BPL or roadworks? Bran’s $100k IT ‘hell’
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE Ministry of Finance’s top official yes terday said he “won’t claim that victory yet” despite the prior fiscal year’s $689.5m deficit coming in almost $70m below the final pro jection outlined in May’s Budget.Simon Wilson, the finan cial secretary, told Tribune Business it was too early to “celebrate” after the full-year 2021-2022 deficit finished 9.1 percent lower than the $758.6m forecast despite increasing by some $318.7m in the month of JuneThatalone.latter increase was driven by a combination of $251.4m in extra borrowing, which was unveiled with the Budget, and the traditional year-end rush of ministries, departments and agencies presenting unpaid bills for payment before the fiscal period close. The monthly June defi cit, which represents by how much the Govern ment’s spending exceeded its revenue income, rep resented an $87.4m or 37.8 percent year-overyear increase as the Davis administration sought to pay off debts owed by the Water & Sewerage Corpo ration to its reverse osmosis suppliers; cover COVID-19 and other related outlays at the Public Hospitals Authority (PHA); insur ance costs for civil servants; and other sums outstanding. Despite the year-overyear hike, Mr Wilson said the Ministry of Finance had “contained” the impact from the extra borrowing and spending. “The key
SEE PAGE B8 SEE PAGE B12 SEE PAGE B6 BRANVILLE MCCARTNEY SIMON WILSON • All digital functions ‘fried’ at Village Road law firm • Trying to identify culprit after two-week ‘standstill’ • PM’s frugal spending call a ‘two-edged sword’ $6.25 $6.29 $6.31 $6.30
SEE PAGE B8
Stop ‘getting every dollar’ out of Abaco
A PROMINENT Aba conian has blasted the “bureaucratic red tape” that is preventing the island from making further pro gress on a post-Dorian economic recovery that he estimates its 60-65 percent complete.Roscoe Thompson, head of the Marsh Harbour/ Spring City Township, told Tribune Business it appears as if the Government is “trying to get every dollar out of Abaco” rather than allowing the island to fully recover from the devastat ing Category Five storm and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic.Asserting that Abaco’s existing VAT and duty-free tax breaks under the Spe cial Economic Recovery Zone (SERZ) should con tinue for another two years subject to policing, thus only ensuring that legiti mate applicants qualify, he identified several busi nesses that had been unable to access these conces sions to bring in equipment vital to the revival of their enterprises.Branding this as “dis heartening”, Mr Thompson called on the Government to get out the way so that Abaco can become The By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A PROPERTY and casualty insurer is mulling whether to exit the Baha mian market by seeking a buyer for its existing port folio almost a decade after being licensed by the Insur anceMultipleCommission. industry sources, speaking on condi tion of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, revealed that NAGICO (Bahamas) has been testing the market to see whether rival under writers have any interest in acquiring its existing insur ance book of business. Vibert Williams, NAGICO (Bahamas) managing director, did not deny that the panCaribbean property and casualty insurer is seeking to exit this market while not confirming it either. “If NAGICO has something to communicate, we’ll do it via press release. The com pany’s position is if there’s something to be said, it will be said via press release,” he told told this newspa per, declining to comment further.
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
A FORMER Demo cratic National Alliance (DNA) leader says his law firm is trying to determine whether BPL or the Vil lage Road roadworks is to blame for an incident that “fried” its IT servers, com puters, Internet and cable TVBranvilleservices.
McCartney told Tribune Business that Halsbury Chambers was “brought to a standstill for two weeks” this summer after all its electronic func tions were “shut down” by the as-yet unexplained event that cost it around $100,000 in terms of lost client billings and equip mentJokingreplacements.thathenow has “a little more grey hair” as a result, he added that it had been “hell” dealing with Internet and cable TV providers over the restoration of these ser vices. But, despite being “handicapped” for at least a fortnight, Mr McCartney said no client-related or other vital data was lost or compromised.Notingthat work related to the ongoing road and utility improvements had been taking place directly outside Halsbury Cham bers’ Village Road offices when virtually all digital functions were lost, he told this newspaper: “Twoand-a-half months ago, something happened. The Internet went, cable TV went, and our equipment got“Theburned.server, the com puters, they all got fried. Everything got fried. We were basically handi capped for two weeks, trying to get new equip ment and the Internet, cable TV and everything back in operation. Most of my computers were burned, and we had to get newAskedcomputers.”whether any client or other sensitive
NAGICO mulls exit after $6m losses
business@tribunemedia.net MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2022 ‘Not isvictory’:claimingYetdeficitbeatenby$70m
PAGE 2, Monday, September 5, 2022 THE TRIBUNE
THE Bahamian Contrac tors Association’s (BCA) president says “the chick ens have come home to roost” with post COVID19 inflation presenting a “huge challenge” for banks in financing residential and commercial construction. Leonard Sands told Trib une Business that banks and other commercial lend ers have “never wanted to understand the dynamics with construction”, with fixed-sum mortgages and other secured forms of lending proving inadequate to cover costs in an envi ronment where building materials prices have increased by an average 60 percent within months. As a result, many projects have stalled, often near comple tion of the work. “If you had a contract in late or mid-2020, fixed price and the mortgage was $300,000, and you were doing that house through out COVID-19, by 2021 prices rose by 60 percent. So a $300,000 contract went up by 60 percent. Let’s call that $35,000 to $40,000,” Mr Sands“Whatexplained.happens if con tractors were not able to bridge that on their own? Many of the contracts, they collapsed. The collapse was short, and banks had nearly-completed projects that weren’t able to close out. Clients were unable to move in and/or in very, very unique situations, the bank extended them additional credit, which is not the bank policy.”Estimating that this has affected 70 percent of construction projects, Mr Sands said that while some banks were “running away” from mortgage-backed con struction projects, others have worked out how to be “creative” and jumped into the construction market despite the wide price fluctuations.MrSands said: “There’s still money in construction finance because who can finance a house out of their pocket? If the banks decide to stop doing construction finance they will lose up to 50 percent of their business because, in The Bahamas, construction financing is most of the business. So if you decided you are going to lose 60 percent of your business, then go right ahead.”The BCA chief said there needs to be more per formance guarantee and insurance tools, such as per formance bonds, which he added the BCA has been seeking for more than 30 years. But the “people in the system don’t want to have that occurredmaterialsbyrunsaddressMrPerformanceconversation”.bonds,Sandsadded,willhelpprojectcostoverincludingthosedriveninflationandbuildingpricerisesashaspostCOVID-19.
