Guyanese and Barbadian experts call for overhaul of Caribbean’s economic development framework

Nov 10, 2024 News

Daniel Best is the Senior Infrastructure and Development Advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados seconded from a substantive role as Director, Projects Department at the Caribbean Development Bank (Guyanese and Barbadian experts)

Kaieteur news- A Guyanese and Barbadian expert is advocating for a complete redesign of the region’s development framework to address issues such as climate change, economic volatility, and limited fiscal resources.

Daniel Best, Senior Infrastructure and Development Advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados seconded from a substantive role as Director, Projects Department at the Caribbean Development Bank, and Wazim Mowla, Fellow and Lead of the Atlantic Council’s Caribbean Initiative and Vice President of the ACE Consulting Group, based in Guyana in a recent statement underscored that the Caribbean stands at a pivotal moment, facing significant challenges but also unprecedented opportunities for development.

“Caribbean countries are on the frontlines of many challenges but the opportunities for development and prosperity are endless,” Best and Mowla said.

According to Best and Mowla, institutions like the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the Caribbean Agriculture Research & Development Institute, the Caribbean Development Bank, and others “house the potential to transform the region’s development agenda in a way that stimulates economic prosperity and stability.”

They cautioned that these institutions cannot function in isolation, as the small, open economies of Caribbean countries are constantly impacted by the fluctuations of global markets.

Best and Mowla argue that collaboration with international allies and consistent outreach to relevant capitals, like Ottawa, London, Washington DC, Brasilia, and others, are essential to augment regional capabilities in delivering effective development solutions.

They believe the Caribbean needs to have consistent communication with other development institutions, such as those that sit in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Best and Mowla underscored that innovation is the heartbeat of progress. “Accelerating innovation unlocks new financial and technological resources that can induce greater competition and economic growth across industries,” they explain.

Wazim Mowla is the Fellow and Lead of the Atlantic Council’s Caribbean Initiative and Vice President of the ACE Consulting Group, based in Guyana.

Moreover, they emphasize that data gathering is crucial for informed decision-making. Best and Mowla said, “Data-driven energy modeling can influence the types of clean energy technologies governments pursue… and the use of emerging and disruptive technologies can reduce agriculture production costs, and enhance efficiency and productivity in the sector.”

They argue that the private sector must play a central role in this framework. “The private sector holds the key to accessing capital, scaling projects, and utilizing new technologies at a much faster rate,” Best and Mowla added.

They called for a regional investment forum modeled after similar initiatives in Asia and Africa. Such a forum, they said, could leverage early-stage technical assistance, derisk investment opportunities and unlock private sector participation through debt and equity financing across multiple sectors.

Best and Mowla emphasize that the new development framework must consider “geopolitics, the realities of people on the ground, and importantly, utilizing existing Indigenous institutions.”

They made a call for a regional dialogue to advance this vision. Best and Mowla said that the redesigned framework should pave the way for a resilient, self-sustaining Caribbean where “sustainable development is not just a goal, but a lived reality for all Caribbean nations.”

(Guyanese and Barbadian experts call for overhaul of Caribbean’s economic development framework )

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Daniel Best, Development Advisor, Guyanese and Barbadian expert, Prime Minister of Barbados, Wazim Mowla

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