The Caribbean private sector consortium – Connect Caribe – was yesterday launched and it anticipates that it will secure the US$50 million needed to make a modern regional cargo and ferry service a reality by the end of this year.
And while they are working with CARICOM and individual governments to ensure smooth passage as it relates to the CARICOM Single Market & Economy and regulatory frameworks, the service is different from the one CARICOM has in mind.
Connect Caribe’s planned service would complement CARICOM’s planned regional transport system. “We have done this in a synergist approach with CARICOM,” Chairman and Founder of Pleion Group Inc and Upturn Funds Caribbean, Dr Andre Thomas yesterday said at a press conference in Barbados.
“Our intention, with all things being equal, is that the service will begin at the end of this year. We believe that will be realistic. As soon as we are in a place where we have enough control of the variables, we will announce when the projected dates of the service will start.”
Dr Thomas was at the time addressing a press conference and launch of Connect Caribe, a consortium comprising Windward Ferries Limited, Ramps Logistics, Upturn Funds, AH Consulting, and J&S Cruises and Tours.
Upturn Funds Caribbean in partnership with Pleion Group Inc, last week announced that they would be unveiling the new private sector-led ferry company which will provide the Caribbean with solutions aimed at revolutionising maritime transportation.
They stated that the key players in this joint venture are Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The Caribbean Israel Leadership Coalition (CLIC), Dr Andre Thomas; Chairman of UPTURN FUNDS New York, Raphael D’ angelis; CEO of Windward Ferries Limited, Tore Torsteinson; President of Ramps Logistics, Rudy Rampersad; and founder of the Anthony Hinkson Consultancy, Anthony Hinkson.
Thomas yesterday said that from the numerous studies looked at, it shows that if one connected Caribbean residents to move light goods over a five-year period, the GDP in the region would be up by 5 per cent. This was the motivating factor in the drive to provide the services.
“Eighteen months ago, we proceeded to read every single study that had been done on maritime administration [in the region]. Thus we felt that if there was ever a project to affect the lives of men and women across the Caribbean, this would be such a project,” he said.
As such, the investors explored “finding the success equation” that would make their project “bankable, profitable and add value to the men and women of the Caribbean and to investors and shareholders.” It was through this that the consortium with trading name Connect Caribe was created.
Each partner brings to the company their specific areas of expertise and would be responsible for duties relating to those.
Windward Ferries will head the ferries division while Ramps Logistics will take on the logistical aspect in the area of cargo of the company, being the largest logistics company in the region, and in the business for more than 50 years. In his presentation, Torsteinson, the CEO of Windward Ferries, informed that his company already has decades of experience in plying the routes. It was also explained that the routes were chosen because of Windward Ferries’ knowledge of those routes but later on, and depending on the profitability, more ports will be added.
In terms of the travel element, where the company hopes to bring a good customer service experience moving people across the region, they brought in JS Cruises & Tours Inc. Its CEO, who is also the Barbados Maritime Institute Chairperson, Judeen Scantlebury, will oversee the company, bringing “cruise like” experience to its patrons, with trained and experienced personnel as the seafarers.
Thomas said that an e-commerce element was also added, because the population in the area to be serviced amounted to some four million persons, thus creating room for a 4 million-person market. In this department Anthony Hinkson of AH Consultancy was brought in to head the e-commerce division.
Agriculture
An agriculture division was also created as Thomas says that the region spends over US$8 billion in food annually and here they will look at how access to foods in individual countries occurs or a product grown in one country is moved to another, cutting the food import bill, a goal also of CARICOM. He said that one of the partners has worked on a project that trained some 2,500 farmers across CARICOM countries so there is already that pool of farmers that can be tapped into.
President of Ramps Logistics’ Cargo Division, Brendon Mohammed, pointed out that from feasibility studies done here and through talks with local rice farmers, it was found that their production is not at peak, because while they may have regional demand, it was not cost effective due primarily to shipping costs.
“We would have gone to Guyana and engaged farmers there and asked. Rice not producing as much as they could because they don’t have the opportunity to sell here [in the Caribbean]… based on the frequency and the rates with the existing markets, if we were to tap into just the rice and present these farmers with better rates… we can see just that market alone, grow significantly,” he explained.
He said that the company’s plans are to “unlock all accessible chances” to connect not only small-, large-, and medium-scale businesses with regional opportunities, “but persons who want to move within the island themselves or with goods” from one country to another.
Mohammed pointed to Ramps’ experience over the years, noting that the company has moved from “large oil rigs, to needles” during the COVID-19 pandemic and would bring the same stellar service to the business.
“We are no stranger to the business and believe that it is the start of a new era to connect the Caribbean.”
Head of Upturn Funds New York, D’angelis said that he was confident that from the numbers crunched and analyses done, the investment would be a successful one.
He said that about 18 months ago, he and Thomas started to develop the plan and he fell in love with it especially when he saw that the Caribbean had a US$8 billion food import bill.
D’angelis noted that the plan is hinged on bringing, at least half of that sum, “back into the economies” so that food stability here can be achieved.
He pointed out as an example, that the data showed that one country alone imported some 5 million pounds of carrots annually. Food sustainability, security and reducing imports, he believes should be “a national priority for every country.”
“I am very confident of the feasibility of this project,” he added.
And with some four million persons living in the countries to be serviced, head of the e-commerce department of the company Hinkson posited that it would be profitable for persons to tap into investments. He said that the company’s goal is to “facilitate the economic transformation within our region by creating this market-place which will allow our users to build e-commerce businesses by local, regional, and extra-regional sales.”
Connect Caribe said that even as the investment aspects are still being negotiated, they believe that the product will be one that the Caribbean people would be proud of.
“We believe that with the right persons in the right seats, on the right ferry… we can unlock the full potential of the plethora of resources and opportunities that is waiting to be tapped within the region. If we better connect or own people, to our own goods and our own commodities we can then further integrate into a global supply chain to gain more r access to bring a quality of life to all of us in the Caribbean,” Thomas said.
