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Donna St.Hill - Bio
Donna St.Hill – Bio

Caribbean people have long been at the forefront of African liberation and empowerment. From political giants like Sir Walter Rodney, Marcus Garvey and George Padmore, to more recent stalwarts in the vanguard like Bob Marley, Sir Hilary Beckles and Eddie Grant, out of the geographically tiny islands of the Caribbean have come the towering intellectual raison d’être of African emancipation, black power and Pan Africanism.

Today, as a second “scramble for Africa” ensues around the globe, Barbados along with the rest of the Caribbean has an opportunity to leverage our history of leadership on the frontlines of African unity, now that that same passionate engagement is needed in order to consolidate the economic transformation currently taking place on the African continent. However, while in the past Africa reaped the benefits of efforts of its stolen tribes in the middle of the Atlantic sea, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in living experience, the advantage is not just one way but a potential win-win for Continent as well as the Diaspora in the Caribbean.

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139 responses to “Opportunity Africa: Leveraging Barbados’ First Cousin Advantages to Maximise Trade and Investment in Africa’s Economic Rising”


  1. Plantation……..actually, in one of Bim’s newpapers today Lashley is telling Bajans to stop looking for government to help them and help themselves, were these ministers not the same ones begging/buying people’s votes not more than 3 MONTHS ago?


  2. Lawson, Well Well

    Yes…we are regarded as riff raff.

    Given that premise there are two things:

    1. What have we got that they want badly enough?

    2. Who do we know? It’s a case (as ever) of ‘man know man’.


  3. Under …what are they thinking…… a few days ago ……In England Barbados;s biggest tourism partner, a young soldier was murdered and hacked apart by some Nigerian Brits, Barely a week on barbados wants to strengthen african ties singing the praises of a billionaire nigerian it kind of looks insensitive to me.Business is business but be careful of the optics


  4. please all go back there it is the land of opportunity now you have sucked the blood out of barbados time for you parasites to move on.


  5. thanks be to god i was not born black.amen


  6. BAFBFP, May 27, 2013, 9:17 PM:

    “And it is not as if she has ever PRODUCED anything to SELL either … Sorry, consultants do produce reports … my omission”

    Agreed. Fully agreed.

    It’s not even satisfactory as consultancy. It is statistically meaningless and borderline economically-illiterate to give aggregate economic data for “Africa” and on that basis suggest that there should be a mad rush to invest in “Africa”.

    So “Africa’s trade with the rest of the world has increased by more than 200%”. What does this mean? Does it mean anything? Exports? Imports? Trade balance? Share of global trade? Share of global exports? Increase in share? What? What does it mean?

    So Africa’s “annual inflation has averaged only 8% …”. Really? ONLY 8%? And that’s the average. What’s the median? What’s the mean? And that high number is an average for, what, 54 countries? In the area of intellectually honest economic analysis, disaggregation of data is your friend.

    So Africa’s “foreign debt has decreased by 25%”. What does this mean? Does it mean that, if you work out the average among 54 countries, there’s been a 25% decline in their foreign obligations of “Africa”? And if so, how useful is it to know that? It fell from what percentage to what other percentage, continent wide? And how useful is it to know even THAT, on a continent-wide basis? Is “Africa” a country?

    So FDI to “Africa”, we’re told, “grew by 27% in 2011 alone” Perhaps it did. But if a Bajan is thinking of investing in “Africa”, what is the conceivable usefulness of this bit of information? It’s like saying, “hey, FDI in ‘Europe’ grew by 300% in 2011 alone, so let’s invest in ‘Europe’. Well … maybe not Cyprus or Spain at the moment. And Slovenia could be a bit risky. I’d steer clear of Greece. But still! Let’s invest in ‘Europe’. It’s a great opportunity. ‘Europe’ is the darling of international investors.”

    And as an invitation for multinational investors to take a risk in “Africa”, what possible relevance can there be to the fact that a single, named Nigerian has become very rich? What? It’s like reading an article in a school magazine.

    So “according to the latest Transparency International figures only 11, out of the 54 African countries falls [sic] into the category of serious concern”. Perhaps that’s true. Another way of looking at it, according to Transparency International figures, is that of the 46 countries perceived to be the most corrupt in the world, roughly half are African countries.

    If we tried to rebut point-by-point we’d be here all day, probably all week, and we don’t have the time. One last point though, from those of us who have spent many years at the human end of development in Africa and elsewhere, must be made. The notion that it was “out of the geographically tiny islands of the Caribbean” that came “the towering intellectual raison d’être of African emancipation” is not only preposterous on its face, it’s an insult. A culturally insensitive, historically illiterate insult.


  7. Robert Ross…………….opportunities will have to picked carefully and business done professionally. I know a few Bajans who have started businesses there and are doing well.


