Sustainable Business Magazine 02/21

02

SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 02.21 06/19

B U S I N E S S

M A G A Z I N E

FLOW JAMAICA

CIP ST LUCIA ASL GLOBAL

CANTO ABSOLUTE

ZAMBIA SAFARIS BARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGE

JAMAICA STOCK EXCHANGE

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

STOCK EXCHANGE (TTSE) ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE GREEN GROUP • TDC GROUP • PLUS MUCH MORE

S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY

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SUSTAINABLE

B U S I N E S S

M A G A Z I N E

SBM Media Ltd - 94B St Benedicts Street Adam & Eve Yard, Norwich NR2 4AB United Kingdom • T: +44 (0) 1603 299 124 Email: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net

Editor:

George Newell

Assistant Editor:

Daniel Baksi

Contributing Writers: Marcus Bonnano

Sustainable Business Magazine is committed to promoting sustainable printing.

This magazine is printed on Forest Stewardship Council certified material and manufactured using environmentally sustainable procedures.

All lithographic printer inks used are vegetable-based.

Liam Pritchett

Ciara Jack

Projects Manager:

Helen Stoneley

Sales Manager:

Jake Curtis

Editorial Executive:

Shaun Peacock

Sales Executive:

Oliver Clegg

Web Administrator: Ashley Hewitt

Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine.

CONTENTS ISSUE 02/21

Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine.

04

Foreword - CANTO

At time of writing, the situation for individuals and businesses remains a far-cry from how it was only twelve months ago, before life was turned upside down with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of which continue to be felt on a daily basis. Nevertheless, the arrival of the new year has ushered in a fresh wave of hope. The question has become ‘when’, not ‘if’, we might see an end to the current crisis, as the effective vaccine rollouts underway in countries across the globe, and an ever-growing arsenal of effective medications, offer us the first building blocks towards the staging of a successful global recovery.

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Interview - Flow Jamaica

Since Sustainable Business Magazine started in 2014, we have made it our goal to champion those who have sought to take us towards a better future. In many cases, ideas and projects that might once have seemed idealistic, have emerged as practical and viable solutions to some of our most significant challenges, whether in terms of addressing the threat posed by climate change, pioneering economic development, or driving forward new and exciting technological change. To this history, we might now add those companies that have played an essential role in helping us through the global pandemic, and thanks to whose efforts it is now possible for us to imagine a brighter world, and it is very much with them in mind that our February issue has taken shape.

16 Interview - Trinidad and

Tobago Stock Exchange

20 Interview - Jamaica

Stock Exchange

24 Interview - Barbados

Stock Exchange

30 Interview - CIP St Lucia 36 Interview - TDC Group 40 Interview - ASL Global

In these pages, we’re proud to host the second in our series of articles with Flow, the Caribbean telecommunications provider, taking a look at their support for Jamaicans throughout the pandemic, from keeping people connected, to providing access to essential education services for children, teachers, and schools. Similarly, our interviews with three stock exchanges – in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados – recognizes the admirable work that each one is doing to increase investment opportunities for citizens and to encourage economic recovery across the Caribbean. Elsewhere, interviews with companies such as ASL Global and GC Solar highlight international efforts towards delivering a greener, more sustainable future, while in the example of Absolute Zambia Safaris and CIP Saint Lucia, we find businesses that have been forced both to adapt and respond to the so-called ‘new normal’, and who are now looking firmly ahead to the opportunities to come. We believe these companies, and all of those featured within this issue, represent the immense scale of what it is possible to achieve in this decade.

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We hope you find this issue interesting and inspiring.

64 Advert index

The Sustainable Business Magazine Team

FRONT COVER COURTESY OF ASL GLOBAL

Foreword - AFSIA

46 Interview - GC Solar 50 Interview - Absolute

Zambia Safaris

56 Interview -The Grenada

Chocolate Company

60 Interview - Green Group

© SBM Media Ltd 2021. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.

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FOREWORD: CANTO

DIGITAL IS THE NEW

NORMAL A foreword by Teresa Wankin, Secretary General of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO).

CANTO is a non-profit association made up of operators, regulators, government bodies, service providers, and vendors. Our mission is to influence the innovation and development of ICT solutions and services for the benefit of our members. We advocate for stronger competition, which results in a better region for all stakeholders. We also advocate for policies and legislation that create an environment to facilitate development in technology.

