Category: CANA News

The Antigua and Barbuda government has announced plans to undertaking a multi-faceted overhaul of its tourism industry which it says is designed to create greater visitor experiences while providing more benefits to the local economy.

‘We are intentionally transforming our tourism product into a high-value offering with strong sectoral linkages. The objective is to expand domestic ownership and participation; deepen visitor spend, extend stays, and deliver distinctive, high-quality experiences,’ Prime Minister Gaston Browne told the World Government Summit that ends here later on Friday.

Several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders are attending the summit that has brought together delegations from more than 150 governments for three days of discussions on governance, economic resilience and global stability amid mounting geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change. It is being held under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments’.

Prime Minister Browne said that his administration has been intentional in its commitment to carry out the necessary changes to the industry.

‘We are working with various stakeholders to ensure that tourism is closely linked to construction, agriculture, creative industries, transportation, financial services, and small-business development.’

Browne told delegates that Antigua and Barbuda has attracted several globally recognised luxury hotel brands, generating quality employment while strengthening domestic supply chains, at the same time, the cruise tourism strategy supports urban renewal and redevelopment, thereby creating new opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises within our communities.

‘We have also attracted high-end culinary brands-such as Nobu, Le Petit Maison, The Hut, The Reef, Catherine’s, Celia’s, Sheer Rocks, and Rokuni-whose gastronomic excellence has differentiated Antigua and Barbuda’s food and beverage offerings’.

He said that a critical part of the government’s policy is to ensure that as much benefit as possible is accrued into local hands.

‘The inclusion of local inputs and domestic participants including those involved in the creative arts, and other sectors including agriculture and manufacturing, will be essential in determining future success.

‘In addition, future success will be analysed and determined through the development and ownership of Air B and B properties and hotel properties by locals; increased visitor spend, livable salaries and wages for employees in the sector, opportunities for entrepreneurship, foreign exchange earnings and equitable tax revenues for the government,’ Browne added.

He said that these additional benefits for the country will not occur by osmosis and that it requires a national reset and transformation of the tourism sector which has already begun.

‘We have purposefully attracted a significant amount of luxury tourism investment properties, as we seek to reposition Antigua and Barbuda as the premier luxury tourism destination in the Caribbean.’

Browne noted that even the existing all-inclusive properties, though with a lower yield than the ultra-luxury resort properties, are expected to increase their value offering, transforming themselves into all-inclusive luxury products.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says theeconomy of The Bahamas has strengthened in recent years with a robust post-pandemic tourism sector being the key driver of economic growth and fiscal revenues.

The IMF executive board has completed the Article IV Consultation with Nassau considering and endorsing staff appraisal.

According to the IMF, real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 3.4 per cent in 2024 and that growth remained resilient in the first half of 2025, supported by construction and cruise tourism. It said that the unemployment rate stood at 9.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, while inflation decelerated (1.3 per cent in July 2025), partly reflecting lower global energy prices.

The fiscal position continued to improve in the last fiscal year. Driven by tax revenues and expenditure containment, the primary balance remained in surplus and the fiscal deficit narrowed to 0.5 per cent of GDP in the financial year 2024/25.

The IMF said that growth is expected to be around 2.8 per cent in 2025, and then it would gradually slow toward 1½ per cent.

In its appraisal, the IMF executive board said risks to economic growth are broadly balanced, with downside risks including a potential global slowdown and natural disasters, and upside risks entailing greater-than-expected effects of public and private infrastructure projects linked to tourism and the electricity reform. Inflation remains low.

‘Additional policy measures are necessary to achieve the authorities’ medium-term target for central government debt. A primary surplus was reached again in financial year 2024/25, and the financial year 2025/26 budget targets an overall surplus.’

The executive said while declining, public debt remains elevated and that going forward, new revenue-enhancing and expenditure-optimizing measures should be prioritised to achieve the authorities’ 50 per cent of GDP target for central government debt.