The ArawakX chairman added that start-ups seem to hire more employees for the amount of capi tal raised/invested than larger multi-million dollar ventures. “We have also noticed that smaller com panies tend to hire more people per capital spend. Our average company seems to have about 20 suc cessful jobs per $500,000 raise. For example, Chef Kevin Culmer of Tropical Crowdfund chair: We can be gateway for new FDl model
Tribune ReporterBusiness ykemp@tribunemedia.net
He said: “The chickens have come home to roost because the banks never wanted to understand the dynamics with construction. They treat construction financing as this simple thing where people only want a few dollars to build a home. They don’t under stand that external factors affect the fixed price.” Because most of the Car ibbean imports construction materials from the east ern US, if there are supply shortages there it will trickle down to the region. “But the time the ink dries on a contract, something can happen that could cause the price of materials to change,” Mr Sands said. KEMP
A BAHAMIAN crowd funding platform yesterday said it can be the key to a new foreign direct invest ment (FDI) model as the start-ups it helps create more jobs per dollar of capital spent than mega projects.D’Arcy Rahming Snr, ArawakX’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that it can pro vide a gateway through which Bahamian entrepre neurs, start-ups and micro businesses access capital from foreign investors in a regulated manner. Equally, he added that foreign enti ties could seek financing through Arawak X and be willing to “nearshore” close to The SpeakingBahamas.tothe present focus on combating infla tion and lowering the cost of living, Mr Rahming Snr said: “The truth is that low ering costs are only one necessary part of the equa tion to improve people’s lives. Other measures must be taken by the finan cial sector to expand the economy and, in a small island nation, that means increased foreign direct investment.“Whatwe are seeing is a lot of companies look ing to be funded through The Bahamas willing to ‘nearshore’ here. There are a number in different dis ciplines and, right now, we have three in the innovative medical field that are close to “Ourlisting. challenge is to match them with investors who bring in US dollars and convert them to Bahamian dollars. I was attracted to crowdfunding by the rules presented in 2017 at the initial crowdfunding semi nar. They clearly intended for this new foreign direct investment model to give Bahamian companies access to millions of inves tors. “
‘CHICKENS HOME TO ROOST’ ON CONSTRUCTION FINANCING By YOURI
SEE PAGE B12 LEONARD SANDS D’ARCY RAHMING SNR
THE TRIBUNE Monday, September 5, 2022, PAGE 3
COUNCIL SETS DEADLINE FOR PROPERTY TAX LEGAL ACTION
Pinder’s Customs Brokerage Ltd. invites applications from suitably qualified persons for the post of HR Coordinator.
The HR Coordinator is expected to undertake a variety of HR administrative duties. The HR Coordinator will facilitate daily HR functions like keeping track of employee records and supporting the interview, onboarding, and performance review processes among other tasks.
AN ABACO district council will later this month decide whether to initi ate legal action against the Government over its alleged failure to rebate to it up to $60,000 in collected real property tax revenues. Jeremy Sweeting, Hope Town’s chief council lor, told Tribune Business that despite collecting some $600,000 in real prop erty arrears over the period 2017-2018, the Government has failed to live up to “a legally binding” agree ment to return a portion back to the council and directly benefit the local area. “The money can help with Dorian reconstruction efforts, for sure,” he said. The agreement with the Department of Inland Rev enue, which both parties signed, pledged that the Government would return a portion of the arrears - a minimum ‘floor’ of 2 per cent, up to a maximum of 10 percent - to Hope Town District Council. It was intended as a pilot pro gramme that would then be duplicated with other local councils and government areas.However, Hope Town has yet to receive a dime, and Mr Sweeting said: “We have a district council meeting on September 20, and we look to put it to a motion whether or not we should get a private lawyer and take the Government to court over our tax rebate if we don’t get an answer from them by September 30. I’m going to encourage one of the council members to bring forth a motion to hire a private attorney and take the Government to court.“We met with the min ister of economic affairs, Michael Halkitis, and we have spoken to our member of parliament, John Pinder, who was also present at that meeting. We came down to Nassau and met with them, and they promised us within several months we will receive this rebate. That has not happened. “We had another local government conference after the local government elections were held. At the conference there was a seminar in May where I told them again that we want our money by September, because that is when we receive all funds. This was not suddenly decided two months ago. We said if we receive nothing before the end of September we will take the Government to court because we have a legally binding agreement.” That local government conference was held back in May, Mr Sweeting said, adding that the real prop erty tax collection by the Hope Town District Coun cil was stopped after one year due to the lack of response and rebates from theTheGovernment.initiative began on February 12, 2015, when a Hope Town delegation met with the then-Christie administration. The group, which included Mr Sweet ing and two to three council members, as well as realtors and property managers, had a proposal for tackling the collection, valuation and assessment challenges with real property tax. “Local government made the argument that said: ‘We’re on the ground, we know everybody on a personal basis, the second homeowners that pay property tax, and with our statutory authority as the local planning author ity we accept applications for building permits’,” Mr Sweeting explained then. “They have to declare the value of construction. “We have a general understanding of the situa tion, we could be a big help, and we’d offer to help with real property tax collection if we could retain a percent age. That was the proposal. We went back and forth on it.”The realValuationtheActinfundsharebehalfpropertycouncilsempowerGovernmentthatingParliamentPerryformerwarmedthen-administrationtotheidea,withprimeminister,Christie,informingwhileunveilthatyear’sBudgetchangestotheLocalActwouldcertainlocaltocollectrealtaxesonNassau’swhileretaining“aoftheproceeds”tocapitalimprovementstheirareas.TheamendmentstothatgavelocalgovernmentpowersoftheChiefOfficertocollectpropertytaxesintheir areas, using the tax roll provided by central govern ment. However, it was not as simple as just passing leg islation. Mr Sweeting said Hope Town District Coun cil, after enactment of the Act, still had to negotiate “a legally binding agreement” to perform these func tions with the Ministry of Finance. The latter drafted the deal, which both parties signed.Daphne DegregoryMiaoulis, president of the Abaco Chamber of Commerce, added that while the Prime Minister acknowledged the difficul ties with rebuilding Abaco at the Hurricane Dorian memorial last week, he did not mention anything about extending the Spe cial Economic Recovery Zone (SERZ) order for a further three years as the group had requested.
