Kingston, Jamaica — The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) is seeking to build on the 3,287 Micro, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) trained in the fiscal year ending 2025 through its newly launched online learning platform JBDC Biz Wiz. Launched at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Thursday March 5, 2026, the platform provides entrepreneurs with structured courses covering core areas such as product development, marketing, financial management and digital transformation – knowledge the agency says many entrepreneurs enter business without.
With a strategic objective of fostering technological adoption, innovation and entrepreneurship among MSMEs, the courses are designed to move learners along a continuum spanning general business operations as well as digital transformation. A total of seven courses will be offered on the Platform.
These include three (3) general business operation courses which target entrepreneurs at various stages of development from potential to early-stage to advanced: Fundamentals of Business, Starting a Business, and Managing a Business. The additional four (4) courses which focus on digital technologies include: How to Digitise Your Business, How to Digitalise Your Business, How to Digitally Transform Your Business and Introduction to E-Commerce.
Tackling Early Business Failure
Pointing out that 185 trainings conducted by the JBDC by the end of the last fiscal year, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the JBDC, Harold Davis, said one of the main contributors to early business failure is the absence of entrepreneurial education, particularly in practical areas such as costing, marketing and operations.
“One of the greatest contributors to early business failure is not a lack of talent or creativity. It’s a lack of entrepreneurial education, particularly in areas such as digital literacy, digital management, costing, marketing and operational systems,” Davis explained.
Data collected by the agency highlights ongoing digital transformation gaps within the sector, including low levels of website ownership, e-commerce adoption and digital marketing investment. While 32.44% of respondents use digital technologies regularly and understand their benefits, 16.74% remain unaware of these advantages, and 26.45% have only heard of them.The Biz Wiz platform was designed to address that gap by giving entrepreneurs easier access to business training that can be completed online in their own time.
“It is an online platform that allows persons to learn at their own pace, in their own time,” Davis said, noting that the digital format provides entrepreneurs with the same practical knowledge they would receive in a classroom setting.
MSME Development Through Strategic Partnership
The launch of ‘JBDC Biz Wiz’ is a primary outcome of the agency’s implementation of the Accelerating MSMEs Growth through Innovation & Technology project funded by Ministry of Industry Investment & Commerce (MIIC), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the European Union (EU).
Speaking at the launch, Resident Representative of the OAS, Jeanelle van GlaanenWeygel, said the initiative will help expand access to entrepreneurship training across Jamaica.
“The platform represents a transition towards sustainable on-demand technical training. It ensures that Jamaican startups and small businesses have the resources they need to thrive in a digital-first economy,” she said.
The Digital Jamaica Project, an initiative funded by the EU and the Government of Jamaica, has seen JBDC training thousands of MSMEs in digitally transforming business processes. JBDC Biz Wiz represents another move to digitally enhance MSMEs.
Koenraad Burie, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Belize, The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and The Cayman Islands, says that, “The EU is proud to collaborate with the Ministry of Business, JBDC, and the OAS, to foster digital literacy. MSMEs are the powerhouse of any sustainable economy. An economy cannot just rely on five big companies. It’s a powerhouse. So, we are very proud to do that, and we should cherish the MSMEs.”
Meanwhile, Industry Minister, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, emphasised the importance of preparing Jamaican businesses to compete in expanding global markets.
“If global markets expand but our companies are not prepared with increasing productivity results, opportunities will pass us by,” Hill said, describing the platform as a vital tool for strengthening national competitiveness.
To encourage participation, the courses are being offered free to the public during the introductory period ending March 31, 2026, allowing entrepreneurs across Jamaica to access the training immediately.
For the JBDC, the initiative represents another step in expanding access to the knowledge entrepreneurs need to build sustainable enterprises.
For more information, visit www.jbdcbizwiz.com.
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