It said that these measures can include introducing corporate and personal income taxes, rationalising tax expenditures, raising the standard value added tax (VAT) rate, and reducing transfers to state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The executive board said that these efforts can give space to invest more in priority areas, such as education and resilient infrastructure.

But the board acknowledged that more work is needed to strengthen fiscal institutions and reduce fiscal risks.

It said an immediate priority should be to improve fiscal reporting and enhance the institutional framework for private public partnerships (PPPs). The board is also critical to accurately assess and mitigate fiscal risks arising from SOEs.

The IMF executive board said financial sector policies should continue to aim at preserving financial stability.

‘Systemic financial stability risks remain moderate. As bank credit to the private sector increases, safeguarding banks’ resilience is crucial, including by monitoring potential risks stemming from banks’ exposure to the sovereign.

‘The oversight of nonbanks should be strengthened, and closing data gaps is a priority. Operationalizing real estate price indices is still needed. Planned legal reforms can help improve resolution frameworks and safety nets. Reducing the ceiling on central bank advances to the government would support the exchange rate peg, and it is essential to maintain efforts to implement the 2024 DARE Act. Actions to enhance risk-based AML/CFT supervision and promote financial inclusion should continue.’

The IMF said that fostering economic resilience and investing in human and physical capital should ease supply-side constraints to growth.

‘Policies to raise productivity, together with fiscal consolidation, can help narrow external imbalances, given that the external position is moderately weaker than the level implied by medium-term fundamentals and desirable policies. Ongoing infrastructure projects in hotels and airports can alleviate capacity constraints in tourism.

‘To reduce vulnerable employment and lessen informality, it is important to cut red tape for businesses, strengthen education, and continue expanding training and upskilling opportunities.’

The IMF said trade diversification could strengthen economic resilience and reduce import costs with more benefits for consumers if coupled with greater product market competition.

A year like 2025 rarely hands us a single turning point. It hands us a pattern.

Across four different venues-Cape Town, Sevilla, Belém, and Brussels-leaders and institutions kept returning to one underlying idea: The challenges people feel most directly (jobs, prices, disasters, water, health, security) are connected. Financing that treats them as separate silos will always feel too slow, too small, or too costly.

Four signposts

In Cape Town, the Finance in Common Summit articulated the experiential learning of public development banks: Cooperation is not only about co-financing. It is about acting ‘as a coherent system’ with ‘seamless inter-operability’ across institutions and with the wider financial system. Practically, when standards, data, and processes travel with capital, money moves faster into quality projects and draws in partners instead of creating friction.

In Sevilla, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development provided a whole-of-finance map for that intuition. It recognized the cost of capital cannot be lowered if debt architecture is ignored; private investment cannot scale if rules and reporting are fragmented; tax capacity matters for resilience; trade rules matter for industrialization; and the financing system cannot learn without better data. The Sevilla Commitment provides a comprehensive framework for a modern financing ecosystem, including a follow-up process with in-depth reviews on a regular cycle.

The ‘make it workable’ spirit is infusing climate diplomacy. The Belem Package and the ‘global mutirão’ decision promote initiatives aimed at implementation and ambition, while the Baku Adaptation Roadmap sets up work for 2026-2028, including a just transition mechanism that puts people and equity at the center of the transition.

Brussels added nature and finance. In July, the European Commission launched its Roadmap Toward Nature Credits, framing nature as something that belongs on the balance sheet. Descriptively, nature credits are meant to reward verified nature-positive actions-restoring wetlands, expanding forests, improving ecosystems-so those who steward land and seas can see tangible value and investors can back credible outcomes. The roadmap also places emphasis on standards and certification to build trust and reduce greenwashing.

Together, 2025’s milestones point to convergence: a financing system that is more interoperable, more focused on implementation, and more explicit about nature and resilience as economic foundations. In 2026, implementation capability will require translating this pattern into routines that planners, finance ministries, banks, regulators, and communities can use.

Three bridges

This is where systems thinking stops sounding abstract and starts sounding like common sense. By organizing finance into integrated portfolios rather than isolated projects, the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity-the ‘Nature Bank’-addresses systemic bottlenecks and mobilizes diversified capital. When finance is organized this way, interoperability becomes the way for institutions to build a lower-risk, resilience-oriented investment strategy.

