This week Barbados will the host of a global fintech conference called Fintech Islands from October 5 to 7 welcoming 300 delegates from across the world and attracting sponsorship from prominent global players like Visa, MasterCard and Delta Capital Group. The government must be given credit for being the enabler by placing emphasis on the emerging fintech sector. Some of the initiatives the Mottley government has spearheaded include:
- Rollout of the Regulatory sandbox in late 2019 which BU commenters will recall generated raucous discussion.
- Enactment of the National Payments Bill in February 2019 here. The new National Payments system is currently being implemented.
- Not to forget the supporting Credit Reporting Bill in parliament in December 2021 that had been in abeyance for years.
The government has also moved quickly towards digitisation by executing the IDB Public Sector Digitisation Project which is being rolled out across all ministries at the back end, at the “front end” the rolling of the new National ID card which will have an accompanying optional Digital ID. The government must however do a better job communicating with the public about the New National ID card.
A government’s job is to create the environment, legislative and otherwise to encourage private sector to drive economic activity. There is consensus our over-reliance on fickle tourism as a SIDs makes the economy more vulnerable to exogenous shocks. The 2007 global financial meltdown and recent experience arising from the pandemic is a sorry reminder. In 2016 late Prime Minister warned of the need for policymakers to introduce radical measures to add new earning sectors to the economy, instead the Central Bank was repurposed to be government’s ATM and as they say the rest is history after incurring 23 downgrades.
We live in a world that has transformed to digital cum services era, building new sectors to drive economic activity is not only about building physical factories. Rolling out fit for purpose regulation and other initiatives to improve business facilitation is the new alternative.
Barbados has built a reputation as an offshore financial hub, however, since the mid 2000s as Arthur mentioned in the above video, Barbados lost a lot of business to Cayman and has never fully recovered. It was one of the problems which plagued the Stuart government and as Arthur pointed out – from 2016 the country lost $259 million in foreign exchange and tax revenue which the then government sought to replace by imposing heavy domestic taxes on a shrinking economy and taxbase.
One of the things the Mottley government seems to be trying to do is to reconfigure the business sector from which Barbados can offer modern services to replace the old tax haven model. The OECD has shown they have no problem shifting the rules of engagement ‘during the game’. It must be helpful that Barbados also added to its brand in the fintech space by being first to market with the Barbados Welcome Stamp program which allowed high net worth professionals many from the fintech world to work remotely during the pandemic.
Quietly the Ghanaian fintech company Zeepay has setup in Barbados with plans to launch in Guyana next. Some have been asking are we there yet? This is a rhetorical question.
“Truly, I thought this was a ‘breaking’ story. But even if the test was done on Monday, a thorough analysis and a sound report should take a few working days.”
results are automated
Were i supporters i would be ashamed, but that may be asking for too much..
look what they voted for….
the good news….the PEOPLE GOT THIS…
watch dem nuh!!!
The chasers are at it again. The St.Lawrence Gap spaghetti fell quickly as all before and once again they were left empty handed.
@enuff
I was late to this story, but it seems as if you still back there at St Lawrence Gap. You are even more behind than I am.
What a strange thing, the man who is last claiming to be leading the pack.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjWsESXDtzM/
Are the masses truly shocked by some questions
or are they making political hay again as they do
wait…wunna still running around trying to put the St. Lawrence Gap fire……you really think the people won’t do something about yall AND THAT…..just hold on and WATCH…
now ya got a full on BLAZING INFERNO…that ya can’t get put out, that ya can;t run out and cover up with yet another lying press conference…
i would much prefer not be wunna at this time..
..wuh look how the tables COULD UP AND TURN….MURDAHHH!!!
and somehow, given certain narratives ah doan tink it will stop turning anytime soon…
yall can let ya local copycat FRAUDS lure into this FAKE BULLSHIT……a new world order of OLD FRAUD..
mama and papa was around before these newbies came on our earth..
birthing parent COME HERE….goddamn QUACKS…
haven’t seen TLSN lately but am sure he is taking it in.
“Use ‘birthing parent’ not mum and dad, inclusivity guide tells councils
India McTaggart – 9h ago
312 Comments
Councils have been ordered to stop referring to “mum and dad” or the “homeless” in a new “inclusive” language guide branded as “woke and patronising”.
© Provided by The Telegraph
The Inclusive Language Guide, published by the Local Government Association (LGA) on Wednesday, tells councils to “avoid” using the phrases ladies and gentlemen, expat, deprived neighbourhoods, second generation, lifestyle choice or economic migrant.
Instead, the LGA encourages the use of “positive language” such as birthing parent, same-sex relationship/family, partners, non-UK nationals and people experiencing disadvantage or poverty.
