US$18.3M Poured Into Jamaica’s Entrepreneurial Landscape

A total of US$18.3 million has, to date, been invested in Jamaica’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to foster growth and innovation in the sector.

Programme Manager for the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) Boosting Innovation Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (BIGEE) Programme, Christopher Brown, says this represents investments made through the initiative since its inception in 2020.

“This is an investment by the Government of Jamaica into entrepreneurship with the intention, for years to come, that we have a thriving entrepreneurship landscape,” he noted.

The BIGEE programme was created to drive sustainable growth and resilience among Jamaican business start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Jamaica.

Mr. Brown was speaking during the recent media launch of ‘Marijuwata’ bottled water at Spike Industries Limited’s manufacturing plant on Windward Road in Kingston.

He stated that, so far, approximately US$7 million of total investments has been directed towards businesses to fund innovations and enhance productivity and operations.

Significantly, Mr. Brown noted that a substantial portion of these resources has been directed towards critical institutions within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“They put money into the institutions that serve our entrepreneurs, our business service intermediaries, the incubators, accelerators, business development officers. We have funded research centres at the respective universities to help them to convert research into commercial value. For too long we have universities with research papers sitting on shelves but no money is actually being generated from that. We are investing in helping them to move on to the next level of that,” he further informed.

The Programme Manager stated that this investment aims to strengthen the local ecosystem for innovation, growth, and entrepreneurship.

“We are trying to build a better landscape for entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive in Jamaica. That involves investing in infrastructure… the institutions that support entrepreneurs – the universities, the businesses – [and] the entrepreneurial culture and community that is required. It’s all about encouraging entrepreneurship to thrive,” Mr. Brown outlined.

BIGEE is a US$25-million five-year Government of Jamaica (GOJ) project, financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is the Executing Agency.

In 2021, the European Union (EU), in recognition of the Programme’s performance, awarded a non-reimbursable US$8.2-million grant to support its initiatives.