Our conferences and trade exhibitions engage with issues in the region, showcase cutting-edge technology, and facilitate discussions on what’s available and how the region can benefit. We host at least one large-scale trade conference every year, and in addition to that we run smaller, knowledge-based events on relevant topics such as cyber security. We also provide training on regulations and technology. One crucial feature of our organization is our committees, which is how our membership input their information to us and let us know what their needs are at any point in time.

Today, with COVID-19, our conversations focus very heavily on the ‘new normal’ and what that means for telecommunications companies, particularly with regards to working from home and the demand that puts on 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

data requirements. COVID-19 has highlighted the resilience and capacity of CANTO’s members. Caribbean telecommunications providers have maintained their core functions and full objective of keeping stakeholders connected in this region throughout the pandemic, offering relief packages to make sure the networks were able to keep up with surging demand.

Since April, CANTO has run a series of over 25 webinars, with CEOs of member companies talking about how the pandemic has affected them. This has been a good

channel to disseminate information on what members are doing and how the damage is affecting them. The objective of that exercise is to ensure that our members, governments, and regulators know what technology is out there and how to make the best use of it.

We’re currently involved in a major push to empower young women in the tech industry. The objective of this project is to help girls and women acquire skills that will help them become both ICT users and shape the workplace of tomorrow. We are doing this in partnership with GSMA who is receiving grant funding from Verizon for this. The first training sessions will be held in Jamaica and in Trinidad and Tobago, introducing the

young women to STEM as a career choice while showcasing ICT projects and companies they could work for.

Another partnership is the mobile recycling project that comprises a series of recycle bins that our members are putting in key locations, so that people can collect and bring their old cell phones, chargers, and the like, and dispose of them in these bins. Once we get these phones, we will have them disposed of in a safe, secure, and environmentally-friendly manner.

We are fostering leaders in the Caribbean, training a new generation so that we have a continuous influx of brave and innovative leaders. We continue promoting

information and a culture of innovation, not only in our membership but throughout the region. CANTO hopes that our work and our platform will provide the tools and the connections that will enable stakeholders to strengthen and improve the Caribbean as a whole as we move towards this new normal. c

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INTERVIEW: FLOW JAMAICA

FREE-

ING

COMMUNICATIONS Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Stephen Price, Country Manager at Flow Jamaica, about the launch of their new customer-centric bundles, the Flow Foundation, and the company’s contribution to Jamaica’s COVID-19 response.

Part of the Liberty Latin America group of companies, and formerly known as Cable & Wireless, Flow is one of the leading telecommunications and entertainment providers in the Caribbean and Latin America.

The company has maintained a presence in the region since the 1870s, when it ran the first sub-sea cable connecting Europe with Jamaica’s Holland Bay. Today, Flow boasts over 50,000 kilometers of modern subsea and terrestrial fiber networks, connecting most parts of Latin America. “It’s an award-winning network, and it’s been a phenomenal journey to get to this point,” explains Stephen Price, Country Manager for Flow Jamaica. “We’ve evolved over the years to the first quad play network across the Caribbean, providing mobile services, cable TV subscriptions, broadband, and fixed-voice, right across the entire country.”

STEPHEN PRICE COUNTRY MANAGER AT FLOW JAMAICA

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RAPID DEVELOPMENT Despite Flow’s extensive history, the company is well-aware that it operates within an industry undergoing rapid change. “When

you look back at twenty years ago, we were just talking about 2G,” says Mr. Price. “Now, the conversation has become: ‘When is the 5G evolution coming to the Caribbean?’

The answer is that it may come very soon.

In the past three-to-four years, we’ve been building fiber-to-the-home in communities across Jamaica, and we continue to advance every single year, taking daily steps to make sure that we make the latest technologies available to our customers.”

As a developing nation, Jamaica offers both advantages and disadvantages for businesses. “You have to understand the strength-of-wallet of the consumer,” explains Mr. Price. “This is a region with currency challenges, with depreciations occurring on an annual basis and low GDP per-capita. On the other hand, it’s no secret that greater access to technology, data, and the internet has helped this country to stabilize the ship and to continue to grow. Access to the internet is key if you want to grow multiple points of GDP, and we now cover almost 96% of the population with LTE service, so that even

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INTERVIEW: FLOW JAMAICA

if they don’t have fixed connectivity, they’ll have mobile broadband. To achieve this, investment has been vital, but it doesn’t come cheap if we want to reach the length and breadth of the country. Increasingly, we’re working with the government to develop areas of public-private partnership, helping to connect all of our communities, and ensuring that Jamaica’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals are achieved.”