A ‘planetary balance sheet’ framing helps as a second bridge. It takes the EU’s simple phrase-put nature on the balance sheet-and connects it to tools that already exist. Environmental-economic accounting frameworks backed by the UN, and comprehensive wealth accounts tracked by institutions such as the World Bank, are increasingly able to complement GDP by tracking the stocks we rely on: produced capital, human capital, and natural capital.

The third bridge is appraisal. Traditional benefit-cost analysis often fails to capture systemic risk reduction or the benefits of nature-based, resilient infrastructure. Yet, nature-based solutions deliver multiple benefits over time and narrow benefit definitions can disadvantage communities and undervalue resilience. A simple example is a restored mangrove: It can reduce storm damage, support fisheries, and strengthen local livelihoods. Broadening appraisal to reflect systems risk and systems return does not change the physics of floods or heat; it changes how decision-makers value investments that prevent loss before it arrives.

None of these bridges requires everyone to agree on one grand theory. They invite practical steps: shared definitions and interoperable data; pipelines that bundle related investments into portfolios; and evaluation tools that reflect how people actually experience risk and benefit.

If 2025 was the year the dots (four milestones) started to connect, 2026 can be the year the connectors are built and a test produced.

One test

For political leaders: Can interoperability and better appraisal make it easier to fund priorities that citizens most directly feel-safer coasts, reliable water, healthier cities-while keeping an eye on debt and fiscal space?

For technical advisors: Can more value come from making existing frameworks talk better to each other-taxonomies, data platforms, standards for outcomes, and project portfolios that are resilient, inclusive, and ready for finance?

For the general public: Can nature on the balance sheet advance prosperity-protecting and regenerating living systems and stabilizing livelihoods?

Responding yes to all attests to an evolving transformation in the development narrative.

*Gene Leon is Executive Director, Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity and former president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) while Ashaki Goodwin is the Director of Government Affairs and the United Nations Representative for the Development Bank for Resilient Prosperity (DBRP).

Election observers from the Commonwealth arrived in the country on Thursday.

The Commonwealth mission, led by Sarah Flood-Beaubrun, former Speaker of the Saint Lucia House of Assembly, will comprise six observers drawn from across the Commonwealth and supported by its secretariat staff.

Representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) also arrived on Thursday.

According to the Barbados Government Information Service, the hosting of both delegations follows a formal invitation from Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who said the move reaffirmed Barbados’ commitment to democratic practice, transparency and the rule of law.

During their stay, the observer missions will monitor the conduct of the election campaign, administrative preparations and the overall pre-election environment.

On polling day, the teams are expected to observe the opening of polling stations, the casting of ballots, and the counting and tabulation of results.

The observers are also expected to meet with key stakeholders, including the Electoral and Boundaries Commission, political parties, media representatives and civil society organisations.

Following the conclusion of the election, the missions will issue preliminary statements on their findings before submitting final, comprehensive reports.

The deployment comes amid criticism from opposition parties over the timing of the election and concerns about discrepancies on the voters’ list.

Democratic Labour Party leader Ralph Thorne has called for the election to be postponed, citing alleged irregularities on the electoral roll and arguing that more time was needed for corrections.

Prime Minister Mottley has said, however, that the election date could not be altered under Section 18 of the Representation of the People Act.

Defending the unprecedented move to invite observers, Mottley said the presence of independent missions would allow the public to assess the integrity of the process for themselves.

With fears circulating among non-national residents that the ongoing population census could be used to identify and deport undocumented individuals, the Director of the National Bureau of Statistics has moved to assure the public that all census information is legally protected and cannot be shared with immigration or law enforcement authorities.

Director Statchel Edwards, speaking in a recent interview, stressed that census data is collected solely for statistical purposes and is shielded by strict confidentiality provisions under the National Bureau of Statistics Act 2024.

