Just over four months after entering office as the sixth President of the Caribbean Development Bank, St Lucia-born Dr Dr Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon has said that the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some of the region’s frailties and pointed to some of the “structural issues” which have been impairing development long before the global malady hit.
The new CDB President ‘hit the ground’ running, visiting a number of CDB member countries where he met with Heads of Government and other officials to interface on a collective vision for an enhanced purpose-driven relationship between the funding institution and its members.
Even as the international community focuses on recovery from the pandemic, the message that appears to be coming from the CDB’s Chief Executive Officer is that the region may find itself in a position where it has to work harder to realize its recovery-related goals. Although he asserted that the advent of COVID-19 has created an opportunity to address structural issues, which have predated impaired development even before the pandemic.
