Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund

CIIF provides grant financing and technical assistance (TA) to cultural/creative practitioners who are 18 years and older, registered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and business support organisations (BSOs), which support the CIs sector in CDB’s Borrowing Member countries (BMCs).

Entities/practitioners deemed as eligible to benefit from CIIF support must operate in at least one of CDB’s 19 BMCs under one or more of the following CI priority subsectors: Audiovisual, Fashion, Music, Festivals and Carnivals and Visual Arts.

Entities must be legally registered and can include: governments, universities and academia, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations, and chambers of commerce, BSOs, including government agencies, ministries, and statutory bodies, providing technical support to MSMEs in the CIs sector.

Projects not directly related to any of listed priority subsectors will be assessed using a special mechanism to determine its eligibility for support. The form of support will be determined by the outcome of the assessment.

Overall Total Funding: USD1,694,000

2024 Total Funding: Over USD700,000

Component I – Up to USD90,000 each will be awarded through a competitive selection process to 6 projects under the enabling environment scheme.

Component II – Up to USD100,000 each will be awarded through a competitive selection process to 3 projects with a focus on data intelligence.

Component III – Up to USD50,000 each will be awarded through a competitive selection process to 12 projects focusing on enterprise/MSME development.

A call for applications will be advertised and will outline the project theme, requirements, link to official application form and submission date. Applicants applying under Component III will also have the opportunity to apply through the CIIF designated Business Support Organisation (BSO) partner in their respective countries.

Currently, grant funding opportunities will be open quarterly over a period of 36 months.

The application to award process varies and may range from 2 to 4 months depending on a number of factors including, volume and quality of applications received and availability of external evaluators.

The implementation timelines for projects awarded may vary from 3 months to 1 year or any such period agreed to in the contract between CDB-CIIF and the grantee.

We encourage and require evidence of collaboration and give preference to project implementation activities that incorporate two (2) or more CDB Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs).

An external evaluation panel of sector experts will assess project applications and make recommendations for funding.

Grant calls are shared via CDB databases, website and some social media channels. We encourage you to subscribe to our Consultancy and Stakeholder databases via www.caribank.org/ciif and follow the CDB’s social media channels.

CIIF will be engaging Business Support Organisation (BSO) partners across the region to assist applicants with completing their applications. Application consultation sessions will also be hosted by CIIF to engage grantees and provide further details on a given grant opportunity after the opening of the grant call.

While CIIF programming remains open to all eligible BMCs, including Haiti, a further dedicated intervention will be contemplated for CIIF Haiti pending confirmation of the availability of additional resources, outside of CIIF’s financing structure.

Beneficiary MSMEs and other eligible entities are expected to contribute a minimum of ten percent (10%) of project costs in cash and or in-kind.

Once a grant has been awarded, the grantee is invited to fine tune the selected project proposal and engage in a collaborative exercise to develop a Terms of Reference (TOR) in relation to the project with CIIF. A contract agreement that outlines the project terms of engagement is then signed by the grantee and CDB. This is followed by the project implementation and grant disbursements as per agreed timelines.

The timelines for disbursement are dependent on the agreed terms outlined in the grant agreement contract. Once all payment conditions are met and a disbursement request is made through CIIF to CDB, the processing time for funds to be posted to the grantee’s approved bank may take a minimum of two (2) weeks.

Grant funds are aligned to project deliverables and are disbursed in tranches.

Yes, currently past grant awardees may submit applications for scheduled grant calls. In addition, CIIF intends on launching grant opportunities that target past grantees.

Grant proposals are primarily accepted in response to and during the period of scheduled grant calls.

CIIF offers training resources, opportunities to participate in grant-funded projects, opportunities to provide professional services to grant-funded projects.

All applicants - successful and unsuccessful will be notified about the outcome of their grant application. Regrettably, we are unable to provide detailed feedback to unsuccessful applicants at this time.

Interested persons will get the opportunity to engage with CIIF through public stakeholder consultation sessions, discovery call requests and through our webpage at www.caribank.org/ciif.