam vice president Eric recalled the squad’s strong showing at the 2023 tournament, when the small but mighty delegation outperformed expectations to claim multiple top placements. “We took home the individual title, finished second in the four-person team competition, and had three to four individual players rank in the top 12 overall,” Lewis explained. This year, the team is aiming to build on that 2023 success and climb even higher in the rankings.\n\nSending a 60-person delegation to the international tournament requires substantial financial backing, so the team has already launched a series of community fundraising initiatives to cover travel and entry costs. Upcoming events include a three-hand domino tournament kicking off June 29, which will open with four preliminary rounds before moving to an elimination bracket to determine winners, followed by a fundraising cruise scheduled for September 25. Harewood noted that the squad is also actively seeking additional financial support from local sponsors and community partners to help the large contingent reach the starting line in October.
标签： Barbados
巴巴多斯
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Woman sues over health problems following COVID-19 jab
In what legal experts are calling an unprecedented legal case in Barbados, a female plaintiff has filed a landmark lawsuit against the Barbados government, alleging that she developed life-altering, long-term health complications tied to two doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine she received in 2021. The 2024 claim, which marks the first vaccine injury case of its kind to be heard before the island nation’s Supreme Court, names the Attorney General of Barbados as the official defendant. The plaintiff alleges that the government, which oversaw the country’s national COVID-19 immunization initiative through the Ministry of Health and Wellness, bears legal responsibility for the permanent injuries she attributes to the vaccine.
Represented by one of Barbados’ most respected veteran constitutional lawyers, King’s Counsel Larry Smith, the case centers on the plaintiff’s core allegation that the AstraZeneca vaccine administered to her was defective. Under the island’s Consumer Protection Act, she argues the government failed to deliver a product that met the reasonable safety standards she was legally entitled to expect, opening the state up to liability for her personal harm and all resulting economic and quality-of-life losses.
Court filings reviewed by local media outlet Barbados TODAY outline the timeline of the plaintiff’s illness: she received her first AstraZeneca dose around April 23, 2021, with the second booster dose following in June of that same year. Roughly eight weeks after her second injection, she first noticed an unusual swollen bruise paired with intense pain below her right knee. As additional alarming symptoms emerged—including crippling chest pain and persistent shortness of breath—she sought medical care twice, but on both occasions, treating physicians were unable to identify the root cause of her declining health.
Over time, her condition deteriorated dramatically. Bruising began to spread across her entire body, her breathing difficulties grew more severe, and her energy levels dropped to the point that she could no longer maintain regular daily activity. She was eventually referred to a hematology specialist for specialized testing and assessment, and placed on extended medical leave from work.
As part of the official post-vaccine adverse event protocol, the Pharmacovigilance Team of the Barbados Drug Service launched an investigation into her case, focusing on a suspected adverse reaction tied to the specific batch of her second AstraZeneca dose. Blood samples were analyzed at the Barbados Reference Laboratory, and test results confirmed her symptoms were consistent with vaccine-induced blood clotting. The final official medical assessment classified her condition as a suspected case of vaccine-induced vasculitis, linked directly to the June 25, 2021 AstraZeneca dose.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff spent more than a year attempting to resolve the matter outside of court. Between January 2022 and July 2023, she sent five formal letters to the government, notifying officials of her condition and requesting accountability and relief. The government never issued a substantive response to her claims, the suit says. The only correspondence she received came from the Prime Minister’s Office: first, a February 2022 email acknowledging receipt of her initial letter and confirming it had been forwarded to the Chief Medical Officer for follow-up, then a second email in May 2022 stating that her case was under assessment for possible compensation under a previously announced government support mechanism for people experiencing severe vaccine side effects. That correspondence also confirmed the Chief Medical Officer would be in touch shortly with next steps, but the plaintiff says she never received any further update or meaningful action from government officials despite multiple follow-up inquiries. After the pre-action request for compensation sent to the Chief Medical Officer received no response, her legal team moved forward with filing the formal lawsuit.