• Assist with updating job descriptions and employee policy manual.
• Organizational and time management skills.
By YOURI KEMP Tribune ReporterBusiness ykemp@tribunemedia.net
PINDER’S CUSTOMS BROKERAGE LTD.
“If we deserve better then he has to put his money where his mouth is. They have sent a response to my letter and they are asking me to justify why we need to extend the SERZ,” she said. “They are talking out of both sides of their mouth. I was speaking to [Mr Sweeting] and he said that Hope Town has not received the first penny yet from the 10 percent rebate they were promised, and they keep asking about it and all the Government keeps saying is that they are looking into it.”
• Assist with the recruiting and staffing process.
The responsibilities of the HR Coordinator include but are not limited to the following:
• BS degree in Human Resources or related field.
• Knowledge of HR software and tools.
• Maintain physical and digital copies of employees’ records.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
• Competency to analyze information. • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat. Interested and qualified applicants are invited to submit their resume along with 2 references via email to hr@pinderscustoms.combySeptember7th,2022.
Requirements:
The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaign ing for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story. Share your news NEW OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE 2,400 sq/ft Centrally Located Complete with private bathroom Conference room, reception area, kitchenette Sitting area and 4 individual offices CONTACT: 394-0245/6
JOB VACANCY HR COORDINATOR
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• PHRI or SHRM certifications are preferred.
• A minimum of two years’ experience in an HR role.
• Knowledge of local employment laws.
• Coordinate employee performance reviews.
• Assist with organizing training initiatives. • Coordinate Reward and Recognition Programs, Employee Socials, etc.
• High level of database management and record keeping skills.
Accelerator’s Global Business Pitch competition, held last week, brought together a diverse group of Baha mian entrepreneurs - from children’s books to artisan ice cream, designer hand bags and wine and skin care products - to compete for a $7,500 prize donated by Simplified book,whoKendrickLending.Delaney,wrotethechildren’s
Tribune
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
yourSharenews
Provider teams with Access
PAGE 4, Monday, September 5, 2022 THE TRIBUNE
KENDRICK DELANEY, author of the children’s book, Ferry’s Tale of Pig Island (centre), was the winner of Access Accelerator’s recent pitch competition, securing a $7,500 award donated by Simplified Lending, which was presented by the latter’s chief ex ecutive and founder, Robert Pantry. Access Accelerator’s interim director, Samantha L. Rolle, is shown on the left following the competition.
• A cover letter of interest highlighting work experience and accomplishments relevant to the position;
• Completed Employment Application Form f(www.ub.edu.bs/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Application-orEmployment-Staff.pdf)
Ferry’s Tale of Pig Island, won the Tuesday night event after convinc ing the judges that his idea was both unique and scal able. Wayne Moncur, from artisan ice cream shop, Mudda Freeze, took second place and a three-night vacation at bGrand Isle Resort & Spa in Exuma, while Aidan Barrow, owner of gift and souvenir store, Haus of Assembly, placed third.Robert Pantry, Simpli fied Lending’s founder and chief executive, said of Mr Delaney’s work: “I think for me, what stood out is that it’s local to The Baha mas. It’s a book that can be exported. The fact that he was already sell ing on Amazon shows that there’s a demand for it. It is viable, it’s portable and it’s scalable.”MrDelaney is no stran ger to start-ups, having already successfully started and grown The New Duff, which was also partially funded by Access Accel erator. “This opportunity by the Small Business Development Centre and Simplified Lending really was a chance for me to make my dreams come true in a way, simply because book publishing, in particu lar, is very expensive,” he added.Having already sold hun dreds of copies of Ferry’s Tale of Pig Island, which is available in stores across New Providence, and on Amazon and Etsy, Mr Delaney said he plans to use the $7,500 to increase his marketing and overseas distribution.“Alargepart of my mis sion with Ferry’s Tale, although it seems like just a children’s book, is actu ally about finding clever ways to enchant foreigners and visitors to always visit The Bahamas and see us as a very magical place,” he said.Referring to his child hood love of the Swiss Family Robinson, Mr Dela ney said that by the time he visited Disney World, he was so thoroughly enam oured with the book that the Robinson family’s tree house was the highlight of his“Similarly,trip with swim ming pigs, I believe that it’s such a world-famous tour ism product that we need to not only protect the pigs and make sure that we are treating them safely and sustainably, but also tell the story on how those pigs first got swimming,” said Mr Delaney. “I wanted to create the legend around the swimming pigs for The Bahamas.”Praising his fellow con testants, he added: “Some people may think that that The Bahamas doesn’t have a ton of talented, talented, young entrepreneurs, but I actually think that’s far from the truth. I think that there’s a tremendous number of Bahamians out there with incredible ideas and skills, and the hard work it takes to kind of build a “Hausbrand.of Assembly, Mudda Freeze, Believe Wines and all the others that competed with me, when I look at those brands, not only are they completely polished and world-class brands, but I saw that any one of us could have really won that prize money.”Samantha L. Rolle, the Access Accelerator’s interim executive direc tor, added: “We pride ourselves on living up to our mandate of accel erating access. Through the Summer Entrepre neurial Training (S.E.T.) series, we’ve been inten tional with our focus on enhancing one’s business acumen through entre preneurial education and opportunities like the pitch competition that expand on those lessons.
“We see these pitch competitions as an oppor tunity for Bahamian small business owners to gain exposure to investors and the competitive nature of raising capital.” Mr Pantry said oppor tunities such as the pitch competition are not only important for entrepre neurs, but also for the Bahamian economy at large. “It really supports the entrepreneurs in the coun try, small and medium-sized businesses, the lifeblood of this country,” he added. “So it’s a way to help the entrepreneurs but also help the country’s economy by supporting small and medium-sized businesses. It also exposes the partici pants not only to the prize, but it also exposes them to angel investors.” Mr Delaney said he is hopeful there will be a con tinued effort to support new businesses in The Bahamas. “For me, I’ve been really hoping that the Govern ment does more of these things to create not just these one-off grants, but to spark a whole culture of entrepreneurship because I believe the rest of the Caribbean is doing that, the rest of the world is cer tainly doing that, and The Bahamas shouldn’t be left behind,” he said. “So, I’m really happy that the Small Business Devel opment Centre is there as well as their partners like Simplified Lending, who are really helping to create a culture of entrepreneur ship in the Bahamas.”