‘All information collected during the census is strictly confidential. It’s not shared with any other entity, agency, immigration, inland revenue, police, or any other government department or any external organization,’ Edwards said. ‘By law, your individual information cannot be shared with any other entity.’

The issue gained public attention last week after Member of Parliament for St. Phillip’s South, Sherfield Bowen, suggested that some non-nationals fear the census could serve as a ‘Trojan horse’ for state authorities seeking to identify non-compliant residents.

Edwards responded by underscoring the severe penalties faced by census workers who violate confidentiality agreements, noting that breaches could result in heavy fines or imprisonment.

‘The legal mandate that governs us is the National Bureau of Statistics Act 2024, which outlines actions that can be taken against persons who violate the confidentiality clause within their contracts,’ he explained. ‘This includes penalties that could involve years in prison.’

He added that census workers found guilty of breaching confidentiality may also face fines of up to EC$10,000.

According to Edwards, no government department has access to census data, as the bureau operates on a standalone IT platform separate from other government systems.

‘No other government department or entity will see the data that we collect,’ he said. ‘The server and IT platform that we use are not shared with any other government department.’

Seeking to further reassure residents, Edwards pointed to Antigua and Barbuda’s long history of census-taking, noting that the same confidentiality standards have been applied for decades.

‘We conducted censuses in 2011, 1991, in the 1970s, and even before that,’ he said. ‘These principles and concepts are not new. They have guided census-taking in Antigua and Barbuda and across the region for decades.’

Edwards emphasized that census officials are not concerned with residents’ immigration status.

‘We do not care about your legal status in Antigua and Barbuda,’ he said. ‘By law, we do not report that information to any entity. Our objective is simply to capture a demographic snapshot of the country at a particular point in time.’

The census currently covers 160 enumeration districts nationwide, with approximately 200 enumerators conducting door-to-door interviews. Each district comprises between 100 and 125 households.

Edwards also acknowledged concerns about the visibility of public awareness efforts surrounding the census, describing them as ‘an opportunity to strengthen our communication and advocacy.’

Census workers can be identified by four official items: a photo identification card issued by the census office, an official census vest bearing the 2025 Population and Housing Census logo, an official census bag, and a census tablet. Enumerators can also present a formal letter of engagement from the census office upon request.

The government has released a draft Virgin Islands National Tourism Policy for public review, outlining a 10-year framework to reshape the territory’s tourism industry.

In a press statement issued earlier this week , the administration said it is ‘making considerable progress towards finalising the Virgin Islands National Tourism Policy (2026-2036) and the draft is now available for public review’.

According to the release, the policy proposes ‘a comprehensive framework for transforming the territory’s tourism sector into a resilient, inclusive, and globally competitive pillar of sustainable development’.

It also seeks ‘to achieve a balanced tourism model, harmonising the benefits of mass tourism with the exclusivity and high-value potential of luxury and boutique tourism’.

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley described the draft as a milestone in the government’s approach to the sector.

‘The National Tourism Policy represents a significant milestone in the government’s commitment to the tourism sector and provides a clear, modern framework to guide its growth and diversification,’ Dr Wheatley said.

He added that the policy ‘articulates government’s long-term commitment to strengthening tourism as a central pillar of the Virgin Islands’ economy, one that supports livelihoods, encourages investment, protects the territory’s natural and cultural assets, and ensures that the benefits of tourism are more widely and sustainably shared across the various communities’.

The Premier further stated that the policy sets out ‘clear objectives focused on improving governance and coordination across government, strengthening the overnight and marine tourism product, enhancing destination quality and resilience, and aligning tourism development with national sustainable-development goals’.

Permanent Secretary in the Tourism Ministry, Joseph Smith-Abbott, said the draft policy and supporting documents are now available on the government’s website.

‘We are delighted to be able to present these important documents to the public and we anticipate your feedback as we seek to finalise the policy. The formulation of the policy is grounded on extensive consultations with tourism stakeholders, who helped shape the future of the sector for years to come,’ Smith-Abbott said.

