Caribbean Currents #003
Caribbean Currents #003
The Boy Child, AI Fortune, Zombie Airlines
September 26, 2023 edition of Caribbean Currents 🌴🌊📊
In this issue
Third Time’s the Charm
Warming Kingdoms
The Domain Gold Rush
The Call is Coming from Inside the House
CPSI Podcast of the Week
Quick News
Third Time’s the Charm
The government of Antigua and Barbuda has announced its intent to start a new airline. According to Caribbean Life, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has noted that the administration has been struggling with the cash-strapped LIAT (1974) for the last several years. This iteration of LIAT entered into administration following the financial downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic was but one of the many challenges that would lead to the eventual collapse of LIAT. COVID lock downs and the corresponding travel restrictions were the proverbial nail in the coffin for what was originally positioned as the connecting airline for the Lesser Antilles. Following a tumultuous decline, most of the airline’s operations were moved to Antigua, and greater control was exerted by the island.
In the vacuum left by LIAT, several competitors have emerged such as interCaribbean and even Cayman Air has extended its network to the Leeward islands. Airfares and taxes remain prohibitive throughout CARICOM and are a contributing factor in the depressed travel demand in the region. It remains to be seen how a renewed airline effort from any of the islands would be able to break through the high costs of business and succeed, let alone do so while still dragging the corpse of the last attempt behind them.
In a bizarre turn of events, a virtual carrier called Antigua Airlines, which promised flights from Antigua to West African cities, was suspended in January of this year. According to Simply Flying, the airline which was 20% government-owned through Antigua’s citizenship by investment program, ran afoul of several EC Civil Authority regulations. Operations have not yet resumed.
The new airline proposed by the Antiguan government is in partnership with Nigeria’s “Air Peace” and is expected to launch under the LIAT (2020) moniker.
Warming Kingdoms
A looming El Niño year has been portended by higher than average ocean and surface temperatures across the region. According to the European Union’s climate service, Copernicus, August 2023 was the warmest month of the year and the second warmest month ever recorded, after July 2023. The intense heat is accompanied by high sea surface temperatures, particularly within the Atlantic Ocean which could fuel intense storms and weather events in the region, like hurricanes.
Trinidad and Tobago has recorded temperatures as high as 37 degrees Celsius with a “feels like” heat index of 57, according to a Guardian news article. These extreme temperatures are expected to persist well into October.
Much of this intense heat is associated with El Niño and exacerbated by the effects of climate change. These conditions, though expected to subside in November, will persist in the long term if climate action on a global scale is not taken. An effective, rigorous, and swift plan must be developed and executed to mitigate the effects of climate change on the region. As their hands are not on the global thermostat, the initiative lies with Caribbean leaders to cushion the adverse effects as much as they can to maintain some normalcy in the coming decades.
“Our planet has just endured a season of simmering, the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown has begun. Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash. Surging temperatures demand a surge in action. Leaders must turn up the heat now for climate solutions. We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos—and we don’t have a moment to lose”.
- United Nations Secretary General
The Domain Gold Rush: Anguilla and AI
Anguilla, a Caribbean Island with a population of just 16,000, has discovered an unexpected source of wealth- its exclusive ‘.ai’ internet domain. Assigned by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), this two-letter country code has attracted tech giants and startups alike, potentially bringing in an astounding $30 million in domain registration fees for Anguilla in a single year.
The .ai domain extension has become a coveted digital asset, attracting major investments from industry giants such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Vince Cate, the island’s domain registrar since the 1990s, noted a remarkable increase in .ai domain registrations. For 2023 thus far, registrations have nearly doubled, reaching 287,432 according to Cate.
A surge in demand has been observed since ChatGPT's public launch in November 2022 creating a significant shift in the landscape, with a peak in registrations from December 2022 to March 2023. Although the surge has tapered off, the .ai domain will continue to be highly sought after as artificial intelligence continues to grow in prominence.
The economic implications are profound. Anguilla's GDP in 2021 was $US288mn according to UNCTAD, making the potential $30 million from .ai domain registrations a substantial 10.4% of the island's total GDP.
Tuvalu, a tiny Pacific nation with 11,000 inhabitants, also capitalized on its unique internet domain, ‘.tv’. Several video-centric websites, including Twitch, adopted the .tv domain, generating $7.1 million in revenue for Tuvalu in 2019- about 8% of the government's total income.
The Call is Coming from Inside the House
Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has once again cried foul at what she describes as unfair global financial infrastructure. The PM called for reforms, aimed at making funds more readily accessible to the small island states of the region. Her plea comes amidst recent revelations by the auditor general of Barbados, pointing to missing and unaccounted-for funds among other major discrepancies.
In reality, the fundamental reason why Barbados cannot easily access loans at cheap rates has little to do with "unfair treatment" by international lenders and everything to do with the declining credibility of the Barbados government in financial markets.
If Barbados was seen as a more credible borrower, then rates would be lower, and more creditors would be willing to lend. Given the country's small size, for the amount of money Barbados needs to borrow at any given time, there is an infinite supply on global dollar markets.
Instead of addressing the fiscal problems of Barbados, PM Mottley has shifted the discussion of "vulnerability" to vague concepts of "climate finance".
Rasheed Griffith, CPSI CEO via X
The report indicates lapses in audits across every major ministry, including education and health, with some institutions like the Treasury itself, having not been properly audited in over a decade.
CPSI Podcast of the Week
The Cashless Revolution with Martin Chorzempa
From QQ Girls to CFIUS Reviews. In this episode Rasheed is joined by Martin Chorzempa, a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute, to discuss Martin's book The Cashless Revolution about China's reinvention of money and the future of America's dominant role in the global financial technology industry.
Quick News
Bermuda Public Services Suffer Cyber Attack, remain disrupted
Venezuela to have Controversial Referendum on disputed Guyana territory
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