Effective May 1, the Saint Kitts and Nevis government has cut the import duty on fully electric vehicles less than four years old from 45 percent to 10 percent. Energy Minister Konris Maynard announced the change at the launch of two new programmes: SOLARISE, the Solar Integration for Sustainable Energy initiative, and DRIVE, the Decarbonised Roadway Initiative for Vehicle Electrification. Maynard described the duty cut as transformational rather than incremental.
SOLARISE regulates and incentivises rooftop solar installation by compensating home and business owners and tenants who generate their own electricity. The framework is designed so that a residential solar system not only reduces the household’s bill against the Saint Kitts Electricity Company tariff but generates value back to the owner. The government has zero-rated all taxes on solar systems through December 31, 2026 to accelerate adoption.
DRIVE pairs the duty cut on EVs with the rationale that lower upfront costs, lower fuel costs (recharging cheaper than gasoline), and lower maintenance costs (fewer moving parts) will combine to spark demand. Maynard, who himself owns an EV, described the policy as the country building “an energy system that is resilient, a transportation system that is modern, an economy that is diversified.”
In Parliament, Senator Isalean Phillip, Minister of State responsible for Ageing, Disabilities and related portfolios, tabled the country’s first-ever National Disability Policy on April 30. The policy covers 2026 to 2030 and provides a framework for full inclusion of persons with disabilities, anchored in the National Development Planning Framework that underpins the government’s Sustainable Island State Agenda.
Prime Minister Terrance Drew, who holds the CARICOM chairmanship through June, has publicly framed the federation as among the lowest-crime jurisdictions in the region in over two decades. The OECS is preparing to formally hand over an arboretum facility to Saint Kitts and Nevis on May 1. From Nevis, Premier Mark Brantley hosted the Argentine ambassador on April 30 to discuss bilateral relations.
What it means: Saint Kitts and Nevis is one of the smallest CARICOM economies but is moving fastest on the energy transition. Cutting EV import duty by 35 points overnight is the kind of decisive move larger Caribbean economies have spent years debating without acting on.