A Guy’s View: Facing down our business and economic challenges

Ten years ago, the world was plunged into deep economic trouble. Much ink has been spilt in detailing the causes of that morass, as well as in trying to explain why the corrective initiatives were either successful or not well placed. While there may be interesting lessons in those debates, the fact is that Caribbean countries do not have the capacity to cause such harm to the world economy and cannot do anything to heal it. But we must push on in the management of our affairs.

Economic growth is beginning to return to global economies. The pace of that growth may not be fantastic but the fact of any growth, sustained for a number of quarters, is an indication that the world economy is beginning to rebound.

Growth in western economies will usually be followed by similar economic strides in the Barbadian and other Caribbean economies. While this may be hailed as evidence that regional economies are turning the corner, it may also be an indicator of another problem that our leaders must seriously address if the future of these countries is to be secured.

The colonial history of Caribbean countries continue to dictate their development, or lack of it. While most of us boast of flags and anthems, not much else speaks to our independence. Trade links and the source of foreign investment speak loudly of how and where these countries are controlled. The vote matters little, if you have no control over your economy. This observation speaks to the situation in many Caribbean countries.

Caribbean Governments struggle hard to create the environment within which their people may develop. They know their limitations and, therefore, never push too hard at the edges of their permitted boundaries. But, notwithstanding fighting with one hand tied behind their backs, they use the ingenuity of their people to take their countries forward.

Speaking of the country I know best, in Barbados the genius of conceptualising grand ideas has not always translated into the development of successful projects and smooth operations. There are still too many instances of self-inflicted injuries that hamper our economy and development.

Business persons and professional service providers have been complaining for many years about the difficulty they encounter in trying to do business in Barbados. Listening to their complaints now is no different from hearing their concerns of 25 years ago.

In what must be a unique development of historical interest, over many years, Government Ministers, at times those having some responsibility for some aspect of the business sector, join in complaining about the lack of ease of doing business. However, when the verbosity is over, we simply continue with business as usual. Obviously, the power to change does not reside with them.

Twenty five years ago, the level of technology which is common place in Barbados either did not exist or was not available to Barbados. To our discredit, the world’s technological development has meant little or nothing to our efforts to make doing business easier. In some cases, everything has been put in place to change this, but for one final step which has never been taken.

The result has been the creation of what the charter accountants call bottlenecks in the system. These business chokers turn up in almost every sector of the economy and are in large measure responsible for business delays. One suspects that if a careful examination is done of the reasons why business activity does not often flow freely in Barbados, one might find that colonial era controls are largely responsible.

Sometimes oblivious to our historical realities, some managers fail to recognise that the checks and balances which they have inherited and on which they still rely were designed to give colonial overlords close oversight and control of what was happening in the country rather than to facilitate business. Our bright managers must now find a way to create a positive business environment without losing control of safety procedures.

In this regard, regulators who design our systems to ensure compliance with international standards must bear in mind what is the true purpose of many of the standards that they are required to implement. These have a two-fold purpose. They hand control of the economy and the procedures that regulate it to entities outside of the country, and they will eventually destroy whatever sector of the economy to which they are applied.

Striking the balance here is more difficult, for the prospect of blacklisting is used as a threat to ensure that we never think twice about protecting Barbados as opposed to shutting it down as a business location that could compete with first world economies.

It is against this background that we must consider the rate of economic growth in Barbados and the region. As we stand as a country, with total dependence on other economies which have never found a way to sustain growth without exploiting the resources of other countries and peoples, our rate of growth will never be able to outstrip that of the economies on which we depend. Our growth, therefore, will never be impressive or sustained for any significant length of time.

There really is no scenario which is likely to change this, since we lack the strength to break the mould which has shaped us and step out in a new direction. We are condemned to live within our little box, tinkering with a system here and a policy there, but never going anywhere.

Every year, the region is subject to weather systems which threaten to devastate major segments of island economies. The effects of hurricane Irma provides ample evidence of this challenge. One impact could destroy productive assets and wipe out years of development. Thus far, Caribbean states have not developed the knowledge by which such systems may be diverted or diffused.

Barbadian and regional challenges are both natural and manmade. Looking abroad for help has kept us poor and dependent, but we often feel that we have no choice. Our shortage of confidence has prevented us from taking novel action to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps and has kept us in the vulnerable state in which we live.