By: Staff Writer
June 13, 2025
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) president said that under his tenure the bank is not standing still and is sharpening its focus on delivering better quality service to its members.
Daniel Best, said at the closing ceremony of the bank’s 55th Annual Meeting Brazil on Thursday that: “We are not standing still. We are evolving strategically, systematically and purposefully. We are sharpening our focus, reforming our internal systems, accelerating disbursement and implementation to deliver on our development mandate with greater speed and precision.”
The CDB has come under scrutiny over its internal systems as Best’s immediate predecessor, Dr Hyginus Leon, left under controversial circumstances. Leon, a national of St Lucia and a 30 year veteran working in international economic policy institutions, blamed the bank for not following protocols about his then suspension and after which his voluntary resignation.
The back and forth between the bank and Leon went as far as the halls of parliament in St Lucia with Prime Minister Philip Pierre, calling Leon’s ousting a “conspiracy,” and that he stands by Leon.
Best, also said: “Our drive toward implementation excellence is grounded in evidence. The findings of our baseline implementation study underscored both the barriers and opportunities for the bank and our member countries, we are taking these lessons seriously today.
“We are focusing on removing bottlenecks, modernizing procurement systems, accelerating disbursements and deploying resources with greater agility and capacity, building support.”
Best also said: “Our partnerships are pivotal to scaling impact from the signing of a new memorandum of understanding with CAF, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, to the Strategic Financing agreement with AFD, the Agence Française de Développement, we are deepening our circle of collaboration to multiply impact, because we understand that no institution can deliver transformative change alone.
“Our development model is rooted in partnerships, and that has long been one of our greatest strengths. Underlying all of this is a keen focus on efficiency with purpose. We are aligning resources to where they are needed most, and building consensus around our bold 10-year strategic plan with a laser focus on climate action, food and energy security, gender equality, digitalization, governance, connectivity and regional integration.
“We are designing solutions that respond directly to the most pressing needs of our time and our region.”