Daniel Best

🌎Building a resilient Caribbean requires us to invest before crises occur, mobilise financing at the scale our challenges demand and ensure that development creates real opportunities for people. At CHOGM in Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬, I will be engaging with Heads of Government, development partners, international financial institutions, investors, and representatives of youth, business and civil society. My message is clear: proactive, large-scale investment in small island economies is essential to protecting livelihoods, strengthening resilience and expanding opportunities, especially for our young people. 🤝By working together, we can build a thriving #Caribbean and contribute to a more prosperous global community. 🎥 Watch the video, and follow my reflections from the major forums and conversations taking place over the coming days. #CHOGM #CaribbeanDevelopment @Caribank

I commend Prime Minister the Honourable Gaston Browne, the Government and people of Antigua and Barbuda on the successful hosting of the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Antigua and Barbuda is a longstanding member of the @Caribank and a valued partner. 🤝 I was pleased to meet with Prime Minister Browne following CHOGM to discuss areas of mutual interest and our shared commitment to advancing sustainable development and strengthening the resilience of Small Island Developing States. The outcomes of CHOGM 2026 reinforce the importance of partnership, investment and collective action. 🌍 CDB remains committed to supporting solutions that protect development gains, strengthen communities and position our countries to respond confidently to future challenges and opportunities. Congratulations to Antigua and Barbuda on welcoming and hosting the Commonwealth with distinction. 👏 #CHOGM2026 #AntiguaAndBarbuda #CDB

🌎 Caribbean enterprise has the talent and ambition to compete globally. Our responsibility is to create the conditions for it to succeed. Didee Russell, an Antiguan and Barbudan business owner and member of @Caribank’s SheTrades Caribbean Hub, represents the entrepreneurs driving growth across our small island economies. The Caribbean Development Bank is committed to mobilising private capital, de-risking investment and expanding access to finance so that small businesses can grow, create jobs and reach new markets. 🤝🏽📈 This requires purposeful partnership among governments, development institutions, investors and businesses. Together, we can convert #Caribbean potential into lasting prosperity for our people. 🚀 The opportunity is before us. Let us invest in it. #CaribbeanInvestment #CHOGM2026 #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

🌴 Building a more resilient Caribbean requires us to raise capital differently. At the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)-convened session, Mobilising Climate Capital in the Caribbean: Evidence, Innovation, and Action, in St John’s, I called on private financial institutions to engage early, bring their expertise and be ready to finance the investment-ready projects that emerge. 🤝 Investors must be part of the conversation from the outset, helping us assess risk, develop effective financing structures and define bankability before projects reach the market. Through partnerships, @Caribank is working to aggregate, prepare and de-risk climate investments, strengthening pipelines in energy and transport. ⚡ The opportunities are there. Our shared task is to turn them into projects that attract capital at scale and build lasting regional resilience. 🌍 Our countries have committed, partners are engaged and CDB is ready to work with private financial institutions to turn resilience ambitions into investable action. #InvestingInResilience #ClimateFinance #CHOGM2026

Caribbean young people have the talent and ideas to build new enterprises, industries and solutions. 🌱🚀  At the Commonwealth Youth Forum, I joined @CokeHamilton and young leaders to discuss the investment, skills and opportunities needed to turn that potential into progress.  Investing in Youth is central to CDB’s new Strategy. We must work together to equip young people to create, lead and shape the Caribbean’s future. 💡🤝  Our young people are ready. We must match their ambition with investment, opportunity and trust. 🤝✨ #InvestingInYouth #SmallStatesBigOpportunities #CHOGM2026 @Caribank

A resilient Caribbean requires the talents, creativity and contributions of all our people. 🌴 The Commonwealth Women’s Forum reinforced a fundamental truth: when women and girls participate fully in economic and social life, families, communities and economies are stronger. @Caribank, we believe resilience is about people as much as infrastructure. That means investing in education and skills, expanding access to finance and supporting women-led enterprises. The Commonwealth offers a powerful platform to turn shared commitments into meaningful action. Investing in women is an investment in the Caribbean’s resilience, competitiveness and shared prosperity. 💪 #CommonwealthWomensForum #InvestInWomen #CHOGM2026

