The Board of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) has approved US$5.2 billion for 16 operations in 10 countries in the region.

This will be allocated to infrastructure, climate action, human development, urban mobility and energy transition projects.

The decision was made during a meeting of CAF’s Board on June 29th in Seville, Spain.

For the first time in CAF’s history, the meeting was chaired by a CARICOM country, namely Trinidad & Tobago.

T&T’s Finance Minister Dave Tancoo is the current CAF Chairman.

During the meeting, the Board also: consolidated its support for the Caribbean by approving a historic US$100m loan to the Bahamas for Energy Sector Reform; Barbados’ Transition to Full Membership into CAF; the incorporation of Saint Lucia as a new shareholder country, and an increase in shareholdings for Antigua & Barbuda.

Mr Tancoo’s trip to Spain also included a meeting on the Road to CELAC-EU Summit.

The main objective of this meeting was to take stock of progress made to date and propose a roadmap for strengthening the strategic partnership in preparation for the upcoming Fourth European Union–CELAC Summit, to be held in November 2025 in Santa Marta, Colombia.

During remarks delivered on behalf of the Latin America and the Caribbean Ministers, Mr Tancoo said that the Global Gateway Investment Agenda was having a positive impact in T&T.

He added that the country will soon be utilising through CAF, the European Commission’s first blending operation amounting to 3 million Euros, for a digital transformation program that includes the evelopment of electronic identity, a public data interoperability platform, and a Government Data Centre.

Minister Tancoo returned from the trip to Spain on July 1st.