Last Updated on February 8, 2025 2:17 pm by Editor
The short answer to that question is “Yes!” The longer answer is, “Yes, in the short run”. Barbados, like most Caribbean countries, has depended on USAID (United States Agency for International Development) money to fund various projects ranging from climate change to gender studies to sustainable energy.
In February 2023, Barbados was one of 13 countries set to receive assistance in energy development through a multi-million-dollar Caribbean Region Energy Sector Reform Project, being rolled out by the agency. You can read that article here.
We believe that this is a temporary situation as the new US government “cleans house” in USAID. At this moment, however, even the Caribbean website of the agency is not functional the last time we checked.
Even if USAID is abolished (and it is looking that way) it is quite reasonable to expect that the US government will find an alternative arrangement to assist projects not only here in the Caribbean but elsewhere, especially Africa.
Over in Jamaica, the Jamaica Gleaner speculates about whether government can fill the funding gap. You can read that article here.
