BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (GIS) – The recently launched Innovation Growth Market (IGM200) represents a bold step forward in how to finance growth, empower entrepreneurs, and build wealth for citizens. Managing director of the Barbados Stock Exchange, Marlon Yarde, said IGM200 provides SMEs with a structured, transparent, and credible pathway to raise equity.
Yarde made the comments at the IGM200 Programme Press Launch last Friday at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. He told the gathering, “IGM200 is Barbados’ bridge between ambition and opportunity. That bridge must be crossed by our SMEs, our investors, and our policymakers together, if we are to unlock the full potential of our economy.”
The managing director outlined the benefits of the IGM200 to the economy and capital markets.
“For the economy, it means stronger, more resilient SMEs that can scale beyond our borders, generate quality jobs for our youth, and contribute more meaningfully to government revenues. For investors, it means greater opportunity. Equities allow individuals, pension funds, and institutions to share in the growth of our companies. This is especially important as we consider the needs of an ageing population,” he explained.
Chief executive officer of the Small Business Association of Barbados, Dr Lynette Holder, noted that the launch of the Innovation and Growth Market was not just a policy step, but a proven pathway for MSMEs to access capital, scale their operations and become engines of national development.
Dr Holder stated:
“The Innovation and Growth Market in Barbados will provide entrepreneurs, we believe, with long-term growth capital that seed funding and traditional banks cannot supply. The Junior Market will encourage business formalisation, enhance governance, and, more importantly, allow MSMEs to scale into the drivers of national and regional growth […] . Following the success of the Junior Market in Jamaica, we now see that Guyana has started the conversation and the discussions…to also launch a Junior Market, and Barbados is well on its way…. I am excited […] . We look forward to a successful Junior market here in Barbados.”
President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Daniel Best, said government, under its national MSME Policy Framework, had taken steps to strengthen the sector, including opening new channels for raising financing through the Innovation and Growth Market.
“The idea is simple but powerful – give MSMEs a dedicated platform to attract investment, raise equity capital and grow. CDB has proudly partnered with the ministry of energy and business, the Barbados Stock Exchange and the Small Business Association to make this vision real.
“Through a US$350,000 technical assistance grant, we are helping [to] build the capacity of 50 firms, with the goal that at least 20 of them, ideally all, … will become investor-ready and list on the IGM. This effort is not just about paperwork; it’s about training, mentorship and education, so that business owners and investors alike understand the opportunities of equity financing and stock market participation,” Best stated.
He proffered the view that IGM200 was a powerful example of how targeted support could turn MSMEs from too small to finance into engines of growth and innovation.
During her feature address, minister of energy and business, senator Lisa Cummins, shared that too many small enterprises were relying solely on debt financing. She told MSMEs that debt financing was not sustainable to grow their business, especially if they were financing it as a personal loan.
Senator Cummins continued:
“Our MSMEs need to also do what the big companies do – get exposed to equity financing like what we’re doing here […] . Embrace equity, embrace collaboration, and embrace this market that we’re launching today.”
IGM200 is a national initiative led by the ministry of energy and business, the Barbados Stock Exchange, the Small Business Association of Barbados and the Caribbean Development Bank to empower 200 SMEs through access to equity financing. It is designed to transform opportunities for businesses, investors, and the wider community.
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