Barbados premier invites local banks to invest in her country

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley yesterday invited Kenyan financial sector representatives to her country in the next two weeks to explore business opportunities in the Caribbean.

The visit is expected to go a long way in bringing Kenya and Barbados closer in trade and culture, coming at a time when the two nations agreed to forge closer ties in banking and finance, health and education, ICT and renewable energy.

Mottley said having Kenyan financial firms operating in Barbados will act as an anchor for Kenyan businesses that can then use the country as a hub to trade in the wider Caribbean Community region.

“All those who desire to come West know in Kenya that Barbados is a second home for you, that the Carribean is a second home for you and your brothers and sisters in the Caribbean will stand with you for those courses that unite us because our values are similar,” said Mottley.

African heritage

The delegation is expected to include Central Bank of Kenya and representatives of the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

The PM, who was a special guest during yesterday’s 55th Jamhuri Day celebrations at Nyayo Stadium, said President Uhuru Kenyatta’s visit to Barbados in August re-ignited commitment to work with all people of African heritage across the diaspora.

She said independence is just not a destination but a process, which requires being faithful to education and uplifting the people.

“Our visit to the country is intended to allow us reclaim our Atlantic destiny as we look East for the first time in our 53 years of independence in a concerted way because we accept the process of independence for us as a people is not a destination but a process and it requires of us perfecting that state not just at the level of the country but at the level of each of our citizens,” said Mottley.

She said it required of present leadership to give the world more ethical leaders it is so badly in need of as people are about to enter the third decade of the 21st century.

“I say to the people of Kenya that I am satisfied with what we have done over the past few months together with your President and Government, it allows us to bridge that build to the future and to be able to make this world remember that we do not exist to praise institutions but to make a better life for our people,” she said.

She called for the need to make better lives for citizens and in a world that has its challenges in every way, including confronting a crisis in climate that will require to change how “we live, build, eat and relate with each other but above all how we stand united to protect our people against those who continue to bring this battle and to cause the consequences to our people.”