BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC—The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has re-introduced the Cultural and Creative Industries Fund (CIIF) as a re-engineered facility.
CDB said that the fund, initially capitalized in 2017 with US$2.6 million, was replenished with US$1.8 million in 2023 to support the orange economy of 19 Caribbean countries, all of which are bank members.
The Region’s premier financial institution said that the program had been reorganized, building on lessons from the pilot phase.
“This investment will provide flexible grant funds and technical support through a suite of products shaped by the needs of Caribbean creatives. The support package is intended to actualize potential in film, animation and gaming, fashion and contemporary design, festivals and carnivals, and music and the visual arts.
“The Bank will aid creatives from conceptualization to implementation of CIIF financed initiatives to improve effectiveness, building on recommendations from its pilot,” it added.
The CDB’s acting Vice President (Operations), Mrs. Therese Turner Jones, said the CIIF was a component in the organization’s arsenal to build out the creative capacity of the Region.
She said that through CIIF, the CDB intends to “strengthen the enabling environment through coordination and collaboration, improve access to funding, continue capacity building, close gaps in research and increase awareness, and protect and leverage intellectual property rights.”
She said any effort to activate sustained actions toward development and resilience for the Caribbean must consider the intersections of culture and the creative economy at socio-economic levels.
The acting head of the bank’s Private Sector Division, Lisa Harding, said the “CIIF will continue to celebrate artistic expression, storytelling, cultural production, and preservation while celebrating our diverse cultural identities, traditions, and practices,” underscoring the significance of the creative economy in promoting social inclusion.
CIIF Coordinator Malene Joseph said the fund’s re-launch signals CDB’s intention to deepen collaboration with diverse clients involved in the Caribbean’s creative entrepreneurial space, recognizing the sector’s potential to contribute to the Region’s economy and future.
The CDB said that the CIIF has been extended for three years in response to current needs and sustained challenges faced by those in the orange economy.
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