USA / JAMAICA – Jamaica will boost sustainable and robust growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with €7.4 million ($8.7 million) non-reimbursable investment financing approved by the Inter-American Development Bank, with funds from the European Union’s Caribbean Investment Facility (CIF).
The new program will foster innovation and productivity among established MSMEs with high growth potential; promote sustainable growth in scalable startups, and create a sustainable inventory of new high-growth potential startups. In addition, the programme will foster the capabilities of the innovation ecosystem for technology transfer and support women-led incubators and generation of transaction flow.
Approximately 120 women-owned MSMEs, 150 women entrepreneurs and researchers will benefit from the program, as well as seven climate change projects and 16 COVID-19 pandemic response projects to be financed. The beneficiaries are women-led MSMEs, scalable startups, new start-ups with high-growth potential, and entrepreneurs with sustainable business ideas.
Public and private institutions that support innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, such as incubators, accelerators, academic institutions, and technology transfer offices, will also benefit.
This operation is in line with IDB´s Vision 2025 – Reinvesting in the Americas: A Decade of Opportunities, to achieve recovery and inclusive growth in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the areas of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, digital economy, gender and inclusion, and climate change.
This operation complements a first $25 million Conditional Credit Line for Investment Projects (CCLIP), approved by the IDB in 2019 to finance the country’s programme to Boost Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (BIGEE) by providing additional resources to address gender, climate change, and COVID-19 impact for firms.