St. Vincent and the Grenadines is among nine countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Suriname, to benefit from US$33,000,000., which will go toward the financing of sustainable infrastructure projects in the Caribbean.
The funds are being provided by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), under a Credit Facility Agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB.
The AFD is the chief agency through which the Government of France provides funding for sustainable development projects.
The facility will be used by the CDB to expand financing for infrastructure projects in several areas: renewable energy, water and sanitation, waste management, adaptation of infrastructure to the effects of climate change, and protection of coasts and rivers.
At least 50% of the funds will be used to fund climate change adaptation and mitigation projects.
The agreement was signed in July 2016 at the CDB headquarters in Barbados, by French Ambassador to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and Barbados, Mr. Eric de la Moussaye, in the presence of CDB Vice-President of Operations, Ms. Patricia McKenzie.