As partners gather in Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 🤝, we have an important opportunity to connect regional and global discussions with the practical needs of Caribbean communities. At St. Mary’s Secondary School, CDB-supported investments are strengthening physical learning environments, access to technology, teacher capacity and student learning 📚. Together, these interventions demonstrate what people-centred development looks like. Investment must reach beyond the conference room. It must improve people’s everyday experiences and strengthen their capacity to respond to change, innovate and create opportunity💡. Investing in young people is therefore central to building a more resilient Caribbean 🌎. It is an investment in human potential, regional progress and our shared future 🌱. #CHOGM #PeopleCentredDevelopment @Caribank

Advocacy is most powerful when it leads to investment, and investment is most effective when it is built through partnership. 🤝 Across the Caribbean, our natural ecosystems protect communities, sustain livelihoods and support economic activity. Safeguarding these assets must therefore be central to how we build resilience. 🌴 My engagement with Dr. Daniela Raik, President, Conservation International on the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2026 reinforced the value of bringing development finance and conservation expertise together. By collaborating on ecosystem restoration, coastal resilience, blue carbon, sustainable fisheries and biodiversity enterprises, we can translate shared priorities into scalable investments. 🌊 The @Caribank is committed to mobilising innovative finance and strengthening partnerships that protect our region’s natural capital while creating sustainable opportunities for its people. 💡 Investing in resilience means investing in the systems that sustain us, and working together to ensure those investments deliver lasting impact 🌍 #InvestingInResilience #Advocacy #Partnership

As we look to the future of #Aid4Trade, we must not lose sight of its core purpose: improving people's lives. For the Caribbean, that means stronger climate resilience, enhanced food and energy security, greater innovation, and more inclusive economic opportunity. #Aid4Trade has an important role to play in that journey by helping countries build productive capacity, strengthen competitiveness and translate growth into lasting improvements for people and communities. This is the future we must work together to achieve. #A4TNext20 #TradeForDevelopment #CaribbeanTrade #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

🌐 Trade remains a critical driver of Caribbean growth, but our ability to compete in an increasingly complex global economy depends on more than what we produce. It requires modern infrastructure, strong institutions, investment in people, and deeper regional collaboration. 🤝Yesterday, @wto’s Global Review of Aid for Trade 2026, I welcomed the opportunity to meet with WTO Director-General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala @NOIweala and her team. I was also honoured to join fellow regional and international leaders for the Regional Spotlight on The Americas panel discussion. We examined how the Caribbean can strengthen its competitiveness, diversify exports, deepen regional integration, and position itself to seize emerging opportunities in a rapidly changing global trading environment. 📈 During the discussion, I highlighted three priorities that will be essential to advancing this agenda: scaling up investment in trade-enabling infrastructure, trade facilitation and digitalisation; expanding opportunities for MSMEs to participate in regional and global markets; and accelerating digital transformation and the growth of new services-based export opportunities. Additionally, I underscored the importance of climate resilience, the strategic use of public resources to mobilise private investment, and equipping our people with the skills needed to thrive in an evolving economic landscape. @Caribank we remain committed to working alongside our Borrowing Member Countries and development partners to advance this agenda. The investments we make today in resilience, competitiveness, and people will determine the Caribbean's place in the global economy for decades to come. View the full discussion 🔗: youtube.com/live/cqfhB-zvkt4 🤝On the margins of the event, I also had the opportunity to meet with WTO Deputy Director-General Johanna Hill and her team, and to engage with CARICOM Ambassadors representing Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, The Bahamas, Haiti, and Belize. These discussions reinforced the importance of strong partnerships, regional coordination, and ensuring that Caribbean perspectives and priorities remain part of global trade and development conversations. #Aid4Trade #CaribbeanTrade #TradeCompetitiveness #StrongerInstitutions #RegionalCooperation #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

🌎 Five days in Bangkok. One shared commitment to the Caribbean’s future. Throughout the IMF and World Bank Fall Meetings, our CDB delegation has engaged with regional leaders, development partners and investors to advance the priorities of the Caribbean and other small, vulnerable states. As we close the week, five priorities stand out: expanding opportunities for our young people through technology and innovation; rethinking development finance; strengthening collaboration among development institutions; financing resilience before shocks occur; and ensuring vulnerable countries have a meaningful voice in the global financial system. 🤝 The opportunity now is to turn these priorities into progress. That means connecting partnerships and financing with investments that strengthen resilience, create opportunities and improve lives across our region. The global dialogue continues, and so does our work. Your CDB remains committed to advancing practical solutions, mobilising resources and building a more resilient, inclusive and prosperous Caribbean. #IMFWBGMeetings #DevelopmentFinance #InnovativeFinance #InclusiveGrowth #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

