Technical Assistance for the preparation of a proposal on Access to Finance for MSMEs in CARIFORUM Member States (Boost Caribbean) to be financed under the intra-ACP private sector development envelope

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has developed a new programme entitled "Boost", a financial instrument established, in the first instance, to support the growth and expansion of small, innovative businesses in sub-Saharan Africa and ease their access to finance. When preparing this financial instrument, it was foreseen that Boost could eventually be expanded to include the Caribbean and Pacific as well. Two integrated pillars are envisaged for Boost Caribbean: Investment Programme: equity investments in seed funds, business angels, co-investment funds, accelerators' follow-on funds, venture capital (VC) funds, etc. that invest in innovative start-ups and high-growth small and medium enterprises (SMEs); Technical Assistance Facility (TAF): a pool of grant resources to provide capacity building and disseminate best practices for the investment readiness of intermediaries, training of investee companies and entrepreneurs, the creation of local investors' networks, and support to leading business incubators in the region. Expertise Advisors has been tasked with the assignment to provide the required information to determine how Boost can be deployed in the Caribbean by answering questions such as: What is the demand in the Caribbean for early stage business funding? What type of equity-type financial instruments could drive the market that the EIB could support? What players could the European Commission and EIB partner with to develop Boost Caribbean? Overall, how should Boost be adapted and applied to the Caribbean context to have the maximum impact? A Team of two consultants carried out a circular mission throughout the CARICOM region to achieve the following results: Provide a mapping of the equity investment landscape and partners with whom Boost could collaborate: this especially included green innovative businesses supported by incubators/ private equity (PE) funds in the Caribbean; Identify targets and needs to be addressed by the Technical Assistance Facility for Boost Caribbean; Provide recommendations on the set-up of Boost Caribbean; Prepare the application grant form for CIF. An extension of this contract was granted to achieve an additional objective, namely to elaborate, for the consideration of CARIFORUM and the EC, a support programme to the equity investment eco-system in CARIFORUM countries. This support would be provided on three different levels: Improve the regulatory system and laws around private equity and venture capital investing; Provide targeted capacity building support to a selection of business incubators and accelerators (and by extension, to their portfolio SMEs): this included recommending financial instruments and "best practices" innovation approaches to support the sustainability of green businesses in the field of agriculture, sustainable tourism (hotels/ lodges), fisheries and ecotourism; Potentially, also the capacity building support to a selection of VC/ PE funds, should the EIB decide not to proceed with a separate Blending Facilities request.