The deadline for submissions is Friday 9th September 2022
By NEIL HARTNELL Business Editor
Full time position available General responsibilities: Answer incoming telephone calls, determine the purpose of callers, and forward calls to appropriate personnel and departments. Greet visitors/guests/members professionally and determine their nature and purpose of visit. May be required to perform basic clerical duties and assist Admin as needed. Email resume to ian@hbsmarine.com www.ub.edu.bs
Accelerator to build start-ups
A BAHAMIAN financial services provider has linked up with the Small Busi ness Development Centre’s Access Accelerator to provide Bahamian entre preneurs with new funding opportunitiesAccess
• Current Curriculum Vitae or Resume; • Copies of all academic qualifications with transcripts (original transcripts will be required upon employment) and/ or Certificates; and • The names and contact information of at least three (3) professional references.
CAREER OPPORTUNITY
Suitably qualified persons are invited to apply for the position of: Human Resources Information Systems Analyst in the Office of Information Technology responsible for coordinating with OIT and HR teams to analyze all HRIS requirements, develop and implement various HRIS procedures and prepare customized reports for finance and payroll teams; designing all custom ad hoc reports; resolving queries and ensuring accuracy; preparing all business documents and providing upgrades if required; and monitoring HRIS systems, maintaining integrity of all data. Other duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, preparing reports for all HR systems and applications; troubleshooting on all technical processes and providing support to all HRIS users; assisting with the training of users and preparing user manuals for KRONOS and BANNER applications. A detailed position announcement is accessible at: http://www.ub.edu.bs/ Requiredabout-us/career-opportunities/staff/qualificationsincludea Bachelor’s degree in a relevant area with at least three years’ experience in an HR role. Certifications in HR (PHR or SHRM-CP) would be an asset. Interested applicants should submit electronically to the Vice President, Human Resources via hrapply@ub.edu.bs all of the following documents:
The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their youronantheforcause,ingPerhapsneighbourhoods.youareraisfundsforagoodcampaigningimprovementsinareaorhavewonaward.Ifso,callus322-1986andsharestory.
Harbourside Marine Limited is seeking the following: Receptionist
The aim was to bypass traditional finan cial intermediaries and end central banks’ control over money, relying instead on a peer-to-peer system supported by blockchain, which is the name given to cryptographic information distributed across a decen tralised network. The appeal of cryptocur rencies is understandable. Income inequality is rising, the social state has shrunk, and globalisation has caused the loss of millions of jobs in the west. The financial system’s greed and lack of morals brought it close to collapse, almost taking the global economy down with it in 2008. All these factors created an appetite for magi cal solutions. In politics, the answer was populism. In finance,Speculatorsbitcoin. embraced bitcoin, propelling its value from $0.0025 when the first transaction was recorded in 2009 to almost $70,000 at the end of 2021. Those who got in early can certainly boast about their foresight. This astonishing rise accel erated as the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a specu lative fever in the financial markets. With non-essential workers confined at home, economic activity abruptly halted, forcing authorities to deliver unprecedented stim ulus. The money printers at the world’s main central banks worked around the clock generating an extraor dinary abundance of cash. At the same time, the costs of borrowing dropped in some cases into negative territory as did the yield generated by bank accounts.
This combination of factors was like a shot of adrenaline for the financial markets, and risk appetite jumped through the roof. The share prices of Zoom, Netflix, Amazon and other big technology names, all well suited for the work-from-home econ omy, reached stratospheric highs, despite many of these companies being unprofit able. Such was the level of stimulus injected into the economy that, between April 2020 and Decem ber 2021, the stock market behaved as if pumped up by steroids. The S&P 500, the main US stock index, gained more than 86 percent during that period, reaching fresh maximums almost every week.These goldilocks condi tions for risky assets did not just support the rise of stocks. They also provided the ideal environment for a crypto boom. Between April 2020 and November 2021,
Bitcoin: The Story So Far By EVANGELISTARICARDO CUSTOMERASSISTANTSERVICE Are YOU Analytical, Self Motivated, a Team Player, Results Driven? If you possess these qualities, we invite you to apply for the position of: Duties and Responsibilities: • Provide customer service, administrative support and concierge services • Responsible for custody of documents and correspondence • Offers support and assistance to the Senior Customer Service Officer and Customer Service Officer as it relates to: • Loan applications • Loan documents • Credit & debit card issuance • Account Opening (including Online Banking) and related activities • Administration of fixed deposits (new, renewal and cancellation) • Administration of inactive (dormant) accounts • Verification of Customer Point of Contact Information • Customer Complaints • Customer Inquiries • Telephone Banking • Other administrative/clerical duties as required • Ability to cross-sell Fidelity’s products and services • Can assist with sales by making referrals (as per minimum quota) and achieve Individual targets. • High school diploma or equivalent vocational training. • Minimum 5 years’ experience in the Financial Services Industry. • Must have excellent communication skills (verbal and written). • Proficient at Microsoft Office Suite programs. • Ability to work in a self-motivated environment with little supervision. • Ability to manage the administration of multiple tasks. JobRequirements/Qualifications:Summary: The successful candidate will be responsible for assisting with relationship banking for loan, deposit and merchant services customers. Please submit before: September 9th, 2022 HUMAN RESOURCES Re: Customer Service Assistant, 51 Frederick Street P.O. Box N-4853 | Nassau | F: 328.1108 careers@ delitybahamas.com Professional Insurance Consultants Limited has a vacancy for an ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Duties will include but not be limited to: • Production of new clients and accounts • Preparation of policies, endorsements etc. • Servicing of existing business • Rating of new business and renewals • Assisting with the profitable continued growth of the Company Requirements: • At least 5 years General Insurance (not Life & Health) experience • Bachelor’s Degree from reputable university or college • Solid knowledge of General Insurance law and practice • Hardworking, enthusiastic, presentable and a good communicator • Significant profess in CII examinations Attractive package and a job security offered to the successful candidate. Apply by email ONLY to info@picinsure.com Only suitable candidates will be replied to
BITCOIN is the original cryptocurrency, created in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis when someone known as Satoshi Nakamoto (their real iden tity is unknown) published the blueprint.
