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THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025
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Coconut processor’s ‘foreign is better’ fear By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A husband-and-wife entrepreneur duo are voicing fears their proposed joint venture with government to create “a sustainable coconut processing industry” is being sidelined because “foreign is better”. Youlette Davis and her husband Rob, who founded the Coconut Factory, now known as Emporium de Coconut, some 14 years ago told Tribune Business they could not understand why the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources had failed to respond to their proposal for threefour months until they saw news reports on a Cabinet minister’s visit to China. TV broadcasts, as well as an article on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, disclosed that Alfred
t &NQPSJVN EF $PDPOVU QSJODJQBMT XPSSZ TJEFMJOFE CZ $IJOB t /P (PW U SFQMZ UP 'FCSVBSZ QMBO GPS #BIBNJBO MFE JOEVTUSZ t /PX XPSSZ MPDBMT XJMM CF ATIVU PVU GSPN CO HMPCBM TFDUPS Sears KC, minister of Immigration and National Insurance, recently toured China’s Coconut Research Institute (CRI) and its flagship facility, called the ‘Kingdom of Spring Coconut’. Mr Sears was said to have described his visit as “extraordinary”, noting that The Bahamas could benefit from the technology and innovation he had witnessed. “One coconut can create over 300 different products,” he was quoted as saying. “In The Bahamas, the coconut is part of our culture. It’s in our cuisine, our crafts and, of course, our
tropical drinks. With the sustainable technologies developed here, we have the opportunity to modernise how we produce and preserve this essential crop.” But, describing herself as “highly upset”, Mrs Davis told this newspaper it appeared based on the reports that the couple and their proposal, which aimed to help establish a homegrown, Bahamian-led coconut sector was being pushed aside in favour of Chinese investment and mass production that would leave little space for local entrepreneurs such as the couple.
Tribune Business attempted to contact Neil Campbell, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources’ permanent secretary, by phone and e-mail for the past two days seeking comment but ultimately learned he was out of office. Other officials copied on Emporium de Coconut’s e-mails, including Montez Williams, the ministry’s under-secretary, and Senator Tyrel Young, the former Bahamas Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) chairman, also did not respond to this newspaper’s e-mails seeking comment before press time last night. While the Government’s plans and intentions towards Emporium de Coconut’s proposal, and a possible tie-up with China, could not be confirmed, Mrs Davis made her feelings known in a June 4,
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Coral restoration pioneer in $8m-plus ‘huge boost’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMAS-headquartered coral restoration pioneer yesterday said it plans to “showcase” its new eco-tourism experience by year-end after receiving a “huge boost” from $8m-plus in new financing. Sam Teicher, who cofounded Coral Vita with Gaitor Halpern, told Tribune Business that completion of the Series A funding round, which
typically represents a company’s first financing after it receives its original or “seed capital”, represents “the first-ever time in the world” that an entity focused on coral restoration has achieved this. Affirming that it will always be focused on The Bahamas, and reef restoration work in this nation, he revealed that Coral Vita had already initiated its international expansion prior to completing the latest financing and now has a presence in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and the Dutch Caribbean.
Disclosing that Coral Vita’s work is already bearing fruit for Grand Bahama coral reefs and ecosystems, Mr Teicher told this newspaper that one reef - the Rainbow Reef - now has twice as many fish compared to pre-restoration efforts. He added that the company’s work has enhanced coral survival rates to anywhere from 30 percent up to 70 percent, and even 90 percent. The $8m-plus Series A financing was led by Builders Vision, founded by Lukas Walton, grandson of Wal-Mart’s creator, Sam
Walton, helps to address environmental sustainability challenges in areas such as the ocean, energy and food and agriculture. Builders Vision also partially underwrote the Bahamian government’s recent $300m debt-fornature refinancing with a $79m “collateralised guarantee”. Other investors included entities such as Katapult Ocean, iAlumbra, Aureolis Ventures, Colorado Coral and Rising Tide, and Mr Teicher said of the
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CHESTER COOPER
KERRY FOUNTAIN
DPM brands Silver Airways demise as ‘a bump in the road’ t $BSSJFS T GBJMVSF DPTUT L TFBUT UP "CBDP BMPOF t A$SJTJT NBOBHFNFOU QMBO DBMM GPS UIPTF TUSBOEFE t /"% PXFE L CZ BJSMJOF #JNJOJ BJSQPSU L By NEIL HARTNELL, FAY SIMMONS and ANNELIA NIXON Tribune Business Reporters THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday downplayed Silver Airways’ demise as “a bump in the road” despite the loss of 87,000 annual seats into Abaco alone and calls for a “crisis management plan”. Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, said the carrier’s failure was not surprising or unexpected as it had been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US since late December 2024 and the Christmas/New Year holiday. He added that the outcome was no reflection
on The Bahamas as a destination or the financial returns it offers for airlines. Silver Airways, in a message to travellers issued late on Tuesday night, said the “airline holding company” acquiring its business out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy has elected to cease operations in The Bahamas as well as Florida and the wider Caribbean. “We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025,” the airline said. “In an attempt to restructure in bankruptcy, Silver entered into a transaction to sell its assets to another airline holding company who, unfortunately, has determined not to continue
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Opposition: Gov’t ‘making mockery’ of fiscal guards By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Opposition’s finance spokesman is accusing the Government of “making a mockery” of The Bahamas’ fiscal responsibility laws by seeking to change revenue and spending targets “on a whim”. Kwasi Thompson, former minister of state for finance under the Minnis administration, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration’s plans to adjust its revenue and expenditure targets, as a percentage of gross
KWASI THOMPSON domestic product (GDP), for the 2025-2026 Budget cycle threaten to undermine the very purpose of restrictions imposed in the Public Finance Management Act.
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