Caribbean Trade Law and Development

Tag: trade

  • BCCI/KNCCI Virtual Dialogue Series 1: Demystifying the Barbadian and Kenyan Markets

    BCCI/KNCCI Virtual Dialogue Series 1: Demystifying the Barbadian and Kenyan Markets

    I am pleased to be facilitating this upcoming panel at the first session of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Virtual Dialogue Series carded for Tuesday, March 21st at 8:30-10:00 am (Atlantic Standard Time).

    This first session will be on Demystifying the Barbados and Kenya markets and features an all-star panel. If you’re an exporter, investor, businessperson, or are just generally interested in Africa-Caribbean trade, please register here:
    https://lnkd.in/eefaiPQx

    See the flyer for further details!

  • Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to be amended to regulate M&A activity in CSME

    Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to be amended to regulate M&A activity in CSME

    Photo credit: CARICOM Secretariat

    Alicia Nicholls

    Competition policy within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), particularly the need for merger control regulation, was one of the major items discussed at the recently held Forty-Fourth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the Bahamas last week (February 15-17, 2023).

    The lengthy communique issued from the meeting revealed a packed agenda. Of interest to this author, of course, were the components dealing with continuing the consolidation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), especially because July this year will mark the regional grouping’s fiftieth anniversary.

    Heads agreed that the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) would be amended to provide for the regulation of mergers and acquisitions in the CSME. This would be done on the basis of an approved Community Policy. They agreed that Member States should complete their internal consultations and approval processes on the Draft Policy on Mergers and Acquisitions in the CSME in time for the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) to consider and approve the Policy in April 2023.

    The CARICOM Competition Regime, as elaborated in Chapter 8 of the RTC, presently has three objectives (1) the promotion and maintenance of competition and enhancement of economic efficiency in production, trade and commerce, (2) the prohibition of anti-competitive business conduct which prevents, restricts or distorts competition or which constitutes the abuse of a dominant position in the market; and (3) the promotion of consumer welfare and protection of consumer interests. The Suriname-based CARICOM Competition Commission, along with the national commissions, is therefore a key institution for the functioning of a competitive CSME which is not harmed by anti-competitive conduct by businesses. However, currently, the CARICOM Competition Regime only regulates cross-border anti-competitive business conduct and the abuse of a dominant position. It does not deal with merger control regulation, which is the third aspect of competition policy. The Heads were also updated on the progress towards creating a dual role for the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) at the national and regional levels.

    Asides from competition policy, the subject of progress towards completing the Draft Policy on a Regional Capital Market was also discussed. The Heads “called upon the Council for Finance and Planning (COFAP) and the Legal Affairs Committee to take the necessary action to ensure that the infrastructure for the regional capital market is largely in place within eighteen (18) months”.

    They also supported COFAP’s decision to amend the Intra-CARICOM Double Taxation Agreement (ICDTA), through a Protocol on Treaty Shopping and Exchange of Information. Other topics discussed included advancing the CARICOM Agri-food systems agenda, the 50th anniversary celebrations, Afri-Exim Bank, the Bridgetown Initiative, Climate Change and Climate Finance, among others.

    The full communique may be accessed here.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is an international trade and development consultant and the founder of the Caribbean Trade Law and Development Blog http://www.caribbeantradelaw.com.

  • Rest in peace Ambassador Richard Bernal – Pillar of the Caribbean Trade & Development Community

    Rest in peace Ambassador Richard Bernal – Pillar of the Caribbean Trade & Development Community

    Photo credit: The University of the West Indies

    Alicia Nicholls

    It is with profound sadness that my first blog post for the year 2023 is to express my condolences on the sudden passing of a pillar of the Caribbean trade and development community and a reader of this Blog, the late Ambassador Prof. Richard Bernal. To say that the Caribbean region has lost yet another a giant is an understatement. For me, it still has not completely sunk in.

