11TH European Development Fund Implementation Report 2017- 2023

Table 13: Summary of Impact from the Access to Finance (A2F) Component

WE-Xport Firm

Impact

Ecofarms

Mr. Charles assisted with “sorting” the finances with the bank, by going through the company’s books, giving tangible advice and illustrating how to build a relationship with the institution. Mr. Charles assisted with the business plan and related financials. The restricting of financial resulted in greater access to commercial financing enabling a pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Charles understands the fashion industry and was able to provide guidance on matters pertaining to bottlenecks, pitching and manufacturing solutions. One-on-one [dialogue] with the Mr. Charles was good and he assisted with preparing the financials. Mr. Charles separated the company’s financials into production and whole-sale and presented it to the financial institution in that order. The company received funding from a bank for machinery. The pitch training received from the programme contributed to Caribbean Cure winning 50,000 TT dollars in the Shell Live wire Competition. The biggest benefit for Kimya Glasgow was the Angel Investment training, which was the catalyst for the firm establishing a board of directors.

“The Villas at Sunset Lane” (Lindengrove Corporation)

Kimya Glasgow

Meme Bete

Willemsberg N. V

Caribbean Cure

Kimya Glasgow

Benlar Foods

Mr. Charles assisted with options for obtaining a loan.

(b) Missions and Tradeshows WE-Xport participants were able to leverage the regional and international tradeshows being executed under the 11th EDF RPSDP. Eight of the companies participated in tradeshows and trade missions as detailed in Table 14.

Table 14: Tradeshow and Trade Missions Attended by WE-Xport Participants

WE-Xport Firm

Trade Mission/Event

Sugar Town Organics

European Development Days (EDD), Brussels-Belgium 2018 4th EU-CARIFORUM Business Forum 2019

Ecofarms Caribbean Cure Benlar Foods Kimya Glasgow bahamaSpa Your True Shade Hot Mama’s

European Development Days (EDD), Brussels-Belgium 2018

SIAL France 2018, 4th EU-CARIFORUM Business Forum 2019

Trade and Investment Convention (TIC), Trinidad and Tobago 2019

International Fashion Fair (IFF), Barbados 2018

4th EU-CARIFORUM Business Forum, Frankfurt-Germany 2019

4th EU-CARIFORUM Business Forum, Frankfurt-Germany 2019

Implementation of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP)

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