The Caribbean has lost one of its most distinctive voices. Slinger Francisco, known and loved as The Mighty Sparrow, understood the extraordinary power of music to tell our stories, challenge us, unite us and bring us joy. 🎤 For more than seven decades, Sparrow gave voice to the Caribbean with wit, rhythm, courage and an unrivalled gift for storytelling. His music gave generations a way to laugh, reflect on and celebrate who we are. As a lifelong lover of music, I have immense admiration for the artistry, musicianship and lyrical brilliance that made Sparrow such a singular talent. His work was unmistakably Caribbean, yet the humanity in his storytelling allowed it to travel far beyond our shores. On behalf of @Caribank, I extend heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones, and to the people of Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. I also join Caribbean people at home and across the diaspora in mourning a true cultural giant. May his music continue to fill our homes and our hearts, and may his unmistakable voice forever remind us of the richness, wit and indomitable spirit of our Caribbean. Rest in perfect peace, Birdie.

🌎 Climate finance cannot only be about the commitments we make. It must be about whether countries can actually access financing and turn it into meaningful action. That was the message I shared at the @UN Solutions Dialogue on Climate Finance at the Climate Summit 2026. For the Caribbean, we are seeing what is possible when partners are willing to rethink how development finance works, from the 🇨🇦 Government of Canada’s USD 200 million portfolio credit guarantee to CDB, which will significantly expand our financing capacity, to the regional platform we are advancing with @theGCF to help countries move investment priorities into implementable projects. But access also requires listening. Earlier this year, we brought @FRLossandDamage directly together with our Borrowing Member Countries to better understand its application process. One workshop helped move the Caribbean from one proposal being prepared to 16. 🤝 Sometimes the solutions are not complicated. We simply need to ask countries what they need, bring the right people to the table and create the conditions for action. 💡 That is how we move climate finance from conversation to impact. #ClimateFinance #ClimateAction #GlobalPartnerships #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

Some moments in development are especially rewarding because you have had the privilege of seeing the journey from its earliest stages. 💧 The Jamaica Rural Water Supply Programme is one of those for me. The initial concept and discussions began taking shape during my time as @Caribank Director of Projects , so it was deeply gratifying to mark this important step towards implementation with the Government of Jamaica. It was a pleasure to share the occasion with Prime Minister The Most Honourable Dr. Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) whose leadership and steadfast commitment to improving the lives of Jamaicans have been central to advancing this transformative initiative. His Government's strong focus on water security and resilient infrastructure has helped create the momentum and partnership necessary to bring this project to fruition. I must also recognise Honourable Matthew Samuda and Mr Omar Sweeney, whose determination, persistence, and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in bringing us this far. Their efforts, together with the support of the many partners involved, have helped turn a shared vision into a tangible reality. At its heart, this is about something very simple but fundamental: improving people’s lives. Through a US$36 million investment, six water-supply schemes across five parishes will be developed or upgraded, expanding access to reliable, potable water for more than 45,000 people. For me, this occasion was also another reminder of the enduring partnership between Jamaica and the Caribbean Development Bank, and of what sustained collaboration can achieve. I look forward to seeing the programme move from plans and infrastructure to what matters most: reliable water in homes and communities, greater opportunity, and a better quality of life for the people it is intended to serve. #WaterSecurity #ClimateResilience #Jamaica #SustainableDevelopment #OurCDB

🌎For the Caribbean, uncertainty is no longer an occasional disruption. It is the reality in which our governments, businesses, and people must now plan and prosper. Climate risk, economic volatility, geopolitical shifts, and rapid technological change are reshaping the landscape in which we operate. Resilience cannot be occasional: it must be built into the institutions that serve our people, the businesses that drive our economies, and the systems that underpin our development. That was the core of my message as the Keynote Speaker at this year’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Conference hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (@amchamtt) under the theme: “Navigating Uncertainty: Sustainability, Resilience & the Future of Business.” At @Caribank, we believe the E, the S and the G are not separate conversations. These principles are embedded in how we finance projects, manage risk, strengthen institutions, advance gender-responsive development, and support climate resilience across our region. 🤝Resilience is also a shared responsibility. It requires governments, businesses, development institutions, and communities to work together to turn uncertainty into an opportunity for innovation, investment, and sustainable growth. Our task is not to eliminate uncertainty. It is to build economies and institutions resilient enough to thrive despite it. I thank AMCHAM Trinidad and Tobago for convening this important conversation. I look forward to the ideas, partnerships, and actions that emerge from the conference. #AMCHAMTT #ESG2026 #ESG #Sustainability #Resilience #FutureOfBusiness #BusinessLeadership