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes on Thursday, accepted the guilty plea of former Member of Parliament Jolyan Silvera in the death of his wife.

The decision was handed down in the Corporate Area based Gun Court.

Silvera , a former member of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), was arrested and charged in January 2024.

He was charged with murder, manslaughter and using a firearm to commit an offence.

He pleaded guilty to the two lesser charges earlier this week, after initially pleading not guilty.

As part of a proposed plea deal, Silvera reportedly admitted that on November 10, 2023 he shot his wife, Melissa during a domestic dispute.

He reportedly said that on the fateful night, he and his wife engaged in a heated argument where among other things, she blamed him for the death of their son, Justin, in August 2017.

The body of Justin, who was only a year old, was found floating in their pool, while both Silvera and the household helper were at home.

On November 10, 2023, Melissa Silvera, 42, was found dead at the couple’s home. Early reports then suggested that she died in her sleep from natural causes.

Silvera reportedly told family and friends a combination of stories about how Melissa died.

One was that she died of a suspected aneurysm. Another one was that she fell while taking a shower and hit her head.

However, a post-mortem examination revealed that she died from gunshot wounds.

The former legislator could face several years in prison as manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, while the firearms charge, attracts a maximum of 25 years.

Silvera was arrested and charged on January 18, 2024, and has remained in custody since.

He will be sentenced on March 6.

The United States has signalled its strong support for Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimè’s leadership ‘in building a strong, prosperous, and free Haiti’ as the deadline draws nearer for the end of the mandate of the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) on Saturday.

In a statement posted on the United States Embassy website in Haiti, Washington made it clear that it is in support of the 55 years Prime Minister Fils-Aimè’ who has been serving as prime minister since 2024.

‘As the Transitional Presidential Council’s Mandate ends on February 7th, we support Prime Minister Fils-Aimè’s leadership in building a strong, prosperous, and free Haiti,’ Washington said in the statement posted on the embassy’s website.

The CPT was established in April 2024 to restore political stability, address the security crisis caused by powerful armed gangs, and facilitate a transition of power following the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

The nine-member council was created to select a new prime minister and cabinet, prepare for, and oversee the nation’s next elections, which are planned for early 2026. Since April 2024, Haiti has held no national elections.

Now, with just a couple days to go before the CPT’s mandate ends, political parties, civil society groups and ordinary citizens are intensifying calls for the departure of the CPT, describing the council as costly, corrupt and incapable of addressing the country’s deepening crisis.

Among them is the Forum of Civil Society Groups, which it says has links with more than 13,000 ‘grass roots’ organisations that has named educator Dr. Charles Tardieu, as its presidential candidate.

The United States has confirmed that at the direction of Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, the USS Stockdale, the USCGC Stone and the USCGC Diligence have arrived in the Bay of Port-au-Prince.

‘Their presence reflects the United States’ unwavering commitment to Haiti’s security, stability, and brighter future. The US Navy and US Coast Guard stand as symbols of partnership and support, working to ensure a safer and more prosperous Haiti,’ the US Embassy noted.

Meanwhile, the Organization of American States (OAS) said that a meeting had been held in Washington this week, involving Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, Canada and the United States.

It said that following ‘extensive dialogue and consultations’, participants ‘reaffirmed continued commitment to supporting the people of the Republic of Haiti at a moment of profound uncertainty, but also of opportunity for a better future’.

The meeting recognised that ensuring ‘predictable, effective and stable governance, restoring public security and implementing democratic governance through free and fair elections are indispensable to bring peace and prosperity to the Haitian people, as well as securing the necessary international and regional political, technical and financial support’.

The meeting also recognised that in large parts of Haiti , people have been living under dire conditions, insecurity and lack of basic services and that that ‘the Haitian electorate has for far too long been unable to exercise their fundamental right of electing a constitutionally recognised President and Parliament through free, fair and credible national elections’.