The suit outlines four key allegations of negligence on the part of the Barbados government: first, that the state failed to establish and activate promised support mechanisms for people experiencing severe vaccine-related complications under the national immunization program; second, that officials failed to respond to the plaintiff’s repeated inquiries about her condition despite having full knowledge of her case; third, that the government made no tangible efforts to remedy her situation or provide the relief she requested; and fourth, that the state failed to uphold a reasonable standard of care for the plaintiff as a participant in the national vaccination program.
Today, the plaintiff continues to live with persistent symptoms: ongoing blood clotting issues, widespread bruising, severe shortness of breath, and chronically reduced energy levels that have entirely eliminated her ability to work full-time. Court documents emphasize that before receiving the vaccine, she enjoyed an active, healthy lifestyle with no pre-existing conditions that would have predicted her current health decline. She is now seeking multiple forms of legal relief: general damages for physical pain, emotional suffering, and loss of quality of life; special damages covering lost earnings and ongoing medical expenses; coverage of all legal fees; six percent annual interest on awarded damages; and any additional relief the Supreme Court deems appropriate for her case.
At present, the matter is in the case management stage of proceedings before the Supreme Court, with no timeline set for a full trial as of yet.
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Drainage works begin at Trents to ease flooding, support civic centre relocation
Ongoing drainage construction at Trents Tenantry in St. James, Barbados, is advancing two key goals: cutting chronic flooding in the local area and prepping the plot marked for the controversial relocation of the Holetown Civic Centre, Barbados’ Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) confirmed in an official statement Friday.
The infrastructure project is being executed by local contractor Infra Construction Inc. on behalf of the government, as part of a broader redevelopment initiative along Barbados’ west coast. The core plan calls for moving the existing beachfront Holetown Civic Centre—currently home to a police post, magistrates’ court, public library, post office, and multiple other government services—to the Trents site, clearing the original waterfront plot for a $176 million hotel development awarded last year to the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL).
Since the plan was first unveiled, it has sparked intense public debate across multiple stakeholder groups. Local residents, small business owners, heritage preservation advocates, and conservation organizations have raised repeated red flags, warning that the hotel project risks eroding Holetown’s unique historic character, restricting public access to the popular beachfront area, and straining the region’s already overburdened existing infrastructure.
Work on the Trents drainage site was briefly paused earlier this month after nearby Frederick Smith Secondary School raised complaints about excessive construction dust impacting campus operations. To address these concerns, MTW confirmed that project managers implemented new dust mitigation measures, including the installation of a perimeter containment fence, before work resumed on Tuesday. Officials later held a follow-up meeting with school leadership on Thursday, where no outstanding concerns were documented.
A visit to the site by Barbados TODAY last month found that multiple sections of the property had already been cleared and excavated, with prominent warning signs posted along the adjacent roadside marking active construction. A newly excavated retention pond was already visible on the property, with crews actively installing underground drainage pipes and related flood-control infrastructure.
Flooding has long been a persistent problem for residents and workers across Holetown and surrounding communities. Maria, a local worker who asked to withhold her last name, shared that even moderate heavy rain routinely leaves key civic buildings underwater at the existing Civic Centre site. “The post office is flooded. The police station is flooded. The water comes up when there is heavy rain,” she explained, adding that she also shares concerns about prolonged construction disrupting local traffic, spreading ongoing dust, and hurting business activity near both the Trents site and the original Holetown location.
For many other nearby residents, their top frustration is not flooding or construction disruption, but a persistent lack of transparent public information about the final layout and scope of the new Civic Centre. Artneal Abby, an area Airbnb operator who lives close to the Trents site, told reporters that local residents are still left with dozens of unanswered questions months after the project was announced. “There is zero information,” Abby said. “There’s a big board there for quite a long time and it says if you want to see the plans, click on this link. When you go on that link, there aren’t any plans to see. We don’t know the size of the buildings, where the car park’s going, where the roads are going. There isn’t any information.” He added that neighbors just want clear details to understand how the development will impact adjacent properties and the broader community: “What I would like is a letter outlining exactly what they’re going to do and a picture of what it’s going to look like so we can see if there are going to be buildings directly behind us or whether it’s going to be a car park.”
