THE LOAN FACILITY AIDS SMALL BUSINESSES AFFECTED BY THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
The Saint Lucia Development Bank (SLDB) is now disbursing monies to the small business sector to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. The financial support forms part of the government’s Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan.
When the Government of Saint Lucia launched the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan in July 2020, special arrangements were made to repurpose the Climate Adaptation Financing Facility (CAFF) to include a loan/grant sub-facility (the Business Recovery Programme) which aimed to assist micro, small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as those battling the unavoidable effects of climate change.
2.6 million U.S. dollars remain available under the CAFF to help the Private Sector through the Business Recovery Programme and to continue its traditional support to businesses, farmers and homeowners in building resilience to climate change.
Kegan Mayers operates a 4.5 acre farm in the hills of Babonneau. He specializes in organic produce under the brand, Nature’s Key. In the past year, mother nature has assaulted his business on numerous occasions. Mayers said: “Climate change has been possibly the most difficult problem we’ve faced in the last couple of years. To combat climate change, I embarked on a project to build a climate smart greenhouse to push the envelope in terms of developing higher yields and better productivity. In 2020, we experienced a drought in the first half of the year and in the latter an overwhelming amount of torrential rains”.
With his yields destroyed and his savings drained, Mayers approached the Saint Lucia Development Bank for funding under the CAFF. He said: “They understood the plan that we were going with, they understood the risks we had in terms of assets to basically back it up. The process took a little time, because it’s a farm that has a different business model but once the SLDB did the analysis it was a really quick turnaround in the end.”
Martin Martin operates Bamboo Springs, a natural spring water which is sold to hotels and households. With the Tourism Industry in a comatose state due to the Covid-19 pandemic his operations were severely impacted. Revenue dropped about 60 percent. The Saint Lucia Development Bank offers the CAFF-Business Recovery loans at a starting interest rate of 4.5 per cent with a 15 percent grant component.
“I saw an ad of theirs and they were willing to give businesses like mine grants or loans to help them recover from COVID. I thought since I’m in that predicament, I suit the criteria for applying and I did.”
The SLDB goes one step further by providing technical support and guidance to businesses. Something Mayers was thankful for, indicating that he “didn’t necessarily have all the time to sit down and constantly do my books so to have an institution that actually understands and is willing to work with you; understands the value you bring and can bring value by helping you develop is profound.”
The CAFF Business Recovery Program received technical and financial support from the World Bank, the Climate Investment Funds and the European Union through the ACP-EU Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program.