    Prof. Bernal’s incomparable achievements and contributions, both as an academic and practitioner in the trade and development economics arenas, are lengthy and will be rightfully ventillated in other spaces. Many who follow trade developments would undoubtedly best remember him for his role as a diplomat and trade negotiator, the director general of the then Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and the lead negotiator of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement. This was CARIFORUM countries’ first trade agreement with a developed country. Prof. Bernal’s book “Globalisation, Trade and Economic Development: The CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement” is compulsory 101 reading for an understanding of the EPA, the background behind its negotiation and the wider Caribbean economic development problematique. But there is much more to Prof. Bernal’s work than this. Others will no doubt write profusely on the many facets of his accomplished career and life as an economist, diplomat, educator, academic, negotiator over the next few days as we mourn his loss.

    Prof Bernal was both an avid reader and writer. His writings were a quilt of measured, well-researched ideas woven expertly and drawn from his groundings in economics, trade, political economy, development policy and international affairs. At the heart of it all was a central trend, how can the Caribbean escape its current growth and development conundrum? His scholarship has undoubtedly informed, enthused and shaped my interests as a trade policy specialist from the time I was a fresh-faced student doing my Masters in International Trade Policy at The UWI Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Policy & Services well over a decade ago. Even as recently as a few days ago I quoted Prof. Bernal in a journal article I am authoring. I continue to be inspired by and aspire towards his level of academic output. I was even happier when on one of his trips to Barbados, he kindly obliged my humble request to autograph my personal copies of two of his several books. I am an avid follower of his work and own copies of all his books.

    While I did not know Prof. Bernal as well as others, I consider myself honoured to have made his acquaintance and privileged to have eventually met him in person. I have also enjoyed serving with him and many other regional luminaries as fellows in the Caribbean Policy Consortium. I deeply cherish the nuggets of wisdom and encouragement he shared with me in our correspondences.

    His brilliant mind has physically left us. I however take some comfort in the fact that his voluminous publications list spanning books, journal articles, popular pieces and endless interviews, podcasts and webinars remain a rich repository of knowledge for future generations of trade and development practitioners, diplomats, specialists, scholars and students. These works contain his well-researched thinking and musings on key themes pervading the Caribbean development challenge – how do we achieve sustainable economic growth? How can trade assist this? How can we expand US-Caribbean relations for development? How can we make the growing Chinese-Caribbean relationship a mutually beneficial one? How has the Caribbean helped to shape international affairs even as small States?

    I do hope that in recognition of his stellar contribution to the region’s corpus of research and literature on trade, international affairs and development issues, there will be some special library or unit established at The UWI where all his works could be accessed in a central place and/or a lecture series on the topics he held dear to his heart or a scholarship fund for students studying these issues established in his honour. I take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the late Ambassador Bernal’s family.

    Walk good, Ambassador.

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B. is an international trade and development consultant and the founder of the Caribbean Trade Law and Development Blog http://www.caribbeantradelaw.com.

  • Exciting times for Africa-Caribbean trade relations

    Exciting times for Africa-Caribbean trade relations

    Alicia Nicholls

    Africa-Caribbean relations are seeing some exciting times. Doubt me? Think about the fact that Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Burna Boy was the headline act at Tipsy, a major fete on the calendar of Crop Over, Barbados’ biggest festival which had been suspended for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grammy Award winner’s performance in Barbados on July 17 was the first leg of his 2022 Love, Damini Summer Tour. From all reports the much-anticipated event attracted patrons not just from Barbados but across the Caribbean and beyond. But this is just the ‘tip’ of the iceberg in what has been a deepening of Africa-Caribbean engagement and not just at the political level.

    As I explained in several previous articles on this subject, total volumes of Africa-Caribbean trade and foreign direct investment are quite small for now. While a few African and Caribbean countries have tax and investment treaties with each other and bilateral cooperation agreements in various areas, there are no free trade agreements (FTAs) between Caribbean countries and African countries. However, the low trade volumes could likely change. Though efforts to expand Africa-Caribbean economic relations predate the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic fall-out has accelerated our countries’ need to diversify our trading partners and tourism source markets as part of their post-COVID economic recovery. Amplifying trade and investment ties with African countries is at the forefront of many Caribbean countries’ diversification efforts.

    Collaboration in the creative industries

    Burna Boy’s headlining of Tipsy introduced the Barbadian audience to Afrobeats, a genre with which many Barbadians might not have been previously familiar. Of course, his headlining of Tipsy’s 2022 All White Party is not the first African-Caribbean ‘collaboration’ in the creative industries. For example, a couple years ago two of my favourite artistes, Trinidadian soca star Machel and Nigerian star Timaya collaborated on several soca songs and remixes, like “Shake ya bum bum” and “Better than them”.