COMPREHENSIVE PACKAGE In November of this year, Flow held an event to launch its new fixed-mobile convergence service. “In the past, we’ve looked at mobile 8 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

services as its own line of business, and the same has gone for subscription television or fixed-voice services,” says Mr. Price. “More and more, we recognize that the consumer doesn’t perceive these distinctions. Instead, they see – and they demand – connectivity experiences. Our consumers want to know that they have a value-leading provider giving them access to all services in the form of a single bundle. This is particularly the case since the advent of COVID because of the economic challenges to their strength-ofwallet. It’s for that reason that we’ve started on the journey of fixed-mobile convergence, giving our consumers a product that delivers the savings they needed, the speeds they want, and ensures that they see rewards for their loyalty. We’re seeing more and more demand each day for these services, as the world continues to push down its road of becoming more digital, and the need for traditional brick-and-mortar slows.”

Looking ahead, Flow Jamaica plans to continue innovating with regards to its service offerings. “We need to maintain that pride of placement, being the single provider for the entire household package of technology,” says Mr. Smith. “That means, we need to give our consumers total control, flexibility, and affordability, and evolve our business to keep them satisfied. The future of technology is limitless.

Streaming services are booming, and offer a clear example of something that we have to embrace, by having those services traffic on our network, and ensuring that they’re part of our consumer bundles.”

STRONG FOUNDATIONS Flow has an extensive history of supporting community development, and the company formalized its official philanthropic arm in 2004, with the launch of the Flow Foundation. “Since its launch, the Foundation

Together next level. to the

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As part of our partnership with Flow Jamaica. Flow customers can help boost their credit score by paying their bills on time. Under an arrangement with CRIF Information Bureau Jamaica, customers can utilize their payment history on Flow’s products and services to build and more accurately demonstrate their ability to service other types of credit from traditional financial service providers.

We are very proud to have a great working relationship with Flow Jamaica, and we wish them all the success for the future.

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info.jm@crif.com www.crif.com.jm SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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YEARS OF WORLD CLASS SERVICES AT COMPETITIVE PRICES

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Power Services Company Limited is driven to encourage and promote good working conditions, respect for the environment, and efforts to develop the training of all employees to meet our professional standards. We would like to thank our committed and devoted staff for believing in our mission and thank our customers for their continued support over the years.

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INTERVIEW: FLOW JAMAICA

“WE NEED TO GIVE OUR CONSUMERS TOTAL CONTROL, FLEXIBILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY, AND EVOLVE OUR BUSINESS TO KEEP THEM SATISFIED. THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY IS LIMITLESS.”

has developed a rich legacy of connecting communities and transforming lives”, says Mr. Price. “We’ve invested millions of dollars, executing hundreds of projects across three main areas: bridging the digital divide; sport, youth and educating the community; and environmental responsibility.”

Moving on from past successes, this year saw Flow embark on a new focus, launching a National Development Program to drive digital inclusion across Jamaica.

“We’re focusing on digital education, supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and helping budding Jamaican

entrepreneurs to transition into the digital space,” says Mr. Price. “As a country, we know that in order to make this transition, we have to empower Jamaicans to participate in this digital economy. To do that, we need to continue to drive penetration and guarantee that technology is available at affordable prices for that participation to happen. While other countries in North America have access to computers and laptops at affordable prices, in Jamaica this is not necessarily the case. Our challenge is to find the right means and methods to ensure that Jamaicans, and especially those in rural SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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and under-served areas, are not left behind, giving them access to the ample opportunities in the online space.”

IMPACT AND RECOVERY Like the rest of Jamaica, Flow has felt the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Since we went into lockdown last March, we saw an increase of over 47% in bandwidth consumption,” says Mr. Price. “As an essential service, we had to respond to that by continuing to build out both our fixed and mobile LTE network, ensuring that we connected more homes. Despite around 70% of our own employees working from home, we’ve succeeded in continuously serving the population. We’ve created mobile hubs and virtual stores via WhatsApp, in order to reach our consumers without them having to go into the store. People appreciate their community stores and can now continue to interact with us via those means. We also created more online portals to allow customers to pay their bills virtually, and we’ve enabled our own e-commerce space on our website, so that consumers can buy our products online. Overall, it’s an indicator of our success SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: FLOW JAMAICA

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“OVERALL, IT’S AN INDICATOR OF OUR SUCCESS IN CONNECTING PEOPLE OVER THIS PERIOD THAT WE KNOW JAMAICA HAS MOVED UP THE BROADBAND RANKINGS GLOBALLY.” in connecting Jamaicans over this period, demonstrated by the fact that Jamaica has moved up the broadband rankings globally, with many persons receiving the kind of speeds experienced in some areas in the USA or Canada.”

