Independent Country Program Review. Trinidad and Tobago 2021-2025
Date issued
December 2025
Subject
Monitoring and Evaluation;
Country Program Evaluation
JEL code
H83 - Public Administration • Public Sector Accounting and Audits
Country
Trinidad and Tobago
Category
Technical Notes
This Independent Country Program Review (ICPR) assesses the relevance of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group's Country Strategy (CS) with Trinidad and Tobago and the relevance, implementation, and contribution of the IDB Group's Country Program (CP) during the 2021'-2025 period. The review aims to strengthen accountability for the IDB Group's engagement in the country and to provide information to support the design and implementation of future country strategies and programs.
The ICPR is based on a systematic review of documentary evidence, approximately 80 semi-structured interviews with IDB, IDB Invest, and country counterparts, and a field mission conducted in July 2025. The review follows the Implementation Guidelines for ICPRs and examines the country context, CS relevance, CP relevance and design, program implementation, and contributions to the CS objectives.
The 2021-2025 Country Strategy defined a single priority area - promoting digitalization to support economic transformation - structured around three strategic objectives related to the business environment, educational and digital skills, and digital delivery of services. The ICPR finds that, although the strategy was aligned with government priorities, its relevance was constrained by limited feasibility, design weaknesses, and an overestimation of the IDB Group's lending traction and role in the country. The CP comprised 75 operations totaling US$633.2 million, with financing concentrated in IDB Invest operations.
The CP showed uneven alignment and contribution across strategic objectives, with medium contributions to improving the business environment and digital service delivery, and low contribution to educational and digital skills. Program implementation was affected by declining loan approvals, lengthy preparation and execution times, and persistent implementation and coordination constraints typical of small states.
The ICPR concludes that the IDB Group's contribution in Trinidad and Tobago during the period was constrained by strategic and operational factors, while also highlighting lessons related to country dialogue, execution capacity, and evidence generation to inform future engagement.
The ICPR is based on a systematic review of documentary evidence, approximately 80 semi-structured interviews with IDB, IDB Invest, and country counterparts, and a field mission conducted in July 2025. The review follows the Implementation Guidelines for ICPRs and examines the country context, CS relevance, CP relevance and design, program implementation, and contributions to the CS objectives.
The 2021-2025 Country Strategy defined a single priority area - promoting digitalization to support economic transformation - structured around three strategic objectives related to the business environment, educational and digital skills, and digital delivery of services. The ICPR finds that, although the strategy was aligned with government priorities, its relevance was constrained by limited feasibility, design weaknesses, and an overestimation of the IDB Group's lending traction and role in the country. The CP comprised 75 operations totaling US$633.2 million, with financing concentrated in IDB Invest operations.
The CP showed uneven alignment and contribution across strategic objectives, with medium contributions to improving the business environment and digital service delivery, and low contribution to educational and digital skills. Program implementation was affected by declining loan approvals, lengthy preparation and execution times, and persistent implementation and coordination constraints typical of small states.
The ICPR concludes that the IDB Group's contribution in Trinidad and Tobago during the period was constrained by strategic and operational factors, while also highlighting lessons related to country dialogue, execution capacity, and evidence generation to inform future engagement.
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