Investment by diaspora a vote of confidence

By Tony Best

A“strong vote” of confidence in Barbados’ economic and social future.

That’s how Adrian Mapp, a highly certified financial specialist and municipal administrator in New Jersey, who is the three-term mayor of the 55 000 population strong city of Plainfield, described financial and other investments in his birthplace.

And he thinks many Bajans abroad have the means and wherewithal to make the investments. As if to underscore his approach when it comes to Barbadians putting some of their disposal income into “the rock”, as many of them call Barbados, Mayor Mapp said that he and other members of his family were planning to invest in real estate in Barbados.

“We have many Bajans in the diaspora who have done extremely well in North America and their investment decisions should include Barbados,” said Mapp, who is also a member of the state-wide local (New Jersey government) finance board that evaluates any planned municipal bonds issued by cities and townships there.

“Many of the Bajans do have the wherewithal, the means to invest back home. Some of them are already investing in other things and in other places and that’s true whether the Barbadians are in the US, Canada or the United Kingdom.”

They should pursue the investment opportunities in Barbados as proposed by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, after conducting the necessary due diligence, he added.

Opportunities

“I do think there is a plethora of opportunities for investments in Barbados and I believe that some of us can take advantage of them. The Prime Minister spoke about some of them – Government bonds, foreign currency accounts in Barbados and joining Barbadians at home in undertaking entrepreneurial ventures.”

But he listed some caveats when he endorsed the investments in business ventures.

“To begin with, people do make investments in places in which they have a high level of confidence and in how things are done,” added Mapp, who was born and raised in Greens, St George.

“People are not going to invest their resources in enterprises if they don’t have that level of confidence in the management,” he added.

Professionalism

“Leadership, professionalism and in how the businesses are run are key. They usually invest in places in which the confidence is high and they also do that in places where they have confidence in how things are being done in the country. That’s particularly true when it comes to the management of the economy.

“Right now, I think the high confidence level in the management of the Barbados economy by the administration exists in the diaspora and in how things, generally speaking, are being handled,” added Mapp, the first Plainfield mayor to be elected to three successive four-year terms at City Hall.

“Looking back on recent events in Barbados when the sewage was flowing in the streets in the south of the country, we have made much progress. Those things are now in the past. If the problem of sewage was allowed to continue it could have had an extremely damaging effect on the economy which is dependent on tourism especially from the UK, Canada and the US.”

Mayor Mapp is busy these days finalising his city’s US$100 millionplus budget which must be approved by the City Council. As comptroller of the City of Orange Township, which has about 33 000 residents, the Bajan is considered by New Jersey officials as an expert in municipal financing.

As he saw it, the good relationship between Barbados and the international financial institutions – World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Inter-American Development Bank – was on display at the recent spring meetings in Washington and told a story about how things were going in his birthplace.

Interestingly, he was quick to call for greater economic diversification at home, a move, he contended would reduce the heavy “reliance” on tourism.

Resilience

To have returned to a high level of confidence after threats to the value of the Barbados dollar and to have been able to improve the country’s management of its debt was an “indication of what we were able to achieve,” said Mapp. “It speaks to our resilience. We are in a better place today compared with where we were six years ago. To have also dealt effectively with the dangers of the COVID-19 experience says too, a lot about our resilience.

“I am all for the investment thrust in our country and for the diaspora to be involved in it,” said the mayor. “They both speak to good management and how things can and must be done, although the budgets of Plainfield and Orange Township are quite small compared with Barbados.”

His observations about Bajan individual success overseas, particularly in North America, mirrored the remarks of Gline Clarke, Barbados’ top diplomat in Ottawa, the Canadian capital. He told the Sunday Sun recently that several Bajans who have made Canada their home-awayfrom home, have written success stories in different part of the country.

“We have many Barbadians who have done well in Canada,” he said.

Adrian Mapp, mayor of Plainfield, was born and raised in Greens,

St George. (FP)