Still, the project has not faced universal opposition. Jaiye Maynard, a local Trents resident, said he supports the redevelopment and welcomes the planned relocation of the Holetown police station to the new site, arguing that a closer police presence will improve public safety for the surrounding neighborhood. “I’m happy for it,” Maynard said. “Having a police station here will bring a lot of safety to the area.”
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West Indies cautioned over power-play flaws despite unbeaten start
The West Indies women’s cricket squad remains undefeated through two group-stage matches at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but vice-captain Chinelle Henry is not shying away from addressing critical gaps in the team’s performance ahead of their upcoming fixture. Fresh off a nail-biting seven-run win over Scotland in Leeds last Thursday, the side has secured two consecutive victories to hold second place in Group B, trailing only hosts England on net run rate with both nations yet to drop a single match. This strong start keeps the Caribbean side firmly in the hunt for a knockout-stage spot, but Henry has openly flagged power play bowling as a key area requiring urgent adjustment to prepare for harder challenges ahead.
All-rounder Henry, who missed West Indies’ opening group fixture after picking up an injury in the team’s final pre-tournament warm-up match, was cleared by medical staff to feature against Scotland, and she said her return to the pitch came down to a collective call from the team’s support and leadership groups. “Winning two opening games is undeniably a positive result that has put us in an excellent position in our group,” Henry noted in a post-match press interaction. “As we’ve repeated from the start of the tournament, there are no easy fixtures here – every side brings their best. That means it’s time for us to go back to the practice drawing board and refine our approach.”
“Our bowling unit needs to sit down and review the first six overs of our innings, figure out what adjustments we can make to get better results out of that power play phase,” she added. “That said, the entire group has performed incredibly well so far, and we just need to keep backing our individual skills and trusting one another as we move forward.”
Henry emphasized that this edition of the T20 World Cup is shaping up to be one of the most competitive tournaments in the event’s history, with every nation fighting hard to secure wins, making any outcome or victory prediction impossible to make ahead of time. On Sunday, West Indies will shift their full focus to their third group-stage fixture against Sri Lanka in Bristol, where a win would put the side on the cusp of a semi-final berth. Even with this high-stakes encounter on the horizon, Henry said the team is sticking to a pragmatic, game-by-game approach rather than looking ahead to knockout rounds.
“The group table is still completely wide open, so our only goal is to win every remaining fixture we have, and leave nothing to chance,” Henry explained. “We saw firsthand how hard Scotland pushed us in that last game – every side is hungry to compete. We’re just focusing on taking each match one at a time, and playing our best cricket every time we step out onto the field.”
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Teachers raise funding concerns over proposed assessment changes
As Barbados moves forward with plans to reshape primary education assessment ahead of a 2026 launch, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) has sounded a critical alarm: the sweeping reform could place unmanageable new financial burdens on education institutions already grappling with critical resource shortages. The union’s leadership is pressing the Ministry of Education Transformation for clear answers on how the government will fund the ambitious transition.
The proposed changes, currently the subject of ongoing public and stakeholder consultations, are designed to replace the country’s long-standing model of relying on a single high-stakes exit exam for primary school students transitioning to secondary education. Starting in September 2026, the new framework will spread assessment across the final two years of primary school (Class Three and Class Four), splitting grading evenly between continuous in-school assessment and a standardized external exam. Education officials argue the shift will give students more opportunities to showcase their diverse skills, moving beyond the narrow measurement of a single three-hour test to evaluate learners’ growth and abilities over time.
