The Antigua and Barbuda Youth Business Trust (ABYBT) marked a milestone in its first year of operation Tuesday, presenting certificates and awards to 14 graduates of its inaugural EmpowerED entrepreneurship programme during the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Youth Entrepreneurship (CYE) Summit 2026 at the Royalton Resort and Spa in St John’s.

The graduates completed a 12-module programme running from January to April covering entrepreneurship, business planning, innovation, legal compliance, financial planning, and business pitching.

Governor-General’s Deputy Sir Clare Roberts, representing Governor-General Sir Rodney Williams, delivered remarks at the ceremony and congratulated the graduates on their achievement.

“Your achievement represents discipline, resilience, and belief in your own capacity to create, innovate, and contribute meaningfully to national and regional development,” Sir Clare said. “You are part of a generation that must not only seek opportunity but also create it.”

The EmpowerED programme was developed by the ABYBT in partnership with the Caribbean Center for Organizational Excellence (CCOE), headed by ABYBT Chairman Jerry DaC Blenman, who also delivered the keynote address on accelerating youth entrepreneurship through national roles, responsibilities, and commitments as ecosystem builders.

Blenman told those gathered that the absence of connected and coordinated entrepreneurial ecosystems remains the central obstacle facing young entrepreneurs across the region.

“The challenge is not a shortage of talent,” he said. “The challenge is the absence of sufficiently connected, coordinated, and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems.”

He pointed to access to finance as one of the most pressing barriers, noting that young entrepreneurs often spend months navigating bureaucratic requirements before their businesses can become operational.

Blenman called on governments to move beyond treating entrepreneurship as a secondary economic activity and instead recognize it as a primary engine of transformation.

Lisa Harding, Division Chief of the Private Sector Division at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) addressed summit participants on the importance of funding and capital readiness, framing youth entrepreneurship as a development challenge rather than simply a labour market issue.

Harding noted that too many young people in the region continue to believe opportunity exists elsewhere.

“What would the Caribbean look like if every young person with a great idea believed they could build it here?” Harding said. “Not somewhere else, not after they get a visa, not after they migrate, but right here in our Caribbean.”

She said the region’s future competitiveness will depend less on natural resources and more on the skills, creativity, and adaptability of its young people, and that institutions like the CDB have a role to play in matching the financial systems to the talent that already exists in the Caribbean.

Cardelle Fergusson, chair of Youth Business Caribbean (YBC) and General Manager of Barbados Youth Business Trust, delivered welcome remarks on behalf of the regional network of youth business trusts of which ABYBT is a member.

Among the awards presented during the ceremony was the Punctuality Award, given to Stephen Giddings, and the Pillar of Support Award, presented to Shemroy Jarvis, co-owner of Jarvis Security Solutions.

Sponsors of the awards included the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) and the Caribbean Center for Organizational Excellence, which provided scholarships for continuous training in organizational management.

The CYE Summit 2026 runs June 16 and 17 at the Royalton Resort and Spa and includes panel discussions, breakout sessions, and workshops on topics including access to finance, sustainable entrepreneurship, regional trade, and sports as a business.