The Trust Fund's 2025 Annual Report (see Wednesday newspaper) produced some interesting facts. While much of the public focus regarding related activities executed under the responsibility of the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) has understandably been on major reconstruction projects, a considerable part of the means totaling US $519 million was spent on other matters.
For example, 325 micro- and small businesses received financing for a combined US $20.1 million. Of these, 39% were new and 43% run or owned by women.
As pointed by the World Bank managing the Dutch-sponsored fund, this effort helped energise a private sector still finding its footing after Hurricane Irma. It apparently supported over 600 jobs and contributed to a 30% revenue increase for local small- and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The significance of such cannot be overstated. SMEs are considered the backbone of any economy. Beneficiaries of the programme were spread across sectors including hospitality, transportation, healthcare and agriculture.
The latter shows the impact was broad-based in every sense. It indeed makes a case that the most important measure of progress is not what was built, but who it reached.
Essential remains guidance and training provided along with the money. As the saying goes: Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a life.