While BUT President Rudy Lovell acknowledges that the reform’s core goals are well-intentioned and could ultimately deliver benefits to students if executed properly, he emphasizes that transformative change cannot survive on policy vision alone. In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Lovell laid out the stark realities facing most of Barbados’ primary schools: many already operate with severe resource constraints, forcing classroom teachers to routinely cover the cost of basic supplies, teaching aids and learning materials out of their own personal salaries.
Under the new framework, project-based learning will play a central role in continuous assessment — a model that requires extra materials, upgraded technology, expanded research access, flexible learning spaces and infrastructure to support collaborative student work. Beyond material costs, Lovell notes that continuous assessment also places far greater demands on teachers, requiring additional lesson preparation, specialized professional development, extensive ongoing record-keeping, and consistent cross-school coordination to ensure grading fairness and consistency.
Against this backdrop, Lovell says policymakers have failed to address the most pressing question: where will the funding come from to support implementation. He has called on the ministry to confirm whether schools will receive increased budget allocations to purchase the materials needed for project-based learning, and whether dedicated funding will be allocated to eliminate the out-of-pocket costs that teachers currently bear. He stresses that education transformation should never force educators to take on extra work without the tools and resources they need to succeed, nor should it put students from underfunded schools at a disadvantage simply because their institution lacks the capacity to roll out the new framework.
“ If Barbados is serious about transforming education, then funding must be viewed as a central pillar of reform rather than an afterthought,” Lovell said. “ Policymakers must ensure that every school, regardless of size or location, has the resources necessary to deliver the new curriculum and assessment framework successfully.”
Teachers across the country are also waiting for clear, timely clarity on how these additional demands will be addressed as the 2026 launch date approaches, Lovell added. “ As the nation considers these significant changes, teachers deserve clear answers regarding how the Ministry plans to address the increased demands on schools and ensure that adequate funding accompanies this new initiative,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Education Transformation told Barbados TODAY that the union’s concerns have been formally noted, and consultations with stakeholders remain ongoing through town halls and other community engagements. Once the consultation period concludes and all submitted feedback has been reviewed and analyzed, the ministry will issue a comprehensive public response to address raised concerns.
The reform is on track to launch with the cohort of students entering Class Three in September 2026, who will become the first group of learners assessed under the new framework. The current Class Three cohort will remain the final group to complete the transition under the existing single-exam model.
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Grenada tourism push draws Bajan interest
A new regional tourism push by Grenada is drawing enthusiastic early feedback from Barbadian travelers, with data already pointing to rising cross-island visitor numbers following a slate of targeted promotional events hosted in the Barbadian capital Bridgetown, a senior Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) marketing representative has confirmed.
Speaking exclusively to Barbados TODAY on the sidelines of a business trade exposition hosted at Bridgetown’s popular PureOceans Restaurant, Kwame Hamilton, a marketing assistant with the GTA, outlined that the event brought together local Grenadian tourism stakeholders and Barbadian attendees, who got a first-hand look at the destination’s unique offerings—including opportunities to sample Grenada’s world-famous spice exports and local culinary creations. Hundreds of Barbadian citizens stopped by the exposition’s booths to connect with tourism partners and learn more about vacation, adventure and cultural experiences available on the island, Hamilton added.
“We created this space to let Barbadians meet directly with our team and local operators, so they can get detailed, up-to-date information about everything Grenada has to offer,” Hamilton said during the event, which was documented by photographer Shamar Blunt.
The multi-day promotional campaign will extend to a public pop-up activation at Bridgetown’s Worthing Square on Friday, opening the initiative up to even more Barbadians who want to explore what the “Isle of Spice” has to offer. According to Hamilton, the pop-up will serve as another accessible hub for consumers to collect travel information, ask questions, and connect with tourism experts.
