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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2021
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Payment Fed’s Powell: There’s no returning Lumber now in greater provider supply to pre-pandemic economy enters wedding promotion F By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER Associated Press
By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
A DIGITAL payments provider is expanding its brand into the wedding business by partnering to provide a payment solution for micro-wedding promotion. Jevon Butler, Kanoo’s chief sales officer, speaking at a press conference, said: “The Bahamas Bridal Association has done a wonderful thing with this wedding of your dreams. “During this pandemic, a lot of individuals have lost faith and hope and have lost love and we are excited to partner with the association as they are re-engaging and re-invigorating Bahamians to come together with that loved one and decide to take that leap of faith.” The BBA has launched its “eight wedding giveaways” where they will be giving four local couples and four international couples a chance to win a microwedding if they enter into a contest on BBA’s website. The value of a micro-wedding can go up to $5,000. The only stipulation is the couples must be planning to have a wedding in 2022. Where Kanoo comes in is that the payment provider will be facilitating the entrance fee to the BBA’s contest by offering a payment gateway where the BBA will be able to accept payments from local and international couples looking to enter. Mr Butler said: “What we’re finding with Kanoo is that a lot of individuals initially would have used the PayPal mechanism and we know PayPal is an American based entity that requires that you need to have a social security number or have an American address or have a bank account. “So those individuals who are collecting funds in $US, they’re having a difficult time repatriating them back to The Bahamas and even if they are able to, they’re losing on the foreign exchange. I’ve heard of clients that have lost up to 18 percent of the value of the funds being sent back. “So here at Kanoo, we’re saying to use a local payment gateway for API integration and you’re able just to process tour payment, your clients can either do it as a new account holder, or they can do it as a guest checkout. All of this allows for e-commerce platforms and associations like the BBA to collect funds in a timely fashion and have it sent to their bank account. The only thing is that people need to have a commercial bank account in order to convert their digital currency back to fiat currency, Mr Butler advised and the plan is that the Bahamian digital currency, the Sand Dollar, will takeoff and Kanoo will be well positioned to capitlise on this transition. “For now, you can just keep those funds in your mobile wallet and transact wherever you see fit,” he added.
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EDERAL Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said yesterday that the US economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic and it is important that the central bank adapt to those changes. “We’re not simply going back to the economy that we had before the pandemic,” Powell said at a Fed virtual town hall for educators and students. “We need to watch carefully as the economy continues to get through the pandemic and try to understand the ways that the economy has changed and what the implications are for our policy.” Powell said that, while it is not yet clear if the delta variant of COVID will have further impact on the economy, the country has already seen significant changes since the pandemic began shutting the country down in March 2020. Those changes range from the increase in remote
FEDERAL Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell testifies before Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing to examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Powell said yesterday that the US economy has been permanently changed by the COVID pandemic and it is important that the central bank adapt to those changes. “We’re not simply going back to the economy that we had before the pandemic,” Powell said at a Fed virtual town hall for educators and students. Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP work, to restaurants offering more take-out meals, to real estate agents learning to show homes virtually, he noted. Many companies have already made large investments in technology to adapt to the challenges that the pandemic
has presented. “It seems a near certainty that there will be substantially more remote work going forward,” Powell said. “That’s going to change the nature of work and the way work gets done.” Powell said the heavy
investment by companies in new technology means there will be more jobs in the future associated with maintaining that technology but also potential job losses in industries focused
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NIB considers extension as pandemic benefits reach $100m By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net THE National Insurance Board (NIB) has paid out over $100m in pandemic unemployment benefits thus far and a decision on whether payments will continue will happen by the end of September. Brensil Rolle, minister with responsibility for the public service and NIB, speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday, said: “Thousands of ordinary Bahamians have benefitted from the programme, particularly those individuals who worked in the touristic field and was totally shut down. “Many of these individuals have not, in the past, contributed to NIB, but they have benefitted through the programme because of the government’s commitment to making sure that those persons had bread on their table and something to eat.”
BRENSIL ROLLE The government is funding this extended unemployment benefits scheme by rearranging existing government projects and adjusting departmental budgets. Discussions on the solvency of NIB have always been a muted matter, with
policy makers tending to shy away from answering questions on the matter and not going into specifics of what NIB pays out in contracts and to who and what other financial investments the fund has made and whether these investments are returning to the
Cable in revenue increase pass expectations By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas Ltd (CBL) “surpassed expectations” for the 2021 fiscal year with revenue increasing by four percent in the final quarter. In a release to the media, CBL said their Q4 “surpassed expectations for the 2021 fiscal year, recording strong end of year earnings despite the extraordinary challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic”. The release also said: “Based on the company’s Q4 Report and Consolidated Interim Financial Statements, recently released, year to date (YTD) revenue for the communications conglomerate grew four percent ($7m).” It said this increase in revenue was driven by the consistent performance of the Aliv mobile services brand and REV’s fixed line services, particularly Internet and Voice. “The company also materialised significant reductions in its operating expenses with stricter management of costs and a reduction in interest
FRANKLYN BUTLER payments utilising funds from the sale of Summit: YTD opex reduced by ten percent ($15.6m). Overall there was a meaningful $22.7m overall increase in earnings before Interest, Tax and Depreciation (EBITDA).” “We remain in a market leadership position largely due to the loyalty of our customers, and we thank them for continuing to choose us throughout the pandemic. We worked with our customers to deliver creative solutions and extended credit terms to keep them connected while they endured economic strain,” said Cable Bahamas Group Chief Executive Officer, Franklyn Butler II. “We also owe this performance to the resilience and commitment of our employees who were flexible and willing to work harder with fewer hands.
