CARIF 2026 unpacks the forces reshaping Caribbean infrastructure and the strategic choices governments, investors, and operators must make in response.
Geopolitics & Global Markets: How global economic shifts, geopolitics, and capital flows are reshaping Caribbean infrastructure investment
Capital Mobilization & PPP Innovation: Mobilizing private capital, modernizing PPP structures, and moving projects toward bankability.
Climate Resilience Across Infrastructure: The region’s top priority – embedding climate resilience across energy, transport, water, digital, and social infrastructure.
Water & Wastewater Systems: Tackling NRW, building climate-resilient utilities, and scaling reclaimed water infrastructure.
Transport & Regional Connectivity: Modernizing airports and seaports to strengthen connectivity and meet decarbonization requirements.
Digital Infrastructure, Data & AI: Advancing connectivity while leveraging data and AI to improve infrastructure planning, resilience, and delivery.
Healthcare & Food Security: Modernizing healthcare infrastructure and unlocking the economic potential of regional agriculture and food systems.
CARIF 2026 extends well beyond the main stage, with focused briefings, technical experiences and high-level networking across the week. Highlights include the RIISE Official Launch Event, a breakfast briefing hosted by UK Export Finance (UKEF), targeted Rise & Shine Roundtables, a technical site visit to UM Rosenstiel’s SUSTAIN hurricane simulator, where Category 5 conditions are recreated to test coastal infrastructure, the fountain-side cocktail reception, and the 4th annual CARIF Industry Awards.
RIISE Official Launch Event
Pre-Conference Roundtable | Hosted by UNOPS
Join UNOPS for the launch of the Caribbean Resilient Infrastructure Implementation and Skills Exchange (RIISE), a new regional facility designed to help governments close implementation gaps and advance climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
Complimentary for invited CARIF registrants | Limited capacity | Participation managed directly by the RIISE team
Financing Caribbean Growth: Mobilizing Capital for Project Delivery
Invitation-only breakfast briefing hosted by UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Join UKEF for an invitation-only breakfast briefing focused on unlocking investment and project delivery across the Caribbean. The session will bring together a select group of public-sector leaders and provide an opportunity to learn how UKEF’s financing solutions can support governments and strategic projects across the region.
Participants will explore how public and private capital can be mobilised to accelerate project delivery, share insights on priority projects and financing requirements, and identify opportunities for deeper collaboration between Caribbean stakeholders and UK partners.
Participation is by invitation only and capacity is limited.
IFC Principal Investment Officer and Caribbean Hub Lead, Transaction AdvisoryModerator
Securing the Next Wave of Capital For Caribbean Infrastructure
What gets financed, what doesn’t, and how to unlock capital at scale
What do DFIs, insurers, and private investors need to commit capital-and how do they define policy and regulatory priorities?
How can multilateral and public development partners use innovative financing tools to de‑risk and crowd in private capital, turning concessional resources into bankable Caribbean infrastructure pipelines?
What does minimum project readiness look like today, and how can governments and sponsors go further?
How do scale, risk perception, and transaction costs shape capital allocation across small island markets?
Turning Resilience into Bankable Island Infrastructure: Spotlight on the Bahamas
How is the Bahamas turning resilience into an investable infrastructure agenda, and what will it take to convert national priorities into stronger, bankable island systems?
How can The Bahamas translate resilience priorities into a sequenced pipeline of financeable infrastructure projects?
How can project preparation, procurement and risk allocation be structured to crowd in private capital?
What role can aggregation, blended finance and long-term offtake play in scaling investment across the Family Islands?
How should energy, utilities and aviation investment be coordinated to strengthen national resilience rather than deliver standalone assets?
IDB Invest Head of Infrastructure & Energy for the Caribbean RegionModerator
The Future of the Caribbean Utility: Regulation, Investment & the Cost of Modernization
Can Caribbean utilities modernize and build resilience while staying financially viable and keeping tariffs affordable?
How are strategic investments, M&A, and grid upgrades reshaping utility models and attracting long-term capital?
How should modernization be financed to protect both utilities and consumers?
Where is clearer alignment needed between governments, regulators, and investors to unlock scalable, future-ready infrastructure? Who is getting the balance right?
Inter-American Development Bank Water and Sanitation Sector Senior SpecialistModerator
Suriname: The Next Investment Cycle
Suriname is entering a period of major economic change, with offshore energy, infrastructure investment and new fiscal capacity creating opportunities across the economy. How does government turn that momentum into broader growth, stronger competitiveness and investable projects?
Where does Suriname see the strongest opportunities for private capital?
What infrastructure and energy priorities matter most over the next five years?
How does government ensure new resource revenues translate into jobs, competitiveness and diversification?
Where does Suriname most need international investors and development partners to step up?
What are investors still missing about the Suriname opportunity?