  8. Baumann…………….you are missing one thing in your debate, the fact that the Europeans are all falling over themselves along with the Chinese to invest in Africa…………..however, I don’t see why Caribbean people who desire to migrate to Africa and start businesses should not do so. Our bloodline is stronger on that continent than any other, the West is now a financial wasteland, they have reverted to returning to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and yes, even Africa for slave labor, trying to pay the lowest wages to make maximum profits, Caribbean people will have to wade through the bullshit and decide what is the best course to take for their survival.


  9. Lawson……….remember, that self same Nigerian Brit was being recruited by MI15 or whatever the secret service in England is call……………can you say, more in the mortal than the pestle?


  10. Forgot……………..incorrecto, I am sure God is thanking the earth and universe you were not born black either, it will be easier to wipe you off the face of the earth, since you were not made in God’s image.


  11. Well Well you are missing my point, it doesnt matter what the story is, it is the hatfield mckoy theory you either are for us or against us , optics, why maybe alienate tourists rather than wait till a new story takes over the media waves


  12. Well Well, May 28, 2013, 2:17 PM : “I don’t see why Caribbean people who desire to migrate to Africa and start businesses should not do so.”

    Neither do I. Let’s have a BU poll. Hands up. Who wants to migrate to Africa? What percentage of Bajans want to emigrate to “Africa”?


  13. Read the submission with understanding which presents Africa has a land of opportunity for investment. This can come in all forms ie. Strategic partnerships, direct investment etc. One does not have to migrate anywhere.


  14. Lawson………….it is now about survival, the very same tourist as you know since you are also up North are more concerned about survival than what others think about what they are doing to survive, just remember, these attacks are now being made by homegrown nuts both in the US and England, they are being indoctrinated in those countries. If we continue to worry about what tourists think, people are going to start starving, if Caribbean people prefer try startup businesses in Africa, that is none of the tourist’s business, they themselves are running to Africa to do business. I did get your point, i was just offering another.


  15. Baumann…………….i gotta to admit, i am real scared of the mosquitoes, they like to bite me and i might be the unlucky one, and i don’t like overly long flights in petrie dishes, however, as David pointed out, business can be done without migrating, although it is always better to be on the ground and hands on.


  16. millertheanunnaki , May 28, 2013, 7:02 AM:
    “I want to wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the opportunities facing Barbados to “rediscover” West Africa. The first hurdle to overcome is that of transportation whether by air or sea … Can we for once work together as a regional entity and get the Trinidad-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to establish and operate at least a one weekly flight to, say, Accra initially? Other Caribbean States including Jamaica and definitely Barbados should be prepared to facilitate and subsidise this venture in its early stages.”

    Yes! This is a brilliant idea. Perhaps we could get the Barbados NIS to facilitate and subsidise a weekly flight from Lagos in Nigeria (the motherland) to Barbados. I’m sure most Bajans in the diaspora would support this as a link to Mother Africa.

    If we can’t, er, “facilitate” that, probably there are millions of Bajan businessmen who would see the wisdom of, er, “facilitating” such a flight.
    That “inaugural flight” from Africa a few years ago could surely serve as a model.


  17. Well well I disagree if you dont worry what tourists think that is when you will starve. Tourism is your lifeline but you know that. You are not commodity based. If you think Guyana is not as good a bet as Africa half a world away, they speak the same language as you Their economy grew 5.4 and 3.7 in 2011 an12 then you and I will have to disagree


  18. Charity begins at home.
    So does successful business.

    If we can’t run one shiite here in Barbados unless someone from over and away come and run it for us, …or come and buy it and tell us what to do, …HOW THE HELL CAN WE EVEN THINK OF RUNNING SOMETHING in St Lucia – far less Africa….?

    Bull shit!!

    Bunch of lackies can’t even crawl and talking bout sprinting against Usain Bolt…?

    Wunna know any Africans? …the world’s number 3 scam artists!!! …Those fellows would eat us alive…and Bushie talking bout the nice ones…..


  19. Lawson………….we are not disagreeing at all, we will have differing opinions, I too see the upside to investment in Guyana, but we cannot force Bajans to go there, although a friend of mine from Bim just acquired 30 acres in guyana and is on his way to cultivating, so some people are doing so. Africa is big enough for the whole population of Barbados to do business there, with the whole continent still left over…………there is room for both places to be utilized to the benefit of Barbados, it will be a matter of choice, some like my friend will go to Guyana and some like my other friends will go to Africa. They also need to wean themselves away from tourism so they would not have to be bowing and scraping and worrying about offending tourist who do not and will not reciprocate.


