The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and the attendant additional strain that it has placed on the resources of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has not diminished the enthusiasm of the regional institution for throwing its support behind creative pursuits in the Caribbean.
On Friday December 11, the Bank announced that it had awarded US$100,000 in grants to seven cultural projects through an initiative that is aimed at providing emergency relief to the creative industries (CI) sector in the wake of COVID-19.
The CDB says that the grant is intended to assist Caribbean entrepreneurs who have suffered loss of income on account of COVID-19–related missed opportunities resulting in loss of income in various Music Festival and Carnival events that faced cancellation as a result of the pandemic. The funds were disbursed by the Bank under a special Emergency Relief Grant, an output of its Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund (CCIIF).
