Ask NOT What CARICOM Can Do For You …

The essence of regional organization is that there’s safety, growth, development and better bargaining power in numbers. The Caribbean Community, made up of 15 members and 5 associate member states [plus 8 observer members including Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela], each of these countries has varying degrees of GDP growth rate and overall progress. However, unlike Africa, CARICOM states do not, ostensibly, have the deep, dark unrest that ubiquitously acts to debilitate progress. In just the past 12 months, Orlando Smith was elected premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Holness served as Jamaica premier and then lost the seat to Portia Simpson Miller; Saint Lucia and Guyana also elected new Heads of State: Kenny Anthony and Donald Ramotar, respectively. And as we speak, Laurence Lamothe, former Haitian foreign minister will serve as President Michel Martelly’s head of government business in the opposition filled Haitian parliament after the resignation of Ferry Conille last week. What this portends is that there is hope for peaceful transfer of power in and amongst the Black Community.

But what is it that prevents these different countries from joining the ranks of the first world? After all, they are all in close proxy of the world’s largest economy by far. Why have they not leveraged their position as proxy nations? Why are they not developing as fast as they ought to? For example, the United States, in 2006, applied for an extension of the WTO waiver to 2008 for the preferences granted to the Caribbean under various US programs. However, as Canada, the European Union, and the United States constantly sign bilateral trade agreements with a host of different countries, the very preferences CARICOM states now enjoy in those markets become less meaningful. In the case of the United States, CARICOM and other Caribbean states enjoy non-reciprocal duty free access for their goods under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) – access [legislatively termed CBTPA] that will continue until 2020.

These non – reciprocal duty free access aspects are excellent things for countries in the Caribbean and also, those in Africa. However, what emerges is that the very countries that are supposed to take advantage of a special status do not do this as effectively as they ought. For an even better insight into how bleary all this is, one just needs to look into the Africa Growth Opportunities Act [AGOA] of 2000. Interestingly, both the CBTPA and AGOA came on board at the same time in the US – but have, seemingly, not yielded the respite required by the people of these respective regions.

And that is the overall thrust of this editorial, you see. Regional groups and economic gatherings can only do so much. They might form a bulwark against unfair practices and also exert pressure on international cabals by their voting power – like happens in the UN General Assembly – but eventually, the groups fall apart because of the cracks in the system. For a better illustration, let us imagine that the United States is made up of 50 countries – including Puerto Rico. Each of these states – from Alaska, Alabama and down to Nebraska, Kentucky and Mississippi – all seemingly compete against each other. Although they are not beholden to Washington DC, they also depend on the U.S. Capitol for guidance and support. What makes these states ‘strong’ is not only that people pay taxes but that there are public goods that connect all member states. Just like the East African Community had a regional airline and the Courts of Law plus the East African Development Bank, the States that make up the U.S. have road networks, railway lines, ports and airlines that serve the state system. Yes – these are private conglomerates. However, East African Airways was as much a parastatal as AMTRAK. But the East African Airways is gone. And its gone because of cracks in the system. The cracks come down to political leadership in the individual countries.

We cannot compare Idi Amin of Uganda or Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to the current crop of CARICOM country leaders. This latter group of people really do an excellent job of peace transfer of power. And because they have practice, they will continue to improve the lives of their own people. If Haiti can do it, then Jamaica and Barbados can do it better. What these countries need to start doing is a closure of the cracks. Yes – countries like Barbados are undergoing pressure to reduce their public debt. But they also need to leverage their public expenditure into services that generally life the standards of living of their own people. And even more importantly, like ought to happen, these preferential trade agreements need to be operationalized by the most powerful weapon of them all: the Diaspora. Significant numbers of Haitians, Jamaicans, Dominicans; Kenyans, Ethiopians and Ugandans dwell in the US. If only their current investment capacity could be enhanced by their home countries … That would surely close the gaping holes of what should be an armor against underdevelopment.

To be continued

Dennis Matanda,
Editor – [email protected]