At its core, the campaign is designed to boost public awareness of Grenada’s diverse tourism assets among Barbadian travel agents, prospective visitors, and the general public. Beyond its global reputation as the “Isle of Spice,” Hamilton highlighted that Grenada boasts unspoiled natural landscapes, rich colonial and cultural history, and a wide range of unique leisure experiences that appeal to regional Caribbean travelers.
Organizers hope that after engaging with the promotional events, Barbadians will leave with a deeper appreciation for all that Grenada has to offer as a travel destination, and will consider it for their next regional getaway.
Hamilton noted that this type of targeted regional marketing has a proven track record of success. Past similar promotional campaigns have already translated to measurable growth in cross-border travel between the two Caribbean nations, with visitor numbers from Barbados to Grenada posting consistent upward movement in recent years. “After our previous promotions, we saw a clear uptick in traffic between Grenada and Barbados, and our market numbers have been trending up ever since,” Hamilton added.
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11-Plus exam results to be announced Monday
Thousands of Barbadian primary school students who completed the national secondary school entrance examination earlier this year are just days away from learning their academic fate, as government officials confirm results and secondary school placements will be made public this coming Monday. The high-stakes assessment, formally known as the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination (BSSEE) for the 2026 intake cycle, was administered across the island’s primary institutions back in May, marking the final milestone for young learners transitioning from primary to secondary education. The official announcement is set to be delivered by Chad Blackman, Minister of Education Transformation, during a scheduled press conference kicking off at 9:30 a.m. local time. To ensure widespread public access, the entire media briefing will be streamed live for students, parents and guardians via the Ministry of Education’s official YouTube channel, branded under the handle @MRDBarbados. This annual results release is one of the most anticipated education events in Barbados, as it determines which secondary school each student will attend for the next phase of their compulsory education, shaping long-term academic pathways for thousands of young people and their families across the country.
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Grenada targets regional travellers with expanded tourism offering
The Caribbean tri-island nation of Grenada is embarking on a strategic repositioning of its tourism sector, shifting away from overreliance on its classic sun-and-coast appeal to draw more regional travelers with a broad, curated lineup of cultural, adventure, culinary, wellness and event offerings. Tourism officials laid out this new growth strategy this week during a media and travel industry dinner held at Divi Southwinds Hotel, where leaders highlighted the one-of-a-kind experiences that set the three-island destination apart from other Caribbean getaways.
Samantha Thomas, Marketing Executive at the Grenada Tourism Authority, told attendees that the country’s deep roots in history and culture form the foundation of its unique appeal, alongside its well-earned title as the “wreck dive capital of the Caribbean.” Comprising the main island of Grenada, plus the smaller neighboring islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, the destination delivers what Thomas calls “a vacation within a vacation” — a layered experience that caters to every type of traveler, from thrill-seeking divers to slow-paced wellness seekers.
Thomas put particular emphasis on Grenada’s fast-growing reputation as a top culinary tourism destination, noting the country is home to seven operational chocolate factories that offer immersive, farm-to-bar experiences for visitors, alongside a wide range of food-focused activities that highlight its native spices and local culinary traditions. She also showcased the country’s robust eco-tourism portfolio, which includes scenic rainforest nature trails, holistic wellness retreats, and one-of-a-kind marine attractions. Most notable among these is the world’s first ever underwater sculpture park, a bucket-list attraction that many travelers previously associated with far-flung destinations like Bali.
“You don’t have to fly 19 hours to Bali to check that iconic experience off your list,” Thomas explained. “Our underwater sculpture park is just a short trip for regional travelers — literally half an hour by boat from the main island, and a much shorter flight from most Caribbean neighboring countries. It’s exactly the kind of unique, must-see experience that draws visitors from across the region.”