The meeting also noted that the actions of organized gangs have ‘severe, far reaching and long-term impact on the social and economic wellbeing of the Haitian people as well as on effective governance, life and future of Haiti’ and that the stabilisation of Haiti’s security situation ‘is of the utmost importance and is essential to organize national elections, provide humanitarian assistance and rebuild the economic and social structures’.

It also welcomed the implementation of the UN Security resolution, especially the timely deployment of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF), which ‘is of utmost importance to sustainably improve gang related insecurity in Haiti.

The first contingents of the GSF, which replaces the struggling Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, are expected to arrive in the country in April and its mission is to restore state authority and public order, reduce gang territorial control, secure critical infrastructure, and support the Haitian people as they work toward a return to elected governance and long-term stability.

‘We recognize that a Haitian led and owned solution is crucial. The signatories call on all stakeholders to act in the interest of peace and stability and for the well-being of the Haitian people,’ according to the OAS statement that was issued after the meeting.

For its part, CARICOM in its statement, said the EPG comprising the former prime ministers of St. Lucia, The Bahamas and Jamaica ‘held several engagements on the sidelines of the consultative dialogue.on the Gang Suppression Force’.

The Lower House on Wednesday approved the Fourth Supplementary Estimates for the fiscal year 2025/26, which reflects an increase in government expenditure of $14.36 billion.

The estimates, approved on February 3, proposes a total expenditure of approximately J$1.3 million (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) .an increase of the budget from the third supplementary estimates .

Finance Minister Fayval Williams, said Central Government expenditure estimates are being adjusted to incorporate total incremental expenditure of $14.36 billion, of which $13.4 billion relates to Hurricane Melissa expenditure approved by Cabinet, subsequent to either the preparation of or the approval of the third supplementary in December 2025.

It also accounts for $960 million, which represents an initial payment to Trans Americas Fiber Systems Limited, an amount that is due upon the signing of a letter of intent between the company and the Government of Jamaica to pursue the provision of additional sub-sea fibre capacity.

Williams also stated that the changes to the 2025/2026 Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, reflect the additional central government budgetary support approved for the Development Bank of Jamaica.

Additionally, there is an adjustment to the budget of the Ministry of Health and Wellness for $400 million to be utilised under phase one of the Hurricane Melissa Rehabilitation Programme for public health, with $300 million for facilities assessment and repair mobilisation, and $100 million for the purchase of fixed assets in the region,’ she noted.

Williams said the additional $13.4 billion being proposed for regularisation in the fourth supplementary estimates will bring the total sum allocated by Cabinet for pre and post-Hurricane Melissa response and relief activities to $66.76 billion, inclusive of the $24.18-billion loan approved by Cabinet to the Jamaica Public Service Company, to facilitate the speedy restoration of electricity across the island.

President of the Saint Lucia Football Association (SLFA), Lyndon Cooper continues to make history after he was elected as vice-president of CONCACAF, the governing body for football in North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Last year, Cooper took over as president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), a first for Saint Lucian football.

Cooper was elected unopposed as CONCACAF vice-president for the Caribbean, when the umbrella organisation staged its 41st Congress in Managua, Nicaragua over the weekend. The event brought together CONCACAF senior leadership and delegates from the Confederation’s 41 member associations and also marked 10 years of leadership under CONCACAF president and FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani.

Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by CONCACAF members Canada, Mexico, and the USA, and with six CONCACAF nations already qualified, Montagliani congratulated those teams and wished Jamaica and Suriname well as they prepare for the FIFA Play-Off tournament in March.

Montagliani further credited member associations for reshaping Concacaf and strengthening its foundations, while reaffirming the Confederation’s commitment to raising standards across the region.

‘Over the past decade, we rebuilt CONCACAF on stable foundations, so today we have earned the right to think long term, invest with confidence, and aim higher than ever.

‘As we step toward 2026, this is a moment to be proud, a moment to enjoy, and a moment to break through ceilings. Our continued success will come from staying united, leading through service, and protecting the integrity that makes progress possible,’ Montagliani said.

Member associations approved CONCACAF’s 2026 budget during the working session. They also addressed statutory matters and received updates aligned with the confederation’s strategic priorities.