the price of bitcoin surged from $6,138 to $68,976. It was a gain of almost 1,000 percent, fuelled by central bank and fiscal stimulus.Theparty eventually had to end, and It happened in late 2021. Consumer prices started to rise and the Fed eral Reserve, worried about inflation, switched off the money printers and hiked borrowing costs. The impact of these measures was soon felt in the financial markets, and bitcoin crashed from $70,000 to $18,000 in less than seven months. Cryptos do not have intrinsic value, and will always be exposed to shifts in risk appetite. Gains can be quick and big, but so can losses, and this is bad news, especially for late adopters and inexperienced traders. Having said all that, it is unlikely bitcoin will com pletely crash. Early adopters are still in profit, and several large institutional investors also placed big bets during the pandemic. Both will probably hold their posi tions, at least for now. Still, the risks are high. Those con fident enough to speculate in cryptos should manage their money carefully, only using funds they can afford to lose. Finally, portfolio diversifica tions, including risk-hedging assets such as gold, or even cash (dollars), are advisable.
THE TRIBUNE Monday, September 5, 2022, PAGE 5
PAGE 6, Monday, September 5, 2022 THE TRIBUNE
“second highest grossing economy again, adding: “Mouth says a lot. It’s actions that speak.” He estimated that the island needs at least 200 new rental housing units “if not more” so that Abaconi ans wishing to return and rebuild have somewhere to stay, along with construc tion“Constructionworkers. is boom ing throughout the cays, and rebuilding is going on,” Mr Thompson told this newspaper. “But the bureaucratic red tape that has been put in place by this administration with the duty and VAT exemptions is a hindrance to the econ omy. You now have to get a SERZ order that has to be stamped before a certain date, and you don’t know come December this year if it’s going to be extended. “Abaco should for the next two years probably be a duty and VAT-free zone with proper policing. People rebuilding homes must show they own the homes and are just moving back, getting their contrac tor and building materials in duty and VAT-free “I’ll give you an exam ple of a marina at Pelican Shores, the Job Room,” he added. “They lost their diesel tanks and their fuel tanks in Dorian and yet, to this day, they can’t get the VAT and duty exemptions to bring in new diesel and gas tanks. That’s wrong. They lost them in Dorian, and that’s what the SERZ is for - to allow your economy to “I’verecover.been helping the owner. He wrote a letter requesting VAT and dutyfree exemptions, and explained why. He went through the process, and it’s just like you keep get ting pushed aside. We had a food store that had to renovate and upgrade their refrigeration, but when they went to import copper for this they had to pay VAT and duty on it. They wouldn’t give them a break on“It’sthat. disheartening. It’s like the Government is trying to get every dollar out of Abaco rather than allow Abaco to rebuild VAT and duty-free with policing. Let us get back on our feet and become the second grossing economy. Right now we still have people living in tents, we still have people living in cars.”Mr Thompson is far from the only Abaco resi dent to complain about the Davis administra tion’s application of the SERZ. Earlier this year, in extending the SERZ Order by a further 11 months to December 1, 2022, it included a clause that was little-noticed at the time with most persons just grateful for the extra time. “A person desirous of importing goods into a SERZ.... must make appli cation to the minister of finance to do so within 90 days of the commence ment of this Order, and any approval granted shall be valid until December 1, 2022,” the Order said. The tax breaks/concessions that had to be applied for fell under the VAT, Excise, Tariff and Customs Man agement Act, and covered construction materials, household furniture and appliances, electrical and plumbing supplies. And the Government’s decision not to reinstate the 10 percent levy on construction services in the hurricane-hit areas also provoked an outcry when it occurred on New Year’s Day. The Ministry of Finance, in its response, indicated its concern that the Government was giving away too much in tax breaks to wealthy second homeowners who could afford to rebuild without such assistance - especially at a time when it is endur ing its own fiscal crisis. “There’s a lot of red tape in place,” Mr Thompson reiterated. “In the past nine months to a year since this administration took over, things have come to a halt. Under the previous admin istration at least things were being done, although I didn’t always agree with how the money was being spent.“Right now, up until two weeks ago, we had not heard much. Then, suddenly, we had the redevelopment of the new hurricane centre or civic centre that will be completed by 2023. The Disaster Reconstruction Authority is starting to kick-off again with HARP (Home Assistance and Repairs Programme). Neil, I say to you, mouth can say anything. Until we see action we’re still in the samePointingboat.” out that the Government was unable to find suitable rental housing for public school teachers, Mr Thompson said: “Right now we could use at least 200 rental units here if not more. The business district is starting to come back, and I would say we are about 60 percent, 65 per cent, recovered but there’s still a long way to go. We have a lot of businesses that have opened. The issue we are having is housing. “It’s a hindrance because it limits people in finding places to stay to rebuild. The second homeowner market on Eastern Shores. We had 60 houses out there at one time, and right now there’s only eight. That was our biggest rental market. Them getting the water situation, and getting water brought out to them, I understand it’s going out to tender. There are obstacles still in place. Some of the infrastructure still needs a lot of help, and the airport is still not fully fixed.” every dollar’ out of sales-driven, networking professional to fill the role of:
• Backup and relief for other Lending roles or functions as required.
• High School Diploma. • Minimum of 3 years’ experience in the Financial Services industry or in a role which required solicitation and sales based on targets.
• Must be energetic, competitive and goal-oriented.
• Ability to manage the administration of multiple tasks at one time.
If you have what it takes, we !
Duties and Responsibilities:
• Proficient at Microsoft Office Suite programs.
• Ability to work in a self-motivated environment, on a team and with little supervision.
• Exceptional character, integrity and work ethics.
Abaco FROM PAGE B1 PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVEBANKING(LENDER) Are you highly adaptable? Competitive? Energetic? Flexible? Fidelity is looking for a passionate,
• Solicit and interact with prospective clients regarding loan applications and other credit matters.
Stop ‘getting
• Prepare credit applications (loans, overdrafts, credit cards) and perform credit facility renewals.
want you
• The solicitation and sale of loans, credit cards and other credit products to new customers.