📊 Evidence matters. It shapes better decisions, strengthens accountability, and helps us make smarter development investments. This past week, we launched the inaugural Caribbean Evaluation Space, bringing together evaluators, policymakers, development partners, and emerging leaders to share knowledge, challenge thinking, and strengthen how we understand what works in our region. For @Caribank, evaluation is not simply about accountability. It is about learning, adapting, and improving so that our development investments deliver greater impact for Caribbean people. As we build a more resilient, prosperous and sustainable Caribbean, we must continue to strengthen a culture of evidence and equip the next generation to carry it forward. 🔗 Learn more: bit.ly/4zZ0VWK #CEvalSpace2026 #StrongerInstitutions #EvaluationMatters #OurCaribbean #OurCDB

🤝 Strong partnerships create lasting impact. It was a pleasure to join the Small Business Association of Barbados @SBAofBarbados government representatives, entrepreneurs, and regional stakeholders for the launch of Reengineering MSMEs for Growth: Adoption and Application of Digital Solutions to Build Resilience and Global Competitiveness — a regional initiative funded by @Caribank to help Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) embrace digital solutions, build resilience, and compete in an evolving global economy. Through this partnership, a minimum of 150 businesses across Barbados 🇧🇧, Dominica 🇩🇲, Grenada 🇬🇩, Saint Lucia 🇱🇨, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 🇻🇨 will receive support, including grant funding and capacity building, to strengthen their digital capabilities and accelerate growth. This is development partnership in action: bringing together finance, knowledge, technology, and local networks to turn opportunity into impact. Hearty congratulations to everyone who helped make this initiative possible. Together, we are investing in the people and businesses at the heart of the region’s private sector, empowering them to innovate, grow, and drive the Caribbean’s transformation. #PrivateSectorDevelopment #DevelopmentImpact #Entrepreneurship #Partnership #Innovation #OurCaribbean

I convey sincere sympathy to His Excellency President @ABDELAESPRIELLA the Government of Colombia, and the Colombian people following the tragic loss of life, injuries, and destruction caused by the devastating and powerful earthquake in Colombia. On behalf of the Caribbean Development Bank, I extend heartfelt condolences to the families mourning loved ones and to all communities affected by this disaster. As a valued member and partner of the Bank, Colombia continues to play an important role in strengthening cooperation between Latin America and the Caribbean and advancing our shared development agenda. Our thoughts are with those affected as well as response personnel and our CDB colleagues and partners, including CDB Governor Hon. Diego Alejandro Guevara Castañeda, Alternate Governor Ms. Claudia Marcela Martinez, Director Dr. Alba Nury Martinez Barrera, and Alternate Director Mr. Gerardo Romel Espitia Peña. In moments of profound loss, our shared humanity calls us to stand together. The people of Colombia are in our thoughts as they mourn, recover, and begin the difficult work of rebuilding. We stand with you. 🇨🇴 #Colombia #CaribbeanDevelopmentBank #CDB #RegionalCooperation

🤝Our region is strongest when we stand together and support one another. I am pleased to share that @Caribank's Board of Directors has approved a USD 1 million contribution to @AgendaCAF's Fund for the Recovery and Reconstruction of Venezuela. This support will assist relief, recovery, and reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquakes that struck the country on June 24, 2026. Venezuela is a longstanding member of the Bank and a country that has consistently and meaningfully supported the people and nations of the Caribbean over many decades. This contribution, made through CAF's recovery mechanism, reflects the strength of multilateral cooperation and our shared commitment to resilience, partnership, and regional solidarity. As Venezuela begins the difficult journey of rebuilding, we stand alongside its Government and people, reaffirming our support during this time of profound loss and recovery. Read the full statement: ow.ly/rSgC50Zyfk9