IFC to pump US$15m into regional fund
Published:Friday | November 14, 2025 | 12:06 AM
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector financing arm of the World Bank, plans to invest up to US$15 million in a new sub-fund of the Caribbean Community Resilience Fund, a regional climate-focused facility that includes Jamaica among its target beneficiaries.
The sub-fund, called the CCRF Debt Fund, will support medium-sized business financing and climate-sustainable projects across the region.
The proposed investment would comprise up to US$5 million in preference shares and up to US$10 million in senior debt. In total, its contribution cannot exceed more than 20 per cent of total capital commitments to the fund.
“The fund will engage in middle market enterprises, or MME, financing and climate financing in the Caribbean region,” the IFC said. Targeted countries include Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.
The CCRF is a 10-year impact investment fund launched in January 2024 by fund manager Sygnus Capital and anchor investor Caricom Development Fund. The parent fund, launched nearly two years ago, aims to raise US$75 million to US$135 million for investment.
Sygnus Capital CEO Berisford Grey did not immediately respond to requests for comment to indicate whether the fund has hit its fundraising target. Sygnus, which started operations in 2017, is a financial conglomerate with over US$500 million in assets, with operations across the Caribbean.
The IFC expects to disburse the US$15m for the sub-fund early next year, provided its board, set to meet on December 5, approves the deal.
“The project is expected to improve access to finance for middle market enterprises and expand access to climate finance in the Caribbean by supporting a fund that will provide a variety of debt instruments to portfolio companies,” the financing agency said.
It added that the project aims to enhance “energy resilience” in the Caribbean away from fossil fuels.
International donor entities are offering climate loans at lower interest rates than banks to accelerate the shift towards greener energy solutions and reduce carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
At least two reports suggest that Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica on October 28, was intensified by global warming. This includes researchers at Imperial College London, which estimates Melissa, a Category 5 storm at 185 miles per hour, was seven per cent stronger due to shifting climate conditions.