The 18-page document contains 12 principles for councils to follow, which The Telegraph understands are not binding, that include “respecting people from marginalised and minoritised backgrounds” and recognising that “intention does not always align with impact”.
Mark Lloyd CBE, the chief executive of the LGA, emailed the new rules to all councils in England and Wales, but not everyone received it well.”
But surely generating a good report will take some time.
When is de Ministry of Ed holding de press conference. We need an apology
The issue is not about generating the report, it is about the data has already been captured in sone database and preliminary conclusions made.
——
MINISTRY APOLOGIZES
https://starcomnetwork.net/blog/2022/10/06/ministry-of-education-apologizes-for-controversial-survey-meets-with-parents/
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjYjMitvxAm/
Theo…”a parent confirms “test” was administered late last term..”.
“what is the END GAME of the IDB and MOE?”
it’s being called “comprehensive sexuality education.”…that has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with a test for computer science….
tek dah……..cahn cover it up…a lot of you want DRAGGING off the island in handcuffs…
“Ex-Government Minister Donville Inniss has lost an appeal to overturn a U.S. conviction for laundering bribes connected to insurance contracts through a New York business.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected arguments from Inniss, against his 2020 conviction on three money-laundering-related counts for moving bribe money through the bank account of his friend’s dental business.”
this one don’t know when to stop…..he is soon going on parole, keep quiet and pay for what ya did……ok…..NEXT grand jury indictment…..don’t stop now…
“The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which criminalizes foreign bribery, doesn’t permit prosecutors to charge foreign officials, but in recent years the U.S. Justice Department has used money-laundering laws to target corrupt foreign officials who move their money through the U.S.
Inniss is incarcerated in a prison outside Detroit and scheduled to be released in January, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records. (WSJ)”
time to TAKE A STAND AS REAL MEN AND WOMEN..
however, some president of the principal’s association or whatever is still in SLAVE MODE…and accepting shit…since it was the principal’s of the 3 schools job to ALERT THE PARENTS and tell them to ASSERT THEIR RIGHTS…not allow them to walk into a trap unknowingly..
i won’t trust another principal who did not…..traitors……
“The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) apology for its controversial survey administered to schoolchildren will not be enough to satisfy the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT).
President of the BUT Rudy Lovell said that it’s not for the IDB to issue a statement on the matter but the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training.
The survey, part of the Code Caribbean project was administered by a United States-based organisation code.org which promotes the learning of computer science in schools. It was given to first formers on Monday at three secondary schools, which parents said contained inappropriate and invasive questions. It asked questions such as: Do you think about sex a lot? Do you purposely try to harm yourself? Do you think about killing yourself? and Do you do drugs?
Lovell is of the view that “IDB is not responsible for education in Barbados, so essentially that apology would not suffice.”
well…the TOTAL agenda is also EXPOSED…
don’t know why i always feel, not disappointed, cause ya know who and what ya dealing with…but more like better can be done, but DELIBERATELY NOT..
i have ABSOLUTELY NO RESPECT for a government that would allow anything remotely DESTRUCTIVE to visit the island’s Afrikan children and their parents……in exchange for millions of dollars when they had the opportunity over the DECADES to better utilize the AFRIKAN POPULATION’S BILLIONS for the people and not for themselves and their corrupt friends……….but evabody used EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO TIEF IT………while knowing that said politicians reside PERMANENTLY in Beggar’s Alley…
now yall will NEVER GET AWAY with ANYTHING AGAIN…and EVERYONE except ya fowls, pimps, imps and slaves will make absolutely sure of that….so tell ya masters ya give up….because people WILL NOT…
Baje
What has any of them done for Bim in the last 4 years? You don’t have to look very far to come up with nothing. We are on the brink in this country and everything that has a nice ring and a bit of shine attracting these folks like magpies.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I AM NOT ONE OF THE ONES DRINKING THE JIM JONES KOOLAID OR A BLIND TRUMP FOLLOWER LIKE THE MANY WHO DO SO ON THE 2 X3 ISLAND AS IF BEHAVING THEY DONT HAVE THE BRAIN CAPACITY TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES THROUGH ALL THE SMOKE AND MIRRORS.
Meanwhile children at 6 and 7 are being taught things we’re traumatised about teaching our 11yr olds. Mind you, we can’t hold a match to those countries.
“Archer-Bradshaw admits that her ministry dropped the ball in vetting the final survey ”
https://www.nationnews.com/2022/10/06/ministry-education-apologies/
Hants…don’t mind that shite….the AGENDA IS STILL IN PLACE….they are just trying to placate the parents….but NOTHING CHANGES….
they already SOLD OUT…
it’s the parents who now have to make sure their children do not fall prey to the agenda…these stinking politicians already signed away the people’s rights…and must keep up their end of the bargain…..
but the parents DO NOT HAVE TO ACCEPT ANYTHING….
there is evidence circulating everywhere that cannot be refuted.
