Barbadian gets nod as new CDB President

Barbadian Daniel Best is to become the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) seventh president and the second Barbadian national to hold the top position at the regional institution.

In an announcement  on Wednesday, the Board of Governors of CDB revealed the appointment after more than two weeks of discussion and rounds of voting for a new leader of the Barbados-headquartered development bank.

The Board of Governors said Best’s appointment underscored the CDB’s commitment to “visionary leadership and sustainable development across the Caribbean region”.

Best was described as a man who brings to the office a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the region’s development challenges and opportunities. 

“With a distinguished career spanning over 20 years in development finance, policy planning, and infrastructure investment, he is well-positioned to lead the CDB into its next chapter of impactful regional transformation,” the statement read.

As president, Best will oversee the bank’s strategic direction, focusing on its core mandate to reduce poverty and inequality while fostering inclusive and sustainable growth. Under his leadership, the CDB said it aims to build on its legacy while addressing emerging challenges and opportunities in a rapidly changing global landscape.

The search for a new CDB president came following an announcement last July when the bank confirmed that it had concluded the “internal administrative process” involving its president, Dr Hyginus Gene Leon, and that he “has ceased to hold the office of the President of the Bank”.  

The Saint Lucian economist who came to the bank following a high-profile position within the International Monetary Fund (IMF), found himself at the centre  of a controversy when he and another staffer were sent on administrative leave over a matter that has never been revealed publicly. 

The three candidates that vied for the post of CDB president were Best, the CDB’s vice-president for finance Gregory Hill, a Trinidadian and former investment banker, and Bahamian Therese Turner-Jones, a former IMF economist and CDB’s acting vice-president of operations. (IMC1)