…to improve project implementation deficits

By Tamica Garnett
WITH implementation challenges facing many projects being funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the institution, in 2023, will be carrying out respective diagnostic assessments of individual Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) to identify impediments and create solutions to overcome them.

Speaking with the Sunday Chronicle recently, President of the CDB, Dr. Hyginus ‘Gene’ Leon, noted that in the Caribbean region, there are way too many developmental projects that are not moving along as intended or are taking too long.

“Implementation capacity deficit is a super, super big thing for the region,” Dr. Leon related.

“Why is it that governments will tell you they started or conceived of a project in 2012 and in 2022 this project is not yet delivering on benefits to the people?

The only way you can tackle implementation deficit is if you do a full diagnostic of why projects are getting stuck. In each country, they will all have different reasons that causes that implementation capacity deficit to be there. When you get that diagnostic can you genuinely now say how can we tackle that implementation capacity issue.”

There is often no shortage of blame to go around as to why the essential projects do not move forward as intended, however, Dr. Leon pointed out that the issue of project implementation impediments is not one specific to only CDB-funded projects.

“It’s not just the region; it’s overseas, as well, across the world. But we are one of the first institutions looking to tackle this problem in the holistic way, without attribution of blame. We just need to solve the problem because it is a problem,” Dr. Leon contended.

“Our view is, it is beyond just when the project starts. We need to see the entire life cycle from concept through feasibility study, through execution, through monitoring and evaluation of the entire cycle, to outcome. By the time you put all those things together, it begins to explain not just what we did wrong, but how we can help both ourselves and countries fix and tweak some of those areas, so that the time from concept to outcome is dramatically short.”

The CDB is a financial institution that helps Caribbean nations finance social and economic programs in its member countries, particularly as relates to reducing inequality and extreme poverty, through supporting inclusive and sustainable growth and promoting good governance.

CDB has 19 regional BMCs, four regional, non-borrowing members and five non-regional, non-borrowing members.

According to Deputy Director, Corporate Strategy, Ann-Marie Warner, it is the hope that the diagnostic assessment of all 19 BMCs can be completed this year, with a consultant visiting each individual BMC.

“That is the intention. The objective definitely is to do that in 2023. We would need to reach out to our stakeholders, and development partners so that we can get them on board,” Warner told the Sunday Chronicle.

The need for the holistic diagnostic assessment was realised last year when the CDB conducted an internal exercise looking at the implementation challenges facing each individual, and it was realised that a broader review was needed.

“We found that there were a number of factors and little nuances in each country and we realise that we need to go wider and we need to involve all of our stakeholders.

We said that we need to craft a program that would allow us to respond to these specific implementation needs, and specific implementation capacity deficits in each country. So that is what we’re doing now,” Warner said.

With implementation challenges not distinct to just the CDB, the findings of the diagnostic assessment will benefit not only the bank but the respective country.

“Within our strategic plan update we have recognised that this implementation capacity area is one in which the bank can show leadership. We felt that if we can lead on this and bring in other development partners on board as required, and the BMCs would get a lot more mileage,” Warner said.