I think the response of the Min Of Ed was the correct one. It is regaining my trust.
The Min of Ed needs also to promise (1) that if data are collected from children, they will be anonymized in the created database.
(2) teachers are masters of the classroom. You can bring in people to ‘supervise’ an event but a teacher is always present, is the boss, and must review any material that will be given to the children.
Remember: If it can’t happen there it can’t happen here.
–x–
Because data are in a database does not mean it has to stay there forever. Files can be deleted.
When it comes to children our leaders must lead and protect. Playing catch-up and apologizing must be the last resort.
It is clear that Min of Ed dropped the ball here. Not only must policy be revamped but a head must roll.
and as long as i have to do more work than i normally have every day…….i gine make wunna SHITE…cause all of this could have been avoided.
@enuff
You doa good imitation of a bot.
Spout some random phrase and disappear
–x–
If the sky fell it would cover the earth.
” haven’t seen TLSN lately but am sure he is taking it in.”
I have been busy. Travelling and doing a lot of driving. I had noticed a few days ago that you had mentioned some unravelling scandal: which would turn out to be a disturbing survey linked to the Inter-American Development Banks. Rather foolishly, I dismissed it, prompted by certain BU commentators who have dismissed you as a liar. I was unduly influenced by their cynical natures.
May, I express my dismay and horror at this truly shocking story which I would describe as a form of grooming. It is plain that this survey was nefarious and may have been an attempt to create a platform for child sexual exploitation in Barbados That our government had knowledge of this survey and did nothing to prevent it, is inconceivable.
There are a few simple lessons that we can learn from this scandal. Firstly, beware of foreigners bearing gifts, they are trojan horses on a mission to systematically destroy the futures of Barbados majority black population. Secondly, our government is an active agent in its unbridled enthusiasm to decimate its own black majority population. Thirdly, the black majority population has to recognise that they all share a common enemy: their government. And fourthly, Waru has always explicitly exposed the malicious nature of those groups who have rendered black Barbadians as third-class citizens. When will the doubting Thomas’s on BU take a breather.
Beware the trojan horse:
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/6/india-probes-deaths-in-gambia-linked-to-indian-made-cough-syrup
Theo….bottomline, don’t get tIed up, they NEVER EXPECTED to get caught and exposed…they got away with this last term because neither the children or parents understood the DANGEROUS SITUATION….these clowns placed them in until now……
.and of course with all the evil shite these generational sellouts got away with in the last 100 years they thought this term would be SMOOTH SAILING….with a nice breeze, not the Cat 5 now bearing down on their judas backsides…
.they are only sorry they got CAUGHT…
they got nuff to be sorry for and better get USED TO IT…
what am glad to see is that ALL OF THESE FRAUDS and LIARS on here boasted that they voted for this government…..always defending them and cussing us too…………now everyone knows WHAT THEY VOTED FOR……and as i have said multiple times on here…..NONE OF THEM CAN BE TRUSTED…
they too are the enemies of Afrikan people.
It must be difficult supporting GoRoB and watching everything that they touch turn into a disaster.
Why does this happen?
If you look carefully, you will see that every initiative (good or bad) is part of a scam. They start badly and so it ends badly.
What is disgusting is the GoRoB will prey on everyone. You think that kids would be protected, but GoRoB is willing to sell them out to a high bidder.
Now we must sit and figure out what scam is attached to any loan, gift or initiative by GoRoB.
(Insert conspiracy theory here)
May the Good Lord help us if there is one high level crook on the IMF staff.
Amusingly, all apologists are almost silent. There is one brave fellow who utters some rubbish and then disappear. When Lorenzo becomes the chief defender you know they are in trouble.
Did you notice the apologist are failing, falling and fainting.
I have more bad news for them. Time is not their side, if they continue scheming, stealing and scamming.
It is a nation, stupid. Not a personal piggy bank to manipulate as you feel like.
—x—
Today I had to come off the fence.
You should notice that I landed on the people’s side of the fence. Those looking through party lenses may see it differently.
Last lesson boys and girls..
If you don’t do shite, I will not have shite to write.
Have a good night y’all.
“Because of the repetitive nature of some commenters. On an on …”
Perhaps the issue is not repetitive bloggers, but repetitive screw-ups by GoRoB.
Run your tricks and take your licks. Put on a good clean show and the peanut gallery is silenced.
Our friend Amit beat all of us.
He reached out to code.org
👍👍Amit👍👍
Why some of you don’t make your comments and desist from ascribing motives to commenters? It is sickening.
