On March 9th, 2022, the Kalinago Development Fund was officially established in an effort at facilitating the borrowing power of the Kalinago people. For a long time, they have had the challenge of accessing finance from commercial banks and credit unions, due to the ‘Commonly Owned land’ arrangement that exists in the Kalinago Territory. Hopefully, the Kalinago Development Fund will give the Kalinago people a chance at overcoming this major obstacle.
In November of 2022, cabinet granted the initial approval for the fund and at present the sum of eight hundred and six thousand dollars have been disbursed to the Agricultural Industrial Development (AID) Bank, for lending at a concessionary interest rate of 2%.
In his address at the launching, the minister for Kalinago Upliftment, Honorable Cozier Frederick, stated that this initiative will, “…create and expand businesses, provide opportunities for young people and strengthen the Kalinago Territory as a tourism destination”.
Honorable Frederick encouraged the Kalinago people to develop serious business enterprises, develop partnership and to use the finance appropriately.
The Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Honorable Roosevelt Skerrit, stated that the fund will, “lift Kalinagos out of economic dependence, increase opportunities for them to build wealth and create avenues for growth in agriculture, enterprise and education”.
He further stated that, “The monies in the fund is intended for, but not limited to, residential and commercial development, cultural development, enterprise development, crop production and processing, education and climate resilience and renewal energy development.
In order to qualify for the fund, one must be of Kalinago ancestry and infrastructure must be build within the Kalinago space. Additionally, businesses must be established and registered in Dominica.
Borrowers will be granted a grace period of up to six months on the payment to the principal and interest, and the maximum terms of the loans is up to 10 years exclusive of the grace period.
Prime Minister Skerrit assured the Kalinago people that this was not a ‘one of’ disbursement, as the fund is intended to operate as revolving. He gave his commitment to placing on budget a yearly amount of a minimum of $1 dollars beginning in the 2022/2023 budget.