JobRequirements/Qualifications:Summary:
The ideal Candidate will be a proven sales representative who is target-driven and possesses excellent communication and interpersonal skills. This role is primarily responsible for the sale of Fidelity’s loan and credit card products. In addition to a fixed salary, this position also earns substantial performance-based incentives, bonuses and referral fees. Please submit before: September 9th, 2022
• The solicitation of customers for overdue loan and credit card payments.
Bahamas’
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (verbal and written).
HUMAN RESOURCES Re: Personal Banking Representative (Lender), 51 Frederick Street P.O. Box N-4853 | Nassau | F: 328.1108 careers@ delitybahamas.com
RENDERINGS of the marketplace boutiques at Nassau Cruise Port, which will soon be occupied by former Fes tival Place tenants once the $250m redevelop ment of Prince George Wharf is completed. These vendors are are being provided with access to up to $20,000 in grant funding via a partnership between Nassau Cruise Port and the Access Accelerator’s Small Business Devel opment Centre (SBDC) The Tribune wants to hear from people who are making news in their neighbourhoods. Perhaps you are raising funds for a good cause, campaigning for improvements in the area or have won an award. If so, call us on 322-1986 and share your story. Share your news
THE TRIBUNE Monday, September 5, 2022, PAGE 7
NASSAU Cruise Port (NCP) has partnered to give former Festival Place vendors access to as much as $20,000 in grant funding that will help them fit-out their boutiques in its new Marketplace.ThePrince George Wharf operator, in a statement, says it has teamed with the Small Business Develop ment Centre’s (SBDC) Access Accelerator to provide financial support for its vendor tenants.
“NCP is offering their marketplace tenants a unique, amazing opportu nity. It is an honour to be chairwoman of this com mittee. This is what we, as Creative Nassau and proponents of the orange economy, are all about –empowering Bahamians, period – and communica tion and collaboration are the best way to achieve this for the greater good.”
CRUISE PORT PARTNERS FOR $20K VENDOR GRANT FUNDS
Samantha L. Rolle, Access Accelerator’s executive director, added: “Access Accelerator is designed for programmes exactly like this; to put busi ness owners in contact with funding to support and sus tain their entrepreneurial endeavours. The output from these small Bahamian business owners, and their unique product offerings, will be on display for thou sands of cruise passengers from all over the world each day. “It really puts these Bahamian vendors on the world stage. The ongo ing work being done by Nassau Cruise Port and the Authentically Baha mian Advisory Committee, of which I am a part, is remarkable. We are really seeking to create a dis tinctive destination and I am proud of the role that Access Accelerator Small Business Development Centre has had in this worthy undertaking.” Mike Maura, Nassau Cruise Port’s chief execu tive and director, said: “From the beginning of this process, Nassau Cruise Port has provided support to the legacy tenants from the former Festival Place. It gives our team great pleasure to provide support in this way to help these small Bahamian business owners with their boutique fit-outs.“COVID-19 was very hard on the tourism sector, and this funding will help in a very meaningful way. The team at NCP is also very excited about the effort that the Authentically Baha mian Advisory Committee is making to elevate product offerings in the port space, which aligns with Nassau Cruise Port maintaining its key focus of being authenti cally Bahamian. The goods that will be on offer at Nassau Cruise Port will be unique, and will convey the spirit, nature, identity and character of The Bahamas”.
The funding will be avail able for each qualifying Marketplace tenant that meets eligibility and appli cation requirements, and is designed to also help develop authentic Baha mian tourism products. Vendors have 30 days in which to apply for the grant through the SBDC’s online application portal, which opened on Septem ber 1, 2022. “Nassau Cruise Port and its team are to be congratulated on this phe nomenal initiative to ensure that their Marketplace boutiques are a first-class experience, together with their mandate to promote authentically Bahamian products” said Pam Burn side of Creative Nassau, and chairwoman of the Authentically Bahamian Advisory Committee.
NOTICE is hereby given that ASHLEIGH DEIMIE GIBBS of P. O. Box CR-56104, #43 Sunrise Road, New Providence, Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 29th day of August, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.
FROM PAGE B1 thing for us was the deficit target,” he added, pointing out that the full-year figure had come in almost $70m below the final $758.6m prediction given in May’s Budget. It was also 27.6 per cent, or $262.3m, below the original $951.8m deficit esti mate given by the former Minnis administration in MayHowever,2021. with the Public Treasury still doing its clos ing statements and final entries ahead of the regular audit, Mr Wilson warned against premature celebra tion over the Government beating its deficit target. “I think it was a good achievement, but we can’t celebrate,” he told Tribune Business.“Westill haven’t closed the end of the fiscal year. We have to look and see if there are any adjustments and so forth. I won’t claim that victory yet. The Treasury is doing their final numbers and we’ll see.”Describing the global economic environment as “murky”, and making it difficult for the Minis try of Finance to plan with certainty, Mr Wilson also hinted at concerns that interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks could slow the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows that The Bahamas is relying on to rebuild its economy post-COVID. “Every day is something new,” he added. “The exter nal economic environment is murky. The interest rate rises in major economies may impact foreign direct investment. We are looking for ways to be consistent with our fiscal plans.” The rate hikes will inevitably raise the cost of capital for developers relying on some form of debt financing, which most do, as well as real estate buyers requir ing mortgages to close their purchases.TheGovernment beat ing its 2021-2022 deficit target is, in the context of a national debt that is $12bnplus and rising, a modest bit of good news especially since the $689.5m of ‘red ink’ incurred will increase the deficit by that amount. Mr Wilson acknowledged this, saying “there’s more work to be done” on rev enue compliance and enforcement as well as the wider fiscal position.