This is why as a company we always prioritise our people. We implemented compassionate policies through the pandemic, including training and upskilling employees and investing over $280,000 to support their transition to work from home. “The Cable Bahamas Group of Companies has performed exceptionally well in this extraordinary environment and continues to demonstrate our ability to seamlessly adjust and display agility in this new reality. We remain committed to our strategic priorities to create shareholder value and look forward to continuing to deliver sustained growth.” The company added: “More than 50 percent of the group staff transitioned to work from home due to a policy that prioritized employee health and safety. The CBL Group also kept its focus on Corporate Social Responsibility by providing more than $500,000 in cash donations and resources directly to educational initiatives, along with the rapid deployment of the Bahamas Learning Channel.
government the way that it is envisioned. “That’s the money that the government either makes and have to divert from various other projects and these funds were diverted to ensure that people had something to eat in some way to survive. So many of the projects that the government may have planned had to be put on the shelf until this pandemic is over,” said Mr Rolle. Mr Rolle also said the number of people still on the unemployment benefits scheme is half of where it started in 2020. “We know that over 16,000 individuals are now receiving a benefit from the government on a weekly basis… We are roughly at half of the individuals who initially were getting assistance from government.,” he said. “The numbers fluctuate sometime between 34,000 and 42,000. We are doing $16m every two weeks.”
Island Luck teams up on sports betting technology
By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net
KAMBI Group Plc, a provider in sports betting technology, has teamed up with local gaming house, Island Luck, to provide the latter with premium sports betting technology. In a statement to Tribune Business, Kambi said: “We are very pleased to have put pen to paper on this longterm partnership with Island Luck. Kambi’s strategy is to partner with market leaders, and operators that have the potential to achieve a position of market leadership, with the Kambi sportsbook as a crucial component. It is an agreement that continues the expansion of our reach in the Americas with an ambitious partner, and we are excited to be working closely with Island Luck to bring their players exciting sports betting experiences.” Kambi is a trusted partner to more than 30 operators on six continents and is a leading provider in sports betting experiences. Island Luck is expected to leverage Kambi’s
A BUILDING materials supplier said lumber prices have “flattened out considerably” riding the wave of greater supply and availability. Christopher Lleida, chief executive officer of Premier Importers, told Tribune Business yesterday prices have started to come down in the last three months by 20 percent. Mr Lleida said: “Lumber prices have actually come down considerably. I think is just probably increased supply because I’m going to say three plus months ago supply were a bit iffy, and it kind of varies because plywood prices have dropped. I mean, they flattened out considerably. “I know from the orders we have coming in, but they aren’t in stock yet, but prices will be coming down considerably,” said Mr Lleida. He cautioned, however: “While we are the bully marker and we go up and down with the tide and whichever way the wind blows, we have zero control over these things. “So, there’s still an issue with freight coming out of South America and Asia and I don’t know when that will ever straighten out, because I heard China’s second largest port had one case of COVID-19 and they shut the whole port down and this port handles thousands of containers a day.” Shipping out of East Asia has been a significant problem for Bahamian businesses with partners in China due to logistics challenges. Earlier in the year, Chinese ships could not find containers due to a shortage. In addition, the price for containers have doubled in many instances, when what companies would have paid an average of $7,000 they are now paying upwards of $12,000 per container. Mr Lleida said: “You have one glitch here and another glitch there. Shipping companies are also faced with equipment shortages and other things
SEE PAGE 6 “best-in-class technology to upgrade its current sportsbook and offer Bahamians unmatched online betting experiences with thousands of pre-match and in-game markets on sports from all over the world.” “The Kambi sportsbook enables our partners to tailor the front-end to perfectly match their brand identity, and Island Luck will be able to take advantage of Kambi’s sophisticated user interface and technological expertise to build on their market leading position in online gaming,” said Kambi. “It is fantastic to have partnered with such a forward-thinking operator in Island Luck. The strategic partnership was a great fit for both parties, and we are looking forward to helping Island Luck capitalise on their ambitions in sports betting.” There are no immediate plans to offer services to other gaming houses other than Island Luck. “While we are always on lookout for new opportunities in regulated markets, our focus in The Bahamas is empowering Island Luck to lead the sports betting market through our highperformance sportsbook technology,” said Kambi.