Energy Minister Senator Lisa Cummins is proposing that Barbados and Rwanda establish a set of policies to ensure a steady supply of renewable energy needs from Bridgetown into Kigali, as the two countries seek to deepen investment and cultural ties.
She has also urged the establishment of an economic partnership agreement between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and East African countries.
Declaring that countries in the global south were caught in “a perpetual ‘and then what?’ development trajectory” as financial, trade, and investment rules are continuously changed, Senator Cummins said “a new global construct” was needed.
She was addressing the inaugural business mission from Rwanda to Barbados, which was hosted by Invest Barbados at the Hilton Barbados Resort on Thursday.
Senator Cummins said: “We have been here before. We have had many business fora before; we have had investment missions before. We’ve looked at what the overseas markets and what our partners are doing before. We have participated in multilateralism and bilateral development partnerships.
“We have a rule-based system already for multilateral trade, we have the investment frameworks that have already been constructed. We have the partnerships, relationships, and friendships that have already been built, so now what? What I am calling on us to do today is to seize this as a real opportunity to engage in meaningful business opportunities between our two countries.”
The energy and business development minister proposed that as Rwanda and Barbados seek to deepen investment and cultural ties, there should be a heavy focus on areas in which there was already a strong track record, including that of solar photovoltaic.
She said it was her wish to see Barbados-based businesses set up solar farms in Rwanda “as a starting point for collaboration around energy” on the African continent.
“Barbados is the number two country in the world in terms of penetration in solar PV [photovoltaic energy]… That gives us an opportunity to work with other countries in the global south like Rwanda, to engage in what I am now calling renewable energy commercial diplomacy,” said Senator Cummins.
“What that means is that Barbados has an opportunity to work with you in Rwanda to bring our expertise, skills, and philosophy around the utilization of our natural resources to be able to generate renewable energy to the African continent, starting with our friends and family in Rwanda,” she said.
“This is that moment now where we have to begin to frame out the construct for each of the sectors that we have identified – both the existing sectors where we have a competitive and comparative advantage and the emerging growth sectors, where both countries have a comparative and a comparative advantage,” said Senator Cummins.
She said she believed the time had also come for East African nations to have a special economic partnership with the 15-member CARICOM bloc.
“We have to use the regional integration mechanisms that we are both part of,” said Senator Cummins.
“What does the EAC [East African Countries] and the CARICOM region have as its planning for the development of a regional trade agreement across borders? We should be able to have those conversations as part of the global south,” she said.
She also pointed to the need for people to be at the centre of the relationship being forged, declaring “people must matter.” She explained that as opportunities are created and businesses grow there should be a reduction in income inequality.
Cummins said she was aware there was a need for a shift in mindset and a strong commitment on the part of both business leaders and individuals in order for investment and trade to take place between the two countries.
Pointing out that Kigali and Bridgetown already had a double taxation treaty that was just over seven years old, Senator Cummins said: “We now have to have a conversation with Rwanda about the negotiation of a bilateral investment treaty.”
“Now we are in a ‘then what?’ moment because the global architecture is again changing. So we are reverting to a discussion around the importance of developing bilateral investment treaties because we expect that with the introduction of the global convergence tax rates, it will have implications for our double taxation regime,” she said.
During the one-day seminar, which comes ahead of the official opening of the African Export-Import Bank – Afreximbank – Caribbean office in Bridgetown on Friday, figures in the business sector and the international business community had the opportunity to learn more about the investment opportunities in Rwanda.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)
