Antigua and Barbuda is one step closer to becoming a shareholder of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF)
The development follows the signing of the Share Subscription Agreement and the Immunities and Privileges Agreement by Prime Minister Gaston Browne and CAF Executive President Sergio Díaz-Granados yesterday, on the margins of CAF’s inaugural International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean in Panama City.
Last August, Antigua and Barbuda signed a Letter of Intent during its hosting of the United Nations SIDS 4 Conference.
Speaking following the signing of the agreements, Browne stated: “We are certainly very happy to become an official shareholder of the Bank. We received a briefing today, so we recognise there are many opportunities to be exploited. We are very pleased with the quick turnaround time, not only with this agreement but the fact that it is a part of the ethos of the Bank to turn around your loans and advances [disbursements] very quickly. This is not very typical of a multilateral bank so we are very impressed, and we believe this will be a very fruitful relationship to help us build capacity in the affairs of our development.”
Diaz-Granados added “we are very pleased that you were able to travel to Panama to see what we are creating here in the region, connecting the Caribbean to Latin American and Latin America to the Caribbean. I believe there are many solutions on which we can work together so we are really proud of this step today.”
Once Antigua and Barbuda completes the process to become a CAF shareholder, it will join as the bank’s 23rd member.
The twin-island nation will be in the company of its Caribbean counterparts, including Trinidad and Tobago, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, which became a member in November 2024.