  20. Quoting: “[Donna St. Hill] has advised world leaders”. Really? Which “world leaders”? Which? When? On what?

    CV padding is the curse of the int orgs. Which world leaders did you “advise”, Ms Hill? We note that you “read” for the doctorate at LSE, but did you actually get it?


  21. Bushy……….they got Bajans with business interests in Canada and New York and around the world, don’t sell the ones living in Bim short, necessity is the mother of invention when they leave Bim. Staying in barbados, they have to contend with dumb backward leaders who give preference to everyone except local black business people, they are at a disadvantage in their own land, but when bajans get out of the government run crab hole in bim, they do very well business wise.

  22. St George's Dragon Avatar
    St George’s Dragon

    The rest of the world is investing in Africa for two reasons:
    1. Labour costs are low. The going rate for a worker on a tobacco plantation in one country I know about is US$1/day. It is the big companies which are moving production from the Far East, where labour costs are starting to rise, which are driving this.
    2. It has natural resources which countries want to mine and export.
    There is no way Barbados could compete with the huge multi-national miners which are in this market.
    If you want to expand outside Barbados, I am with Well Well, go to Guyana. Labour costs are far cheaper than here; there are flights going there; the language is the same. Kiffin Simpson thinks its a good plan and he seems to know how to make money.


  23. I got news for all you dreamers.
    Most Bajun run businesses ,just too damn greedy.
    Not Black NOTwhite BOTH!! TOO DAMNED GREEDY.
    Take a staple that everyone always Runnin de mout about, Sweet potatoes.
    Cost now WHOLESALE $3 a lb maybe if you buya whole massive set 2.50 a lb.24$ a rod and you still gotta get Goadies diggin.
    Where the hell all these Geniei going to find Export buyers?
    Add a freight of 4000£ for a reefer to UK and then add transport each end, add a wholesale markup,dock clearance , agents fee.and a mile of other small exspenses.
    You will not be far short of 6B$ a lb landed.in lets say UK then add a 50% for retail and a 100% for someplace like Tesco.
    AND dont some smart ass pipe up with ” 3% Tesco work on”,cos thats bullshit.
    What you add that up too??
    I tellin you as long as you got a hole where the monkey stuff his nuts ,YOU ENT SELLIN NUFFIN EXPORT.
    Nigerian, Martian ,or Outa dis worl yuh ent sellin nuffin ‘tall
    Wake up, Wise up.Cos you can apply that same formula to everydamn thing we have that “COULD be exported”
    Get ready for the Apocalypse
    Dont talk to me about Bajuns and doin business with Nigerians ,them Nigerians, forget more tricks and scams than any Bajun every KNEW or will know if he live to 10000.
    Cos in Nigeria people DIEING to do business .and I MEAN literally DIEING.


  24. the woman another a tool for the greedy capitalist,,,,,,,,,,money talks bull shit walks…


  25. KIFFIN SIMPSON got MONEY. MONEY MAKE MONEY.
    When you got it like he got it ,you just sit back and tailor the “offers ” to suit.
    You nail their balls to the wall and dont pull a nail till you got everything and double ,treble back what you did put in.
    In the end you OWN them and they still paying back.
    He learned it from the WORLDBANK.


  26. How curious,people want to invest in a country or continent because the labour is so cheap it amounts to slavery how ironic.


  27. No NO Not Ironic, ,realistic
    Greed and Corruption.
    The WORLD is SCrewed.
    Its a curious as overturning a Cow Turd and watching the maggots crawl out.
    .


  28. @St.Georges Dragon

    Guyana maybe a good place to invest if it is about agriculture. You should not pigeon hole the kind of investment that is possible. We want to support our high lifestyle and you cannot support it from Barbados given our high cost base.


  29. Dr. Love……….are you a graphic artist? you do have a way…………


  30. @Well Well
    Comes from livin in “Paradise”


  31. As I see it, the decision to seek business outside of Barbados when we all know that the island is not only stagnant but dead, is not only a personal but also an individual decision, i made that decision some time ago and it has worked, if i decide to pick up and go do business in China in my best interest it will still be a personal and individual decision that no one can stop me from making. It is all individual and personal, governments cannot tell people where to go to find a more productive financial life and i don’t believe anyone else has that right either……………of course everyone can express their opinions……..don’t mean anyone has to take the advice.


  32. Dr. Love…………..i quite understand.


  33. Investment in Barbados translates usually to two different types of activity …
    1. Retail
    2. Bricks and Mortar (Apartments)

    There is very little thought given to productive enterprise of any kind. At least Armstrong is putting money behind new food processing ideas BUT as if to offset this, Foster would rather employ Pollacks to develop and make paint so that he could sell the end result to West Indians … Stupse..! I mean Simpson’s pockets became deep as a result of selling JAPAN to every corner of the Earth. The monied class among the darker skinned people are the “professional elite” whose only example of risk taking is the acceptance of student loans to complete studies in prestigious overseas institutions and to return to Barbados to have tax payers and consumers clear their indebtedness.

