In a bid to boost the sports tourism industry, Barbados is seeking to borrow $50 million from the African Import/Export Bank (Afreximbank) to upgrade the historic Kensington Oval “to the next level”, Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced on Monday.
As she addressed the second AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum 2023 (ACTIF23) in Guyana, she said the US$25 million (BDS$50 million) loan will have a “highly competitive” seven per cent interest rate and a seven-year repayment period, and it will be allocated for the urgent refurbishment of the iconic cricket stadium. Barbados is to host matches in the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
In a speech that also touched on road tennis, football, athletics and music, she sought to connect the cricket loan with Barbadian tourism’s prospects and her vision of future African-Carribbean cultural solidarity: “We understand the power now that sports and culture give us in being able to deepen the solidarity and expand the business markets necessary for our hoteliers, our purchases of all goods and commodities because it is within our reach.”
Mottley’s announcement of the Afrexibank loan comes 18 years after the Owen Arthur administration borrowed a combined $200 million from the Inter-American Development (IDB) and commercial banks for the demolition of the old stands and the redevelopment of the stadium in 2006 for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The stadium also staged the final of the T-20 Cricket World Cup in 2010.
President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank Professor Benedict O. Oramah (left) and Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali at the opening of the forum.
Barbados is still repaying its debt from the 2007 World Cup at the rate of $10 million per year in debt payments, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), and is expected to continue servicing this debt until at least 2030.
But Mottley emphasised the importance of the Afreximbank loan, not only for refurbishment but also for developing regional cricket which has plummeted to new lows. The West Indies are absent from the One Day International World Cup for the first time since they won the inaugural tournament in 1975 during an 11-year dominance of world cricket.
“We are not only borrowing to refurbish, we are also borrowing for the development of the game and the establishment of indoor facilities and other things that would help our cricketers to be able to move to the next level,” Mottley said to rapturous applause from the audience that included the President of Guyana Irfaan Ali and St Lucian Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre.
“This region must give our cricketers the best available coaching and technology if they’re actually to be able to resume their global position in cricket. The reality is that others have come and done that which we have not done, and then we complain. And then we wonder about what the fellas doing and why they ain’t performing and why they ain’t doing so.”
She continued: “If we in the government understand the importance of deconstruction and reconstruction in order to make governance appropriate to the age in which we live, then surely we must be able to give our cricketers the tools to allow them to dissect in fine detail the batting, the bowling, the fielding and the practices of all of the people among their own team, but also all of the people against whom they will compete on the field.”
Mottley also pointed out the need for Africa and the Caribbean to collaborate on inter-regional sports events and cultural exchanges, which would help to raise awareness and opportunities for both regions. She emphasised that sports and culture have the potential to bridge gaps and build peace as one of the region’s greatest assets.
As she punctuated her speech with multiple cultural references, Mottley unveiled her vision of a future of cross-cultural interaction between the peoples of Africa and the Caribbean.
She said: “We must find a way for road tennis to be a sport played in every community across Africa and the Caribbean as we play it in Barbados. We must find a way for cricket, which we will dominate I hope in the future again, and for which we still have the global excellence among our legends, to be able to go into those countries in Africa that have a taste for cricket.”
The Barbadian leader noted that Rwanda has expressed “a desire for that level of support because they, too, understand that after the Olympics and after football, cricket is the third largest global sporting event”.
Mottley added: “We must find a way for athletes, the sprinters from Jamaica and the long-distance runners from Kenya and other parts of East Africa, to work together to have a level of global dominance not just at the Olympics or the World Championships, but in the same way Europe can have professional meets all through the summer, Africa and the Caribbean must be the place where people come to see top-class athletics.”
Recalling that she once managed a band, Mottley also said Africa and the Caribbean must find ways for their artistes, filmmakers and musicians to be able to perform in each other’s territories.
The potential for African-Caribbean trade and investment was reinforced at ACTIF23 by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett who called for strengthened infrastructure to support Africa-CARICOM trade. She stressed the need for better air and maritime distribution and transportation channels. She proposed the establishment of a Multilateral Air Services Agreement between African countries and CARICOM to facilitate trade and investment flows between the two regions.
(Please also see Page 17)
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