Beyond signature attractions, Thomas also outlined the destination’s rapidly expanding events calendar, which now extends far beyond Grenada’s world-famous annual Spice Mas carnival. This year marked the first ever staging of Carriacou’s Lobster and Lambi Festival, and the country already hosts a popular annual Dive and Conservation Festival that combines recreational diving with marine conservation outreach. Later in 2024, the country will launch its inaugural Grenada Flower Festival, a new event inspired by the nation’s unprecedented success at the UK’s iconic Chelsea Flower Show, where Grenadian horticulturalists have claimed 19 gold medals over the years.
“We’ve decided to turn that award-winning floral legacy into a full public festival that visitors can enjoy,” Thomas said, adding that the new event will be especially appealing to travelers interested in floral design, destination weddings, and group getaways like girls’ trips. She also highlighted the Grenada Diaspora Homecoming event, an initiative modeled after Barbados’ successful We Gatherin’ program that aims to reconnect Grenadians living overseas with their home country and encourage them to visit with friends and family.
Charmaine Gibbs, a representative of local tourism group Insights Grenada, urged visitors to the main island to make time to travel to Carriacou, the smaller “sister island” that remains largely untouched by mass tourism and offers a quiet, authentic Caribbean experience. “No visit to Grenada is truly complete without experiencing the natural beauty and warm hospitality of Carriacou,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs also emphasized that regional cooperation in tourism has grown more critical than ever in the post-pandemic travel landscape, arguing that Caribbean residents should take advantage of the world-class, unique experiences available right on their own doorsteps, rather than traveling long distances for bucket-list trips. “Now is the time to open our doors to each other across the region,” Gibbs said. “We can give fellow Caribbean islanders the chance to experience those once-in-a-lifetime trips that people often spend a whole lifetime saving to do — and we have all of it right here, within a short flight or boat ride from home.”
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Police searching for missing St George man
Law enforcement officials in the country have issued an urgent public call for help in tracking down an elderly resident who has been missing for more than a week. 68-year-old Ulric Carlisle Kirton, a resident of Watts Village in St George, has not been seen or heard from by his family or local authorities since June 11, prompting police to open a missing person investigation and reach out to community members for tips.
Authorities confirmed that Kirton lives with dementia, a cognitive condition that can impair a person’s ability to remember their location, navigate unfamiliar areas, or communicate personal information, putting him at heightened risk of harm while unaccounted for. To help community members identify him quickly, police have released a detailed physical description of the missing man.
Kirton stands approximately 5 feet 4 inches tall, has a slim frame, brown skin, a completely bald head, and short gray hair on his face. When he was last observed by witnesses, he was wearing a black hat, a navy blue long-sleeve shirt, and a pair of black trousers.Police are urging anyone who has spotted a man matching this description anywhere in the country, whether recently or on the day Kirton went missing, to get in touch with authorities immediately. There are multiple channels for members of the public to submit information: contacts can be made directly to the District ‘B’ Police Station, the 24/7 police emergency line at 211, the anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line at 1-800-TIPS (8477), or any closest local police outpost to the caller’s location. Officials emphasize that even a small piece of information could be critical to bringing Kirton home safely.
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Forum urges shift from aid to private investment
On Thursday, a cross-sector coalition of Caribbean regional leaders and major global investors issued a clear call to action: Caribbean governments must break long-standing patterns of aid dependence and aggressively pivot toward mobilizing private sector capital to drive inclusive, sustained growth. Opening the high-stakes inaugural Caribbean Economic Forum (CEF) — a gathering that unites global investment firms, national government officials, and leading multilateral financial bodies — organizers laid out an ambitious core goal: to reframe the Caribbean from a patchwork of fragmented small markets into a cohesive, globally competitive, and investable asset class.
Clinton White, founder of Counselor Global Solutions and co-convenor of the CEF, delivered the opening welcome remarks, drawing on his decades of experience working and living in the region during his tenure covering Caribbean economies for the now-disbanded U.S. Agency for International Development. White pointed to Barbados’ decades-long track record of economic resilience as a powerful case study for what small Caribbean states can accomplish when they embrace strategic economic transformation. “After gaining independence in 1966, this 166-square-mile island completely rewrote its economic story: it moved from a system almost entirely reliant on sugar exports to a diversified economy powered by tourism, international financial services, education, and a fast-growing innovation and sustainability sector,” White explained. “That transformation proves small states can deliver extraordinary outcomes when they set clear, ambitious goals.”
