Dominica: The Country that Bounces Back
Dominica’s resilience in the face of global challenges and its commitment to sustainable development shine through its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) pathway, offering investors a gateway to a dynamic, environmentally conscious nation.
Some countries fall flat in the face of global challenges and environmental inequalities. Not so for the Commonwealth of Dominica: the country’s message of climate resilience in the face of natural disasters goes hand-in-hand with its irrepressible economic growth and diversification.
Investors can aid this mission through CBI, gaining citizenship of an environmentally conscious nation with commitments to sustainable development.
Dominica launched a mission to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation. To achieve this goal, the country utilises citizenship by investment (CBI) to reinforce its energy, infrastructure and economy against the impact of climate change.
Sustainability Leader
Dominica’s climate resiliency initiatives have made it the sustainability capital of the Caribbean. The country also has sustainably built bridges, roads, and an international airport, further supplementing its growing ecotourism industry.
A trend-setter in the Caribbean region, Dominica’s economic diversification has attracted the attention of investors and world leaders alike. Though the enhanced global attention has only strengthened Dominica’s commitment to tough due diligence processes for potential CBI applicants.
At the US-Caribbean Roundtable, Dominica agreed to six principles held in common with other Caribbean nations with CBI programmes. These principles further strengthened Dominica’s already tight due diligence requirements, adding another layer to its multistep due diligence process.
Dominica was the first Caribbean country to make interviews mandatory as part of its CBI process. Other signatories of the six principles followed on Dominica’s heels in implementing these interview processes. Dominica’s employment and sectoral development programme are also helped along by CBI programmes.
The National Employment Programme, for example, gives Dominicans on-the- job training to improve their skills. The National Digital Transformation Strategy fosters sectoral innovation and modernisation to unleash ‘Dynamic Dominica’.
Clean Energy
Energy is one plank of the country’s Dynamic Dominica initiative, which aims to continue present efforts to diversify the economy.
A leader in clean energy, Dominica is developing a geothermal plant to provide clean energy not only for the country but also for neighbouring countries. The country is working with the University of the West Indies on geothermal mapping for sites across the island.
Dominican Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit emphasised that “geothermal energy can provide much more than just electricity for Dominica; it can be the catalyst for investments in the development of green hydrogen and ammonia production for export.”
He added that “byproducts [of geothermal energy] can support investments in health and wellness centres, in aquaculture, greenhouses, agro processing and many other businesses.”
Geothermal energy only adds to the country’s green energy credentials; Dominica already has a hydro power plant, with another unit to be online by the end of this month.
Another plank of Dynamic Dominica is infrastructure. The country is building 5,000 climate-resilient houses to withstand natural disasters, while reinforcing existing houses. These homes are funded with CBI reserves.
Ecotourism Initiatives
CBI also aids Dominica’s vibrant ecotourism offering, propelling a sector that keeps Dominica’s economic growth and diversification going.
“We are continuously improving our sites and attractions and creating more opportunities for Dominicans,” Skerrit maintained in his address. “Dominica now has four five-star hotels, and four more are under construction, in Salisbury, Portsmouth, the Roseau Valley and at Loubiere,” he added.
The country’s sprawling national park system, supplemented by protected marine parks and eco-hotels, led the country to be the first in the world to be officially benchmarked by Green Globe.
Green Globe, a rating and certification system, certified Dominica as an ecotourism destination meeting its stringent community standards in sustainable tourism.
Dominica’s Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In a national address, Skerrit described the island’s response to an existential “climate crisis, originating from actions elsewhere, but having devastating impacts on our islands in the region.”
Skerrit also emphasised the importance of future-facing economic development, including risk assessment for climate-induced natural disasters. CBI funds go directly to aiding Dominica’s sustainable economic development and to minimising climate risk.
“We all know life is complex, fast moving, difficult to predict or plan for, and high risk for island states like Dominica, with our small, open and vulnerable economies,” he said.
Innovation, sustainability, modernisation, and economic diversification. This is what Dominica is capable of, enhanced and supplemented by CBI funding.
Dominica presents a compelling choice to investors seeking a second citizenship from a resilient, dynamic country. Despite global challenges, Dominica bounces back.