Most significantly of all, Flow has played an integral supporting role to the Government of Jamaica in its COVID-19 response.

“We’ve worked with the Ministry of Health & Wellness, continuously pushing their message out to people,” says Mr. Price. “We’ve provided free advertising space on our subscription TV platform, so that their key messages – ‘wear a mask’, ‘social distancing’ and others – are proliferated right across the country. In terms of opening up Jamaica’s borders, we’ve provided a backbone for all the major airports, by allowing customers to download the national app that’s being used to track new arrivals and helping to ensure that they respect their 14-day quarantines. We’ve also worked in partnership with an education firm, developing our own study platform to provide classes and study mechanisms for over 50,000 students of exam age, helping them to complete their studies and prepare for their exams.

Education has been severely disrupted during the pandemic, but we’re proud to have been able to make these vital contributions, among others.” c

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INTERVIEW: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO STOCK EXCHANGE

A SECURE INVESTMENT: THE TTSE Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Eva Mitchell, Acting CEO at the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, about automating the exchange, support for small businesses, and welcoming new investors.

The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange (TTSE) was officially formalized under the provisions of the 1981 Securities Industry Act, after years of informal activity in the local securities market. Founded to provide oversight and facilitate the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s local capital markets, the TTSE has adapted to changing conditions and the evolution of Trinidadian and Tobagonian securities. In 1995, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established, invested 16 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

with the responsibility to maintain surveillance over the securities market in Trinidad, while the TTSE assumed the role it continues to play today, as a regulator of trading activity, and of the activities of its members firms and brokers. Today, the TTSE is the largest stock exchange in the Caribbean, with a market capitalization of more than US$17 billion and a variety of large local companies listed, including Republic Bank, ANSA McAL, and West Indian Tobacco Company (WITCO).

EVA MITCHELL ACTING CEO

EMBRACING AUTOMATION “Approximately ten years ago, the TTSE made the shift from a manual, open outcry trading process to an automated trading system, which includes a surveillance system, and we’re now fully automated,” says Eva Mitchell, Acting CEO at TTSE. “Our latest trading platform enables brokers to execute trading on behalf of their clients in an electronic manner, completely eliminating the need for an actual physical trading floor. It’s partly because of this that, as of 2019, we’re the largest stock exchange in the region, accounting for about 55% of the total regional market capitalization. Earlier in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, we introduced our online trading platform, TOP, which stands for TTSE Online Platform.

What TOP does is allow investors the option of using the platform 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so they can enter an order anytime.

It empowers the investor to take that step in terms of making a move in line with his or

her investment decisions. This has been part of the strategic initiatives of the organization for some time, but timing is everything, and the timing was right during the pandemic, as the world itself shifted to a more online and digital approach.”

For the TTSE, this shift towards an online presence has tied in with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve seen the effects of the pandemic within our local context and within financial services contexts, and the exchange is no exception to that,” explains Ms. Mitchell. “It changed the way we were doing everything - communicating, conducting business, and the way we were trading. Now, while we cannot alter what happens externally in terms of consumer economic activity, we at the Exchange do believe that this is a critical time for us to pivot, and to innovate ourselves. We took a position to place focus on our strategic initiatives, particularly those that related to digital platforms, in order to revitalize SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO STOCK EXCHANGE

our investors, and the way we approach our activities, and the offerings we make. In this, although online trading is not new to the region, having an online trading platform is a game changer – for us, and for our investors who are part of the diaspora, who might want to have ownership in local companies.”

SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS A crucial aspect of the TTSE’s response to the pandemic has been its support for small businesses. “Businesses large and small continue to scramble to adapt to this new post-COVID environment, but where there is risk, there is opportunity,” says says Ms. Mitchell. “We see many smaller companies that have a unique advantage over corporations, in that they have the agility to tweak or re-engineer their business models to meet the changing needs of their customers. The TTSE is working with policy makers and with the government to help small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to survive the crisis and to take advantage of these new opportunities. Because of that, we continue to promote listings in our SME markets. Soon, we’ll also be launching our SME mentorship program, to help SMEs build the capacity to undertake a listing, and ensure that they get the benefit of professional insight andcompliance advice, helping them to get through the corporate and business aspects needed for listing. Gradually and successfully, the TTSE will ensure that those companies are able to advance to our first-tier or main market listing.”