Definition of apophasis : the raising of an issue by claiming not to mention it
William….if you are reading….this is the ORGANIZATION PHASE…….as a collective unit….the people already know that……
am sure you are now up-to-date….more to come….PEACE..
however, after years of negative experiences we know that nothing that is useful or sabotage friendly can be posted to any political government blog….going forward.
this is now all about self-preservation, self-protection, survival for Afrikan-minded people and their children….the protection phase. finally, weeeee have waited for this for a very long time….
LESS is MORE..
The tag teamsters can only attempt attack me, NOT what I say. In so doing, they repeatedly celebrate and promote lies and liars. After all these years, not one of them has been able to refute the things I write on BU. I am but one, yet continue to win in 1,2,3.
Theo
Sir, you interpret it as random because you clearly either lack the aptitude to understand or are disingenuous. In any event, you prefer lies and liars and are beholden to the liars.
@ WURA
Once the partisan clowns start to comment , I just read and lol.
Ignore and dismiss.
Business as usual.
More to come.
Peace.
The blogmaster notes with interest former principal Jeff Brooke’s currently letting on this issue agrees with the blogmaster’s position stated.
“Once the partisan clowns start to comment , I just read and lol.”
they are indeed clown material….was out and about earlier and heard their slaves, fowls, imps and pimps running lies on the public…one was soundly put in its place by the group and had to SLINK AWAY IN SHAME.
..intelligent people would never enable that group of FRAUDS….
They don’t tell lies on BU though. Intelligent people don’t support and encourage lies and liars either.
Curious…
What is your opinion on the questionnaire/test issue?
It could and should have been done differently. However, I don’t see anything wrong with the questions I have heard and seen so far.
Surprisingly, it would be fair to say that most see that there was a problem with the survey itself and how it was conducted.
Differences seem to be personal and not related to the topic.
Theo….there are voice notes going around from parents a couple days now, they are the ones to take instructions from not some perv fowl…
@ Enuff
However, I don’t see anything wrong with the questions I have heard and seen so far.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LOL
Well your supreme leader has spoken now, so you no longer need to strain at the gnat….
Your thinking has been done for you.
Ha ha
Hopefully, there is some report/summary of what we (Barbados) learned/gained from this Fintech meeting,
@ TheOGazerts,
hope this helps. lol
https://www.visitbarbados.org/the-fintech-islands-experience-fix-2022
Trying to help TheOGazerts.
Source: Nation
Source: Nation
https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/10/11/new-digital-bank-in-the-works/
Just to be certain that I did not miss anything, I googled this
https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/resources/learning-centre/digital-banking/what-is-digital-banking
I have no comments.
How do we assess the success of this Fintech conference.
Were there benchmarks that had to be met?
Will there be a white paper or some summary document or do I have to browse the bits and pieces in different news media?
Was great publicity, but are there any other benefits for the island?
School me.
https://youtube.com/shorts/cZg3M9RPQJA?feature=share
@TheO
As pointed out early in comments on this thread
“three enterprising diaspora-based Barbadians – Allison Hunte, Peter Stoute-King and Curt Persaud – formulated the vision of hosting a world-class fintech event in the Caribbean drawing influential speakers and attendees from across the world. Their team was rounded out by senior advisors William ‘Billy’ Griffith and Andrew Morris.”
This info came via Alicia Nicholls. (She authored several threads on BU)
Hence, while they may have had Government ‘assistance’, I was of the ‘belief’ this was not a GoB event, but a private sector one.
Hence don’t expect any report for public consumption.
Source: Nation
https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/fintech.png
Let me state that I like this article by Gercine Carter.
Any young woman/man can look at the route taken by Peter Stoute-King and use it as a model to a career path.
The plus side of this approach is that once the get started on the path, they will become more aware of different avenues to explore.
It’s a bright beautiful day in Barbados. Wish I was there.
Hope for the future.
“The Ministry’s Farmers’ Empowerment and Enfranchisement Drive (FEED) Programme, executed by the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (BADMC) continues to attract interest, with some 351 participants registered in the last cohort in August 2022. Further, the Programme has seen increased crop-planting at Mt. Poyer, Wakefield Plantation and Bath Plantation. I am particularly pleased that lands at Spencer’s Plantation are being brought back into production.”
Was looking for somewhere to place this.
I was looking at after mentioning a ‘fintech push’ all of the players fell off of the map. All the local noise disappeared. They brought a dog and pony show to town and then pull a “disappearing act”.
Since then, FTX one of the the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.
Bitcoin was $60K in Nov 2021 and is now less that 16K in Nov 2022.
https://finty.com/us/research/fintech-failures/
It was rumored that the local fintech will be name Gotchya
Was looking at Bitt. You remember that? I see no connection to Barbados.
Was it sold?
Were we just a test tube?
I wanna know?
I get the impression that people are running circles around us.
They get the big idea and then use us like a test tube or a guinea pig.