The Tribune

Comparing nations and jurisdictions on various socio-economic and developmental metrics is sometimes quite useful. But such comparisons often require caveats, nuances and an appreciation of context. Even as there are apt analogies there are also areas that are disanalogous.

Whenever many in The Bahamas discuss the comparative performance of our economy in relation to the Western Hemisphere we often state it by comparing ourselves with certain independent countries.

Among independent countries, The Bahamas has the third highest GDP per capita in the Western Hemisphere, behind the United States of America and Canada only.

This comparison has certain resonance but it requires a greater understanding of our context and status as a developing nation compared with advanced, developed economies with significantly larger populations.

There is a great deal that neither GDP nor GDP per capita captures about a country, including the real rate of poverty and other critical developmental realities.

The Bahamas has often been beset by a misunderstanding on the part of foreign governments and international agencies who incorrectly assess our economy and development needs based significantly or mostly on our GDP per capita, which may contain a number of false comparisons.

Many do not appreciate the rural nature of many of Family Islands and the unique challenges and strategic advantage of our archipelago. We are often assessed in ways that are in inaccurate or wholly inadequate.

There are also qualifications that are necessary when comparing The Bahamas with British dependencies in the Western Hemisphere, such as Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos and the British Virgin Islands.

By example, because of their relationship with Great Britain, a number of these dependencies were able to access COVID-19 vaccine quicker than independent former British colonies. Moreover, these dependencies typically have smaller populations.

Each of these dependencies reveals some very specific features that are similar to features of the United States and Canada that are regarded as politically unavailable to The Bahamas and unavailable to most other countries in the Western Hemisphere for political and sociological reasons.

These features include the capacity to welcome and embrace large quanta of talent from elsewhere in order to establish substantial competitive focus and competitive advantages.

In the case of the British dependencies, the expatriate populations are significantly larger and the expatriate population is intensely focused on the delivery of global financial services.

Imported

In the case of the United States and Canada, never mind the anti-immigrant paroxysms of the recent US administration, closer examination will reveal that a substantial part of their GDP growth over many decades came from talent imported from other parts of the world.

Whether large or small, countries require a plethora of educated talent to develop. Prime Minister Mia Motley of Barbados appreciates this challenge.

An editorial in Barbados Today on April 15 past noted: “Again, the subject of Barbados’ low birth rate and our country’s increasingly elderly population are up for debate. Prime Minister Mottley has voiced her preference for managed migration as a way of addressing the problem more aggressively.

“Describing it as a ‘population gap’, Mottley says she favours a more liberal approach of inviting people to make Barbados their home, starting with those from the region.

“Speaking on a podcast, titled Recruiting Irish to Barbados, Mottley was asked about the possible transition from the 12-months Welcome Stamp to permanent residence on the island and possible citizenship. She said her administration was working on the related laws.”

The Prime Minister stated: “I established a National Population Commission when we came into office two years ago. As a result of the work of that commission, we discovered that we have not really replaced our population since 1980, in terms of fertility and growth.

“To that extent, we are probably 80,000 less than we should be. It means that we are going to have to have a fairly liberal approach to immigration, while at the same time having a very strong framework for managing migration to the island.”

There is a difficult reality facing The Bahamas at which many may balk or be uncomfortable. If we wish to grow our economy more rapidly in the short term, including boosting employment, the fastest path is to import the talent necessary to establish economic clusters that deliver high export value to the rest of the world.

Organic growth, while politically popular, is for the longer term. Politicians are often forced to promote emotional messages to their populations about sustained economic growth coming magically and organically from the indigenous population over the course of five-year terms.

It is important that we come to understand the need to both develop local talent and bring in international talent and to act on the latter urgently because we have benefitted for a very long period of time from the closure of Cuba. Our single most powerful competitive advantage is proximity to North America.

We have been enjoying a windfall from the closure of Cuba to travel from US citizens and to US investments since the 1950s. There is no certainty that closure will continue with the current US administration and the passing of the political torch to a new generation of Cuban leaders.

None of this means that organic growth efforts should be abandoned. But it means that a clear recognition of our development requirements needs to be followed by a sustained effort to improve the skill sets of our population across the board while judiciously importing the talent necessary for faster sustainable growth.

Quality

This means improving the quality of teaching, enlisting the full support of parents and relatives in educating and up-skilling our population, among other measures.

One tourism expert suggested that the so-called Stafford Sands model for the Bahamian economy was based on the enablement of US travellers and US investors to move easily away from Cuba’s communism to a British colony with the same advantage of proximity.

The expert recalls that we forget that in the 1930s Havana was among the largest cities in the Western Hemisphere.

Our focus needs to shift toward a fair and palatable immigration programme for the talent needed to advance our economy while we repair the neglect of our training and educational system along with the cultural shift necessary to nurture it.

Canada is by land area the second largest country in the world, behind Russia in size but larger than the United States, which is followed by China. There is broad consensus on immigration in Canada, including among a number of the major political parties.

Canada is on a great mission to increase its population, its economic power and global standing by seeking talent from around the world while maintaining the country’s heritage, identity and values.

CIC News recently reported: “Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has a message for Canadians, ‘we need more people — a lot more.’

“Mulroney, who is remembered for tripling immigration over his term as Prime Minister, called for Canada to grow its population to 100 million by 2100. Last week, he spoke at a forum hosted by the Globe and Mail and Century Initiative, a think tank planning for Canada’s future prosperity.

“The former Prime Minister floated ideas that were already in Century Initiative’s agenda, to accelerate Canada’s population growth. As it is, Canada’s birth rate is not enough to replenish the population on its own. …

“To counteract these demographic challenges, Canada has turned to high levels of immigration. In 2019, immigration was responsible for more than 80 per cent of Canada’s population growth. This year Canada set out to welcome 1.2 million immigrants between 2021 and 2023. However, Century Initiative says more needs to be done.”

The Bahamas and Barbados are neither Canada nor the US in terms of numerous economic and social metrics. But we all share a similar challenge and need.

To further develop our economies through sustained and equitable growth there is the need to expand our talent pools organically and through well-structured immigration programmes.

Nations great and small in the 21st century will either stagnate or become more vibrant depending on whether we are willing to source and to invite talent, energy and experience from throughout the global commons.