Caribbean Leaders Call for Shift to Private Capital Investment

A coalition of regional leaders and global investors on Thursday urged Caribbean governments to pivot decisively from aid dependence to private capital mobilisation, arguing that the region already commands significant investor interest but lacks the financial architecture to convert it into large-scale, job-creating projects.

The high-profile Caribbean Economic Forum (CEF), which opened here on Thursday, brings together global investors, government officials and multilateral financial institutions, aims to transform the Caribbean from a collection of fragmented markets into a unified, investable asset class.

Clinton White, founder of Counselor Global Solutions and co-convenor of the CEF, delivered the welcome remarks and reflected on his time living on the island while covering the region for the now-defunct United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

White highlighted the historical economic resilience of Barbados as a prime example of what small states can achieve.

“Following independence in 1966, this island of only 166 square miles transformed its economy from one heavily dependent on sugar into one driven by tourism, financial services, education, and increasingly innovation and sustainability,” White said. “This again demonstrates that small states can achieve extraordinary outcomes.”

White emphasised that the forum was born out of a critical partnership forged in 2020 alongside CEF executive director Kiran Maharaj, USAID, and the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The foundational premise of this collaboration was that governments cannot transform economies alone.

“We recognised that while development assistance remains important, aid alone would never be sufficient to address the scale of the Caribbean’s opportunities and challenges,” White said in his speech. “Aid can catalyse change, but investment sustains it. Grants can build capacity, but private capital builds industries, creates jobs, and transforms economies.”

The opening remarks drew heavily on the newly released Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, The Caribbean Development Dynamics 2026, which concludes that the region stands at a pivotal developmental juncture. According to the report, nearly 80 per cent of current investment in the Caribbean already originates from the private sector.

White argued that the primary challenge for regional stakeholders is no longer convincing private entities of the region’s value, but rather directing existing capital into highly transformative sectors. These key areas include renewable energy, sustainable tourism, the blue economy, digital transformation and artificial intelligence.