IDB Invest Director of the Caribbean Region, Corporates DivisionModerator
CARIF Awards Ceremony & Showcase
The 4th Annual CARIF Industry Awards celebrate excellence across Caribbean infrastructure, recognizing the leaders, financing models, projects and public-sector initiatives driving meaningful progress across the region. Winners will be announced live on stage at CARIF 2026.
Cocktail Reception
Registration, Coffee & Networking
From Water Security to Investment: Building the Caribbean’s Next Generation of Climate-Resilient Water Projects in Island Economies
Rise and Shine Roundtable
How can Caribbean economies turn water and wastewater priorities into bankable, climate-resilient investments, and accelerate the pipeline of projects needed to attract financing at scale?
How can island economies combine traditional infrastructure with nature-based solutions to strengthen coastal resilience? Where can innovations such as mangrove restoration and climate-resilient coral deliver greater protection, and what will it take to move them into wider deployment?
The Digital Backbone of Caribbean Infrastructure Resilience
Rise and Shine Roundtable
Incorporating resilient connectivity, end-to-end network integration, and fully managed network operations into upfront planning and investment so that power grids, water infrastructure, and ports can be modernized, monitored, optimized, and rapidly restored through reliable communication.
Unlocking Investment in Caribbean Connectivity: From Ports and Maritime Infrastructure to Regional Trade
Rise and Shine Roundtable
Caribbean economies depend on reliable, resilient and efficient maritime connections to move goods, strengthen food and energy security, and support regional trade and competitiveness. This roundtable will explore investable opportunities across ports, inter-island transport and logistics, and examine how stronger project preparation, public-private partnerships and blended finance can help accelerate delivery.
Keynote Interview: Building Smarter, More Resilient Island Transport Systems
Barbados is advancing a transport and public works agenda that links roads, drainage, mobility, digital modernization and climate resilience. This interview will explore how island governments can move beyond reactive road repair toward smarter, data-driven and climate-resilient transport infrastructure, and how AI, digital tools and new delivery models can improve planning, maintenance and public service delivery.
IFC Senior Investment Officer, Transaction Advisory, Latin America and CaribbeanModerator
Digital Demand & System Coordination: Delivering Infrastructure in Fragmented Island Markets
As digital demand accelerates across the region, from data centers to digital services, how can island markets align energy, telecom, connectivity, and infrastructure to deliver resilience and investable systems?
What is driving digital infrastructure investment in the Caribbean?
How can fragmented island markets coordinate policy, regulation, and infrastructure planning to enable scalable, investable projects?
What conditions related to power reliability, connectivity, and pricing are required to support telecom expansion, cloud services, and data center development?
How can digital infrastructure strengthen resilience, operational performance, and investment across Caribbean infrastructure systems?
What role can data centers realistically play in small island markets, and what is needed to make them viable?
What developments are in the pipeline to support a digitally resilient Caribbean?
IDB Invest Director of the Caribbean Region, Corporates DivisionModerator
The Port Opportunity: Trade, Tourism and Energy Hubs
Ports are becoming strategic hubs for energy, logistics, and regional integration. How can modernization unlock investment, reduce dependency, and strengthen Caribbean resilience?
Can modernized ports capture cruise, cargo, and logistics growth while also strengthening food and energy security, and supply chain resilience?
What role can regional trade corridors play in reducing import dependency and enabling intra-Caribbean trade?
How can energy-enabled ports with shore power, bunkering, and grid upgrades attract compliant vessels and new investment?
Which port investments offer the clearest path to bankable, scalable projects? What coordination across governments, utilities, corporates and financiers is needed to move from pipeline to execution?
Delivering Affordable and Resilient Housing in the Caribbean
What does it take to deliver resilient housing at scale?
What practical and innovative approaches to planning, land use, and delivery can be pursued?
How can governments tackle barriers to affordable housing development to find solutions that meet the needs of island populations?
What are the priorities to deliver resilient housing in the Caribbean- building codes, materials, design – and how can these be structured into regulation?
How can local developers and corporates help scale resilient housing across the region?
How best can governments and developers ensure insurability and financeability of affordable and resilient housing?
KPMG International | KPMG Islands Group Global Health Equity and Access Co-Lead | Head of Healthcare and Life SciencesModerator
Conclusions and Next Steps
Networking Lunch & Close of CARIF
Coastal Resilience in Action at UM Rosenstiel
Technical Site Visit | Hosted by University of Miami Rosenstiel School
What does resilient infrastructure actually look like for Caribbean islands facing stronger storms and rising coastal risk?
At UM Rosenstiel, CARIF delegates will step inside the SUSTAIN hurricane simulator, where ports, seawalls and shoreline assets are tested under Category 5 hurricane conditions, and explore how hybrid reefs and other nature-based systems can strengthen coastal protection. It is a rare chance to connect the science directly to the infrastructure, financing and implementation decisions shaping resilience across the region.
Optional add-on for CARIF registrants | $150 USD including round-trip transportation | Limited capacity | Advance registration required