    Developing a vibrant productive class does NOT demand extreme risk taking. When people are paid huge salaries with absolutely no true assessment on a return that is significant at the level of a National contribution, such outlays should be considered lost money and the result of extreme risk taking. 4% of the available investment capital to be spent in productive enterprises is NOT a big ask …!

    Unless we have a number of products that are sufficiently developed to sell the rest of the world, Africa like Guyana, will just be the excuse for international consultants (that advise governments) to attract a consultancy arrangement …


  34. The big traders are making moves on Africa, but some of the African leaders like Zimbabwe are trying to stop exports of their individual countries wealth………………..
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22669331


  35. judging by the leaders You could probably do a good business selling medals


  36. David wrote “We want to support our high lifestyle”

    That high lifestyle is going to regress to a better healthier lifestyle.

    The intellectuals and economists in Barbados are still burying their heads in the sand.

    There is no economic model that can bring Barbados back to the Arthur years when the economy was driven by construction,tourism and Canadian and American offshore companies.

    A more moderate lifestyle will become the norm in Barbados.


  37. Think we got some big problems ahead, they have started patenting viruses…………..
    http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/sounds-alarm-middle-eastern-virus-article-1.1356950


  38. Global Funk Path ✈


  39. And Dr. St. Hill (you do have a doctorate, right? From LSE? If not, why even mention it), if you’re going to try to be serious in the international consultancy business, it’s always prudent to cite your sources and not attempt to pass off the thoughts of others as your own:

    http://www.aercafrica.org/documents/announcements/SpringSymposiumCornellUniversity.pdf

    http://globserver.cn/node/21401


  40. And by the way, just for reference in what will doubtless be further iterations of this really-not-too-good presentation, it’s “Eddy Grant”. It’s not “Eddie”, as even a cursory attempt at research would have revealed.


  41. It’s true that there are now lots of wealthy Africans. They keep sending me e.mails offering to give me some of their wealth. Generous to a fault! If?!!


  42. Dear Dr. St. Hill,

    I need “strategic and practical advice on integrating human development into corporate responsibility, individual philanthropy and national economic policies”, but your website doesn’t seem to work. At all.

    Perhaps you should give some attention to that, as an international consultant, before you dazzle “Dave” and his less bright readers with your cut-and-paste thoughts.


  43. @ Peltdownman
    LOL
    Seems to be contagious. Donna goes down there for 8 years and she already sending similar letters to David (BU)

    Ha Ha Ha
    …and he like he ready to send the BU bank account number too…. Ha Ha LOL


  44. @ Jack B
    Man lighten up do!
    You behaving like you don’t get regular emails from Africa.

    What you want the girl to do? When in Rome yuh does do like a Roman……She ain’t in Nigeria or somewhere so…?
    What you want she to do…?


  45. Bushy………..you can’t see jackassbauman is another bajan white trying to denigrate people on the blog, he is just attacking not contributing anything worthwhile. He will soon be saying that the government should be giving the poor people’s credit union money to them to spend and act wild.


  46. I get the same emails for some reason I have been named in a will and will recieve 20 million dollars but I must send 2 thousand to help pay to probate the will,I cant remember any of my relatives going to Nigeria but the nice man said he was long lost, do you think I should send him the money?? lol


  47. Nigerians have dangerously high IQs and they are very dangerous.


  48. You know Bush Tea It is this navel gazing mindset to every thing that sees the whole world passing us by. Donna St. Hill writes a piece exposing what she sees as opportunities in Africa. It is up to local investors to take up the offer which does NOT pre-empt the due diligence exercise that will be required. Let us continue to be takers in the market right? Do not disrupt our comfort position right? Yet you want your credit union buddies to demonstrate a departure from their comfort zone to establish a bank?

    @peltdownman

    Who are ignorant? Those who send the emails we assume to be African or the intelligent who receive them and divulge personal info?


  49. Well Well, May 29, 2013 at 3:43 PM: “Bushy………..you can’t see jackassbauman is another bajan white trying to denigrate people on the blog… He will soon be saying thatq the government should be giving the poor people’s credit union money to them to spend and act wild.”

    People! Sheeple! The government should be giving the poor people’s credit union money to them to spend and act wild. This is my message. The blesed evangalist Luke (Luke, 23:17) did advise us thus: “And lo thou shalt give of the poor to those who act wild. For this is the wish of the Lord thy god. And can someone put some WD-40 on these nails because they’re hurting like a bitch. I might get a rash or something.”

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