Complementary Currencies (CCs) have been around since the 1980s and are currently being used by over 5000 communities worldwide – ranging from small villages in Africa to whole countries such as Switzerland. CCs have proven to support economic development specifically in regions plagued by liquidity issues, which begs the question: Can a Complementary Currency solution […]
The Caribbean is plagued by challenges in cross-border payments, stalling trade development across the region. Businesses have limited and slow access to US Dollars. Wire transfers come with high costs, slow transaction times, and accessibility challenges. Even the simplest cross-border transactions become an expensive, slow, uncertain, and bureaucracy-laden exercise. What does this actually look like […]
Owen Seymour Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados, stated in the year 2000, ”I must say to you that the single market and economy in the Caribbean cannot truly become a reality, unless we create the political power structures to make it a reality. It will not be easy or automatic.”. So far, the Caribbean […]
A Remedy Against De-risking of Banks
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International banks are de-risking their business and Caribbean businesses pay a steep price for this. As an example, remember what was happening in Belize in 2016. At this time the majority of Belize’s banks were de-risked. There was no easy way to transfer money in or out of Belize using the banking system, which wreaked […]
Cross-Border Trade & Regional Integration
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Navigating the Caribbean market has been costly and cumbersome for businesses for decades now. Why is the Caribbean still a patchwork of small island countries, with multiple currencies and largely isolated business markets? And how may better economic integration be achieved within the region? The idea of economic integration itself is not new to the […]