Above: King Henri-Christophe’s Sans-Souci Palace near Cap Haitien (UN Photo/Victoria Hazou)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $3.5 million pilot programme that will establish a business accelerator in Haiti.

The pilot programme will look to foster the development of agribusiness, tourism and industrial services value chains, according to the fund, which will focus the plan on Haiti’s northern region.

It will test the use of so-called “productive communal areas” (PCAs) for micro-producers, which will provide them with access to workshops and training.

The idea is to help people of few means but with an entrepreneurial drive to be organized by PCA managers.

Those managers will help them create links with larger businesses and value chains.

Haiti’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will carry out the plan, which is part of the fund’s work to promote private sector development in the country.

The IDB has approved $653 million in new grants since 2010. It has disbursed $467 million to Haiti’s government in a number of fields, including projects in agriculture, education and energy, among others.