2026 inaugural Caribbean Economic Forum ends on high note

Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Caribbean’s premier investment forum, Caribbean Economic Forum (CEF) 2026 ended on a high note with a full suite of global financial leaders, representing more than US$24 trillion in institutional assets, lending capacity and balance sheet strength.

The forum, convened for the first time at the Hilton Barbados Resort from June 18-19, 2026, ended on a high note, bringing together the most influential gathering ever assembled in the region, including  global investors, sovereigns,  international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, Wall Street investment banks, private equity firms, export credit agencies, central bank governors, government ministers, corporate CEOs and project sponsors.

Throughout the forum, participants focused exclusively on closing investment opportunities across the Caribbean. Hosted by ACERO CAPITAL, the forum was designed as an investment platform, positioning the Caribbean as a unified, investment-ready market capable of attracting significantly greater flows of global institutional capital.

Consistent with the forum’s mission of connecting international investors and Caribbean leaders to accelerate investment in resilient and sustainable economies, CEF compressed months of investor origination and engagement into two intense days of structured dialogue, curated project presentations, private deal rooms and executive-level transaction meetings. 

These meetings concentrated on transforming Caribbean project pipelines into bankable transactions by pairing them with all the components of the capital stack and supplementing with credit and de-risking financial products.

International character of CEF 2026 

CEF 2026 drew speakers, delegates and institutional participants from across the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Middle East, Asia, Türkiye and Africa, reflecting the truly international character of the Forum and reinforcing the Caribbean’s growing importance within global capital markets.

CEF has established and secured its unique place as a new model for accelerating investment into the Caribbean and positioning the region as one of the world’s most attractive destinations for sustainable, long-term capital. 

Throughout the two-day programme, senior executives from many of the world’s foremost financial institutions, global asset managers, private equity investors, joined ministers, policymakers and leading entrepreneurs to explore practical solutions for mobilising capital into infrastructure, energy, climate resilience, technology, food security, logistics, financial services and the blue economy.  

This was a private-sector capital-dominated focus, blended with participation by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) to name a few, which included the Green Climate Fund, given their focus on sustainable investing. Clinton White of Counsellor Global Solutions reinforced that “the architecture of CEF aligns capital with resilience.

“For too long, the global community has misread the Caribbean as a collection of small, isolated markets. We completely reject that narrative. The Caribbean is one of the world’s most strategic investment frontiers,” explained Founder of the CEF and Managing Partner at ACERO CAPITAL, Gregory N. Hill,. He further explained, “our objective is to reposition the Caribbean as a unified investment destination; one capable of attracting institutional capital at scale through stronger project preparation, innovative financial structures, blended finance and strategic partnerships between governments, multilateral institutions and the private sector.”