BPL or roadworks? Bran’s $100k IT ‘hell’
Government transferred funds to Water & Sewer age and other state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to help repay outstanding bills, helped more than double “other revenues” beyond projections. They increased by 174.1 percent from $80.8m to $221.4m. The Ministry of Finance’s June report showed that major recurrent spending items, together with capital expenditure, were largely contained within the targets set by the Budget although debt servicing (interest) payments exceeded the ini tial target of $482.5m by 14.4 percent at $551.8m. During June, the Govern ment’s debt expanded by a net $414.3m largely due to the $385m international bond issue that was under written by a government guarantee to enable it to be placed at more competitive interest“Proceedsrates.of borrowings during the period totalled $637.3m, primarily sourced by $202m in Bahamas Registered Stock, $30m in Central Bank advances and $385m in bond place ments,” the Ministry of Finance said. “Repayments totalled $223m, primarily driven by $173m in Treas ury Bill placements.” It added in a statement: “During the month of June 2022, revenues increased by 6.8 percent ($14m) to $221.3m compared to the prior month. This improved performance was largely attributed to an increase in revenue collection from international trade and transaction taxes ($13.1m). “However, June 2022 revenues decreased by 27.5 percent ($84m) compared to the prior fiscal year, driven by decreased col lections of $61.1m in excise tax owing to timing delays related to tax payment; $13.7m in VAT largely related to VAT on property [transactions]; $9.7m in the sale of goods and services; and $19.4m in other non-tax revenues.“Owing to the post ing of supplementary expenditures to settle outstanding arrears, total outlays increased by 87.4 percent ($251.9m) to $540.1m relative to the prior month, primarily driven by increased outlays for the use of goods and services ($70.1m), subsi dies ($83.4m), public debt interest payments ($34.2m), and the acquisition of nonfinancial capital assets ($57.8m),” the Ministry of Finance“Comparedcontinued.tothe same period of the prior year, expenditures rose by 0.6 percent ($3.4m). This was largely due to additional disbursements of $51.1m for public debt interest pay ments, and $40.3m in other recurrent transfers. With reductions in COVID-19 related social assistance ($38.1m), use of goods and services ($23.6m) and the acquisition of non-financial capital assets ($35.5m).”
“I had to dash home to the office in my home to participate. We were still trying to figure out what was going on. This was a hearing where I had to wear my robes, and I didn’t have them on because they were back at the Village Road offices, but the judge was veryCitinggracious.”thesituation as an example of the challenges faced by nessesentrepreneursBahamas-basedandbusionaregularbasis,
Mr McCartney said the costs and loss to his law firm easily ran to a low six-figure sum. “From an equipment point of view, it’s no less than $30,000,” he said in response to Tribune Busi ness“Inquestions.terms of business, I’m having my in-house accounting department get that together. We’re looking at close to $100,000 in terms of billings. I think I’ve got a bit more grey on my head as a result of that.” Now that Halsbury Chambers has solved its operational woes, Mr McCartney said the law firm was seeking to determine whether it was BPL or the roadworks that was responsible and seek appropriate damages and compensation.“That’sexactly what we’re trying to do. Now we need to look at who’s at fault,” he added. “We’re still trying to figure out if it was something to do with the roadworks. They were digging in the road out side our building that day. We first had to get up and operating, and that was hell dealing with our providers, getting them to come in, assess and replace.” The Village Road road works, which have been going on for much of 2022, are due to conclude this November. Mr McCartney’s comments came about a week after Alfred Sears, minister of works and utili ties, toured the project site to assess its progress. Mr McCartney, though, said such incidents only served to further hinder businesses still struggling to rebound from COVID-19 losses and cope with rising costs as a result of higher imported inflation. He reit erated concerns, voiced by small business consult ant Mark A Turnquest and others, that the Prime Min ister’s call for consumers to control their spending could tip the balance too far and slow the economy to such an extent that fresh problems result.
“The Prime Minister recently instructed that we must all be frugal, tighten our belts because infla tion is here. We’ve been experiencing this for some time,” the former DNA leader added. “It’s a dou ble-edged sword. When you do that it means people will be tighter on spend ing money in the economy, and when you do that, what happens?“There’s no movement, more or less, in the econ omy. I fully understand what the Prime Minister is saying from a practical point of view. It’s generally good advice, but if you do that and consumer spending slows too much, it means there is no movement and the economy remains stag nant. Everybody holds off on spending and the Gov ernment remains strapped. It then has to look at other things to stimulate the economy.”PhilipDavis QC had urged Bahamian consumers to conserve their purchas ing power by only spending on necessities in the present inflationary environment which has eroded living standards and dispos able income for many, and resulted in a cost of living crisis both at home and around the world - espe cially for the middle and lower income classes. “If you look at the his tory of our economy, and go back to 2008-2009, there was a recession,” Mr McCartney recalled. “We were about to turn the corner 12 years later and, of course, Dorian hit and then COVID came a year later. You can call it inflation, you can call it a recession, but it feels like we’ve not been out of recession since 2008. “We don’t get a break. I know a lot of it is out of our control as a people and a country, but the reality is we’re not getting a break. It’s really tough out there. It is good to see a lot of tour ists, but it has not started to trickle down to the average man on the street. I applaud the Government in terms of some of the initiatives they have going on, or intend to be implemented, but the reality is that every day Bahamians have to strug gle, and this is the majority of the Bahamian people.
“I see this all around from an educational point of view, legal point of view, pharmaceutical point of view and real estate point of view. Every people strug gle to make ends meet, put food on the table and make sure they have a roof over theirThehead.”Central Bank of The Bahamas last week revealed that annual inflation for the year to June 2022 increased almost five-fold compared to the previous 12 months to give a stark indication of the cost of living crisis facing many Bahamian families. The monetary policy regulator, unveiling its July economic update, revealed that the annual domestic inflation rate had increased to 4.4 percent as opposed to 0.9 percent some 12 months ago just one day after the Prime Minister urged Baha mians to be frugal with their spending and warned that the country was “in for a rough ride”.
