Stefano Pereira is Senior Development Impact Advisor at FinDev Canada where he is a contributor the organization’s thought leadership agenda. Prior to joining FinDev Canada, he worked in the Development Effectiveness Division at IDB Invest. His areas of research include private sector development, productivity and green economics and his work has been featured in books, technical papers and academic journals. He holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Toronto and B.A. in Economics from the University of the West Indies.
A recent study by IDB Invest and FinDev Canada analyzes survey data from over 1,000 firms across seven Caribbean countries in 2020, finding that investing in new or improved products, services, processes, methods, or distribution channels drives productivity and financial performance and can also make companies more resilient in the face of crisis.
New data from the Caribbean shows that high collateral requirements and interest rates are among the top barriers for women-owned and -led businesses looking for financing. Overcoming these hurdles is an important challenge for the Caribbean, especially as firms seek to regain a foothold in a post-pandemic private sector.
Energy efficiency is critical for Latin America and the Caribbean, historically characterized by high energy consumption and low productivity. Lessons learned from promoting energy efficiency practices among firms can help guide strategies moving forward.
The Caribbean region has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, with a deeper economic contraction than Latin America as a whole. The impact has been worse for women-owned/led firms and smaller firms, and supply chain disruptions have significantly affected firm performance.