Friday, August 3, 2012

Caribbean Development Fund

We had a pleasant surprise yesterday morning when my clients the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association got a call from the Ministry of Energy saying a delegation from the Caribbean Development Fund (CDF) was in Grenada and they'd like to meet with us.

You know you're on the right track when the donors come to you!

After a very pleasant meeting, we parted anticipating a lot of future cooperation. The CDF is investing funds in Grenada through the Grenada Development Bank and when all the bureaucratic arrangements such as signatories are place - stakeholders like the GHTA and other SME's will be able to access grant/loan financing support for business development. Great!

They're interested in energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable energy production so we're well positioned to make use of this financing mechanism. The ammount they're offering is small (in relation to the real expenses associated with EE,EC and RE) but since donors like to see counterpart financing I think our best move is to take a bit of funding from them, a bit from SIDSdock and a bit from other sources, like the PetroCaribe Investment Fund.

It's amazing though how long it takes to talk to stakeholders and design the project and then once that is done, the proposals can be developed so quickly! Of course, once the proposals are in - then comes the W-a-i-t-i-n-g period!

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