VAT revenues finished the 12 months to endJune 2022 at $1.136bn, some $209.8m or 22.7 per cent ahead of the revised $925.988m forecast, which is giving the Ministry of Finance confidence it will hit the $1.412bn projected for the current 2022-2023 fiscal“Weyear.don’t see any reason why we won’t achieve it,” Mr Wilson told this news paper. “We haven’t seen anything to lead us to believe that our estimate is wrong. We think that once we get through the first quarter we will have a fair idea of what we will get, but we have seen nothing to make us think our estimates areThewrong.”Ministry of Finance’s report for June 2022, released yesterday, showed full year revenues coming in at $2.609bn or 11.5 per cent ahead of the $2.339bn projected after the supple mentary Budget unveiled in December 2021. Tax revenues were pegged at $2.162bn, or 7.1 percent up on the revised $2.019bn Budget estimate, while nontax revenue was some 40.1 percent or $127.7m up on forecasts at $446m. The June report appears to have largely used the supplementary Budget esti mates of December 2021 and May 2022, the latter which incorporated its $251.4m in out”2021,apany’sTelecommunicationsaddedtothe22.8jumpedtradereclassifiedofenceexplainingjection,$236.5msomestoodimprovement.sionasBahamianmanceanadjustments”notcomparativeborrowing/spending,supplementaryasthefigureswhileincludingthe“outlookthatreflectedimprovingfiscalperforbasedonarevivingeconomy.This,aresult,givestheimpresofafargreaterfiscalExcisetaxescollectedatjust$46.5m,19.7percentoftheirfullyearprowithMrWilsonthatthedifferwascausedbymuchthoserevenuesbeingasinternationaltaxes.Thelatterbyalmost$100morpercentcomparedtoBudgetforecast,rising$511.8mfrom$416.8m.ThefinancialsecretarythattheBahamasCom(BTC)paymentof$24mdividendinlateaswellas“inandtransactionswherethe
‘Not claiming victory’: Yet deficit is beaten by $70m
PAGE 8, Monday, September 5, 2022 THE TRIBUNE data was lost, Mr McCart ney replied: “Thank God we were able to retrieve everything. Our attorneys, for the most part, were at a standstill for about two weeks until we got the com puters in. “It was a Friday after noon about two to two-and-a-half months ago, and everything went off. We were shut down. I actually had a court matter, and it was to be heard via Zoom. The court case was 2.30pm and something, and it went down at about 12.30pm.
FROM PAGE B1
NOTICE
FROM PAGE B2
newbechair:CrowdfundWecangatewayforFDlmodel
PAGE 12, Monday, September 5, 2022 THE TRIBUNE
NAGICO mulls exit after $6m losses FROM PAGE B1
However, one wellplaced contact confirmed that a circular has been sent to several Bahamian insur ance industry players as part of an approach to feel out if there is any interest in buying the company. “Are you aware that NAGICO, just the Bahamian opera tion, is up for sale?” they asked. “They have a flyer outAnotherthere.” added: “Some one said to me: ‘Have you heard that NAGICO is leaving?’ This market doesn’t lend itself to their business model. We’ve had things like Dorian and other storms, but I don’t think they had a huge loss from Dorian. Logic says that if you’re going to exit, try to get the book off and get something for it, but I’ve heard nothing about that.”“It wouldn’t surprise me,” another insurance industry source said of a potential NAGICO exit. “I know that one of their agents, for the last month or two, have been remarket ing their NAGICO business with other carriers. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but one reason could be that they’re planning an exit. “They’ve never really done much business here. They’ve never really pen etrated the market in any meaningful way. With all the indications within the last three to four months that the market is hardening and capacity is becoming more constrained, it will be difficult to think of anyone wanting to take on a new portfolio particularly in the peak of hurricane season.” NAGICO (Bahamas) financials for the year to end-December 2021 show it had an accumulated defi cit at that point of $6.186m, representing the total losses it has incurred since becoming licensed to write business in this nation by the Insurance Commission in 2012. It received its per mits in October that year, and publicised its launch the following year in 2013. The latest financials show more than half the accumu lated deficit was incurred in the years 2020 and 2021, which were non-hurricane years and are typically when general insurers seek to generate profits that build capital reserves so they can cope should a cata strophic storm equivalent to Dorian NAGICOstrike. (Bahamas) suffered a $1.338m loss in 2020, which grew to $2.051m last year. Top-line gross premium revenues declined year-over-year to $10.086m in 2021, from $11.735m in 2020, and the carrier also incurred a $240,071 net underwriting loss from its core insurance business last year. The Bahamian prop erty and casualty market is largely dominated by five locally-based underwriters. Apart from Bahamas First, there is RoyalStar Assur ance, Security & General, Insurance Company of the Bahamas and Summit Insurance Company. The latter two are effectively ‘tied carriers’ through which J. S. Johnson and Insurance Management, respectively, place their general insurance business. The sector is seen as rela tively mature, and largely a competition for market share, with many of the five and their brokers having expanded outside The Bahamas and are now seeking further opportuni ties through which to grow. NAGICO, which stands for Netherlands Antilles Gen eral Insurance Company, itself is in some 20 other Caribbean countries bar TheMrBahamas.Williams, in an inter view with Tribune Business in 2013, said the company’s long-term goal was a 10 per cent share of the $350$400 million property and casualty market. He added that despite efforts by established underwriters to marginalise it, the “startup” already had seven Bahamian agent/brokers writing business for it. Disclosing then that NAGICO (Bahamas) ulti mately wanted to have a 10-strong broker force, Mr Williams said it would take 10 years for NAGICO (Bahamas) to hit its market share target and pledged that the out.”publiclywidely.ingstartafter,exponentialaging,start-upforinwriteformalmode.andhaveyear,makeMrexpectedperformednationunderwriterCaribbean-basedwasinthis“forthelong-term”.“Thebusinesshasthewayweittoperform,”Williamssaid.“Wewillourtargetsforthisanddosoeasily.Wemodestgoalsfor2013,arestillinstart-upWeneededtodothislaunch,butexpecttoinexcessof$2milliongrosswrittenpremium2013.“IthinkforafirstyearthatwillbeencourandweshouldseegrowththereparticularlywhenwemarketingandbrandthecompanymoreWe’regoingtostarttogetourname
Gyros intends to hire 20 full-time people to expand operations off less than a $500,000 raise,” he said “This is versus big capi tal projects that claim they will spend $50m and hire 200 people. Of course, both types of capital raises are needed and should be encouraged. But $50m worth of similar crowd funded success of smaller companies would mean 100 companies and 20,000 jobs. The question, then, is where will these companies come from.” Mr Rahming Snr pointed to Bloomberg data show ing more than $311bn was raised by start-ups in the US alone. “I know we can get some of this market because only a small por tion of start-ups and high growth companies actually receive funding in the US. Venture capitalists there are heavily biased toward a certain demographic, leav ing the rest of society with some very healthy com panies that need help,” he added.Asto where the investors will come from, Mr Rah ming said: “It will be our ability to tell our story well and reach the right audi ences in the right mediums. Many non-Bahamians who already live here, and those abroad, would like to boast about things their friends and co-workers cannot invest in. Such as owning businesses based in the Bahamas versus just talking about owning more Apple stock, which anyone in his or her circle can get. “And with ArawakX’s business model, the Baha mians will always be able to participate. We are seeing the emergence of foreign investors into local compa nies listed on the platform.”
