Despite obstacles, NDFD standing firm – Knight

The National Development Foundation for Dominica (NDFD) says it is standing firm in the existence of “pitfalls”, thirty years after it was established.

The NDFD, founded in August 1981 as a non-profit and private developmental organisation, has become known for its focus on the small business sector, providing technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs.

But the organisation has encountered obstacles along the way, Executive Director Ronald Knight said at a ceremony Friday, to launch activities for its 30th year of operations.

“The road has been filled with pitfalls but yet we progressed and worked hard at achieving our mandate and proving our dedication to small and micro enterprises.

“The NDFD has seen a drying up of donor funds, our main source of capitalization and had to become self-sufficient,” Knight said.

He said while the NDFD is still “not out of the woods”, it has had to seek low interest loans and grants and introduce new services to sustain itself.

Senator Alvin Bernard, who represented Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, said the NDFD has become an essential part of poverty alleviation in Dominica.

“It is virtually impossible to imagine what would have been the social and economic condition of Dominica today without the foundation,” Bernard stated.

“A review of the impact and the contribution of the NDFD on the livelihood of Dominicans for the period 1982-2009 presents an impressive and interesting picture. You made 6, 841 loans which affected 9, 968 jobs. The conclusion can therefore be made, that at any point over the span of time, the foundation contributed to sustaining between three to five percent of the jobs in Dominica. The observation can thus be made that the NDFD has made a significant contribution in alleviating poverty and in facilitating the provision of an acceptable quality of life,” Bernard said.