    Many musical genres in the Caribbean and the African continent share similar DNA. Given the current explosion of interest in each other’s cultures, one can only ponder the many future collaborations between Caribbean and African creatives. I am sure many of us would enjoy attending an Africa-Caribbean Music Festival of some sorts featuring popular and emerging acts from both regions. Indeed, as many Barbadians are Nollywood movie aficionados, an Africa-Caribbean Film Festival would also be an exciting prospect, featuring films from our countries and even the opportunity for African and Caribbean film makers to meet and discuss possible co-productions.  

    Other areas of collaboration

    African Fintech companies are also taking an increased interest in the Caribbean. A Nigerian company has also expressed interest in purchasing the struggling Caribbean regional airline, LIAT. This proposal has elicited a mixed reaction but it is indicative of what anecdotally appears to be a burgeoning interest of African investors in the Caribbean market. The business interest has not been one-way either. For instance, Barbadian fintech company Bitt Inc was contracted by the Central Bank of Nigeria to develop the digital version of the Nigerian Naira, called the eNaira, which is Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

    There are also promising prospects for Africa-Caribbean trade in educational services, such as through increased student and faculty exchanges and joint course offerings. Scope also exists for continued and greater joint research between African and Caribbean academics and academic institutions on areas of mutual interests. Indeed, last year I had the pleasure and honour of co-convening with Dr. Ohio Omiunu, a well-respected legal scholar, a symposium on the AfronomicsLaw Blog on the topic “Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations”. Recognising that Africa-Caribbean economic relations was an understudied area in the academic literature, the Blog Symposium featured essays authored by established African and Caribbean scholars and practitioners on deepening the African-Caribbean relationship from a variety of perspectives.

    There is growing interest among Caribbean people of African ancestry in tracing their genealogy which means genealogy tourism could be a significant, though not the only driver, of Africa-Caribbean tourism in the future. I like many Barbadians was intrigued to learn that Barbados possesses  the largest archive of slave records outside of the United Kingdom. The Government of Barbados announced it will be establishing a geneaology research centre at the historic Newton Slave Burial Ground where those records will be held. This could make Barbados a hub for researchers from the Caribbean, Africa and further afield.

    Creating the enabling environment

    Naturally, there are trade, cultural, linguistic and other barriers which need to be addressed. With some exceptions, most Caribbean countries lack direct air and sea links to the African continent despite the two continents being a hive of connectivity during the 300 years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. If those links could have existed during that barbaric period, surely we must make all efforts to build sea and air bridges for a more noble purpose, that of expanding understanding, connectivity and trade between our peoples. Thankfully, serious efforts are being made by Caribbean governments to establish scheduled direct air links with the continent, particularly with airlines from Ghana and Kenya and which would facilitate Africa-Caribbean travel for recreation and business.

    Barbados has also been expanding its network of tax and investment treaties with African countries which would make the island an attractive hub for African investors to expand into other markets by leveraging Barbados’ treaty network. It was recently announced that an investment agreement was signed between Barbados and Rwanda and it is hoped that the text of this agreement will soon be made available.

    Moreover, exporting is an expensive venture and access to finance is one of the major barriers firms face when seeking to export. Therefore, the agreement in principle by the African Export Import Bank to establish an Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Financing Facility with an initial injection of US $250 million is a commendable step in helping to create the enabling environment for enhanced Africa-Caribbean trade and investment by providing access to trade finance.

    Future looks bright

    To be sure, the prospects for deepening Africa-Caribbean trade are promising. I eagerly look forward to the upcoming inaugural AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum which will be held in September in Barbados. For African and Caribbean firms and professionals, this forum should be the perfect opportunity for deepening and expanding relations and knowledge about the opportunities in each other’s markets. Without doubt, these are indeed exciting times for Africa-Caribbean trade relations. One cannot be anything but enthused for what the future holds!

    Alicia Nicholls, B.Sc., M.Sc, LL.B. is an international trade specialist and founder of the Caribbean Trade Law and Development blog http://www.caribbeantradelaw.com.