White traced the origins of the forum back to a 2020 partnership he forged with CEF Executive Director Kiran Maharaj, USAID, and the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The founding principle of that collaboration, he noted, is that no government can deliver large-scale economic transformation on its own. “We all acknowledge that development assistance still plays a critical role in the region, but we also recognize that aid alone will never be enough to tackle the full scale of the Caribbean’s opportunities and challenges,” White said in his address. “Aid can kickstart change, but only private investment can sustain it. Grants can build institutional capacity, but private capital builds entire industries, generates long-term jobs, and rewrites economic trajectories for entire communities.”
White’s opening arguments drew heavily on data from the newly published *Caribbean Development Dynamics 2026* report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which frames the Caribbean as standing at a defining crossroads for development. The report confirms that nearly 80% of all current investment flowing into the Caribbean already comes from the private sector. With that in mind, White argued, the region’s top challenge is no longer convincing global investors of the Caribbean’s inherent value — it is removing structural barriers to channel existing investor interest into high-impact, transformative sectors that deliver broad-based growth. Key priority sectors he identified include renewable energy, climate-resilient sustainable tourism, the blue economy, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence innovation.
“At the end of the day, this forum is not about us — it’s about the next generation of Caribbean people,” White emphasized. “Our goal is to build economies where young people don’t feel forced to leave their home islands to find opportunity. The choices we make in this room will determine whether the next generation inherits a region defined by vulnerability, or one defined by resilience, innovation, and shared prosperity for all.”
Following White’s remarks, CEF co-founder Gregory Hill, who also serves as Managing Partner at ACERO Capital, took the stage to challenge attendees to set aside generic conference rhetoric and focus exclusively on tangible financial execution. Hill pushed back against the long-held international narrative that frames the Caribbean as a collection of isolated, economically vulnerable small states, instead positioning the region as one of the world’s most strategically important untapped investment frontiers.
“Let me be completely blunt and clear from the start: this is not just another regional development conference,” Hill told assembled delegates. “We are not here to talk — we are here to work, we are here to collaborate, and we are here to deliver actual results. We did not gather just to discuss what development could look like; we are here to finance it. So bring your checkbooks.”
Hill argued that the Caribbean economy can no longer afford endless cycles of diagnostic reports and policy discussions that never translate to on-the-ground action. He noted that the combined balance sheets of the global institutional investors and financial bodies represented at the forum total roughly $25 trillion — creating an unprecedented opportunity to close the long-standing gap between abundant global capital and the pipeline of viable, high-impact local projects across the Caribbean.
Over the course of the forum, discussions will center on four core strategic pillars: accelerating the region’s energy transition, building climate-resilient infrastructure, advancing food security through agricultural modernization, and growing the Caribbean’s creative economy. To deliver scaled investment across these sectors, Hill argued, the region needs a modernized financial framework that leverages blended finance structures to reduce risk for private sector entities entering the market.
Hill also called for a fundamental shift in how the success of multilateral development banks and development finance institutions operating in the Caribbean is measured. He proposed that these entities should be evaluated primarily by their ability to mobilize and deploy private capital into productive regional assets, rather than by the total volume of independent loans or grants they disburse.
“Success will not be measured by how eloquent our speeches are today,” Hill said. “Success will only be measured by the formal mandates we sign, the partnerships we lock in, the projects that get actual funding, the businesses that expand, and the jobs that are created for Caribbean people. If we get this right, future generations will look back and see that this was the moment the Caribbean stopped viewing itself as a collection of independent, isolated, fractured economies — and started acting as a unified, investable asset class that delivers shared prosperity for all.”