Caribbean Business Report

30/09/2021

Supreme Ventures and Carreras has announced a landmark agreement which will see Carreras’ products being sold through SVL’s wide distribution network, and SVL’s products being sold at retail merchants trading in Carreras’ products.

23/09/2021

Jamaican gas prices are going down tomorrow. A litre of 87 gasoline will sell for $2.01 less and 90 gasoline is down $2.31.

Automotive Diesel is up $0.87 while Ultra Low Suplur Diesel is costing $0.91 more.

$1.97 will be added to the price of Kerosene.

Propane will increase by $3.06 and Butane is up $2.22.

23/09/2021

Private company, FIRSTROCK PRIVATE EQUITY LIMITED (FRPE) has entered into a definitive agreement with My Ocean Limited (My Ocean) to purchase 26% of the issued share capital for an undisclosed consideration.

My Ocean Limited, a Bahamian entity incorporated in 2005, specializes in manufacturing and distribution of retail products across the Bahamas. My Ocean operates from a 10,000 sq ft studio in Nassau producing a variety of unique authentic Bahamian products which are distributed through eight (8) prime locations in the Bahamas.

21/09/2021

Sygnus Real Estate Finance (SRF) failed to raise the almost $4 billion it targeted in its recent initial public offering (IPO) but said it is ready to execute on projects with the funds garnered. The company said it raised an estimated $2.3 billion in total from both its Jamaican dollar and US dollar share classes from 1,153 subscriptions.

18/09/2021

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the Government of The Bahamas' long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings to Ba3 from Ba2 and maintained the negative outlook.

17/09/2021

The cruise ship, called Wonder of the Seas, is set to debut in the U.S. and Europe with planned visits to Caribbean destinations.

The highly anticipated ship is set to sail from its home in Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean on March 4, 2022, before making its way to Barcelona and Rome to kick off summer vacations in May.

17/09/2021

According to a Reuters report, an investigation conducted by law firm Wilmerhale concluded that leaders of the World Bank applied "undue pressure" to secure changes aimed at improving China's ranking in the bank's "Doing Business 2018" and those of other countries in the 2020 report.

16/09/2021

Ventrica specialises in outsourced contact centre services, dedicated customer services, customer insight and data analytics along with social media management. CEO and Founder of Ventrica, Dino Forte, explained that it was the company’s first offshore delivery centre, and their aim is to employ
up to 300 persons in its first year of operation.

15/09/2021

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. Nigel Clarke today launched the Development
Bank of Jamaica (“DBJ”) component of the Social and Economic Recovery and Vaccine
(“SERVE”) Jamaica Programme, which will provide J$3 billion to support Micro, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (“MSMEs”) through the COVID-19 pandemic.

15/09/2021

Effective September 16, 2021:

87 gasoline will cost $1.45 less

90 gasoline will cost $1.66 less

15/09/2021

According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) the uptick in inflation recorded in the month of August was driven by higher prices for agricultural produce as well as higher electricity rates.

The point-to-point (August 2020 – August 2021) inflation rate was 6.1%.

15/09/2021

The Opposition Spokesman on Energy, Phillip Paulwell, says the 1.4% electricity rate increase approved by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) will cause hardship to domestic users, decrease business competitiveness, and force more illegal connections on the national grid.

15/09/2021

Players in the manufacturing and exporting sectors say they hope the Government does not extend the lockdowns, which expired earlier today, because of the impact it is having on productivity, with no visible signs that it is helping to reduce the new cases of novel coronavirus infections.

Players in the manufacturing and exporting sectors say they hope the Government does not extend the lockdowns, which expired earlier today, because

13/09/2021

Massy Holdings Limited has announced the sale of its Massy United Insurance Limited (MUI) subsidiary to Bermudan based Coralisle Group Limited for US$90.5 million ($13.67 billion), as part of efforts to rationalise the group from a conglomerate to an investment portfolio.

Massy Holdings Limited has announced the sale of its Massy United Insurance Limited (MUI) subsidiary to Bermudan based Coralisle Group Limited for US$90.5

10/09/2021

The Jamaican cement company (Carib Cement)will be embarking on a 30 per cent expansion of its operations to improve its capacity to not only supply the local construction market, but also the foreign markets which desire cement for their infrastructure.

Following the US$30-million (JM$4.7 billion) expansion of its Rockfort plant in 2022, Caribbean Cement Company Limited will be looking to focus its

09/09/2021

As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti has long been vulnerable on multiple fronts. But among the most recent factors to blame are the destruction in the quake of markets, rural roads, storage and processing facilities,

Editor's note: The following is an article from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website. As new data from Haiti showed last