TAPPING THE MARKET “We place a key focus on investor education and awareness,” explains Ms. Mitchell. “As a result, we’ve recently undergone a rebranding exercise. We launched our new brand and website in the latter half of 2020 during the midst of the pandemic, which included a new logo. With that, we also launched our social media platforms and updated our website. The website has various portals that are specific to each investor or client.

We have a portal that will attract companies.

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We have another that will provide information to investors, and then another that provides trading information. The idea was to ensure that the information is out there in a clean and easy way so that it’s accessible, accurate, and relevant. Any of our notices or promotions will go out using social media, as we see that as the most effective way to communicate, especially during these times.

It’s something we didn’t have before, so it shows that we’re evolving.”

For the TTSE, the end-goal is to make the stock market more accessible to local and international investors. “As the world spends more time online, our digital platform will allow us to connect and engage with potential investors and entrepreneurs,” says Ms. Mitchell. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the Exchange, to tell people what we’ve been up to, and show them how we can partner to build our capital markets. We found that, based on the employable population locally, there’s a wide, untapped market that we’re working towards investing in the stock market, and bringing awareness as it relates to what the stock market can offer you and how you can take advantage of participating in the stock market. There’s a great pool of po-

tential investors, and members that already participate in the stock market at a foreign and international level. Our goal is to look at foreign and local investors, people who are part of the diaspora, and ensure that they too can benefit from owning shares in our home-grown companies, and from investing in the stock market.”

SHAPING THE ECOSYSTEM “The TTSE has a goal to become the leader in the securities industry in the region, and to become a trendsetter in terms of technology and technological advancement,” says Ms. Mitchell. “Since investors now rely so heavily on technology simply to get through their day, we want to place a greater emphasis on the use of digital platforms in our industry, in order to support trading and the markets, and to support our investors in their investment decisions. We’re also encouraging companies very eagerly and avidly to list on the exchange, working with the necessary stakeholders from the top-level down: with government, with various associations, companies, and investors, and with everybody that’s part of the Trinidad and Tobago ecosystem to bring about change.” c

“THE TTSE HAS A GOAL TO BECOME THE LEADER IN THE SECURITIES INDUSTRY IN THE REGION, AND TO BECOME A TRENDSETTER IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT,”

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA STOCK EXCHANGE

FINDING

DIGITAL STABILITY

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks with Marlene Street-Forrest, Managing Director at the Jamaica Stock Exchange, about new technology, supporting financial services education, and weathering the impact of COVID-19 on global markets.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) is Jamaica’s only stock market, with currently 90 companies listed on the Main and Junior Markets representing 109 securities.

The sectors range from finance to manufacturing to communications to retail to insurance to transportation to technology and leisure. In 2015 and 2018, Bloomberg named JSE the world’s best performing stock exchange, helping drive capital

investment in Jamaican businesses and creating opportunities for local investors and business people.

COVID-19 has brought profound challenges to stock markets across the globe. “In 2018, we were the best-performing exchange in the world, and in 2019 we were in the top five,” says Marlene Street Forrest, Managing Director at the Jamaica Stock Exchange. “Obviously, we are not there now, given the fallout that has been experienced from COVID-19.

Though it is a challenging time for us, the bedrock of our market remains presenting a fair, efficient, and transparent stock exchange.

Regardless of whether we are in good times or bad, our framework and rules are upheld to ensure that investors can have full confidence in the stock exchange.”

UPDATED PLATFORM When Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to JSE, in early 2019, the stock exchange had recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. (See Sustainable Business Magazine 03/19 for the full feature.) Since then, JSE has continued to develop their technological infrastructure. In December

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INTERVIEW: JAMAICA STOCK EXCHANGE

“TO ENSURE WE’RE WELL-EQUIPPED FOR THIS PERIOD, WE HAVE STARTED WITH THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR CYBER SECURITY AND THE RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK, IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE STOCK EXCHANGE IS RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE”

2019, JSE migrated to the Nasdaq Matching Engine and Nasdaq Market Surveillance systems, improving JSE’s ability to manage trading functions and using data from a variety of sources to detect any market abuse. “We migrated to the Nasdaq trading and surveillance platform in order to improve stability and growth,” says Mrs. Street Forrest. “We also feel that, as the stock exchange grows, you need to have more electronic tools allowing for alerts to give the regulator and the oversight division further assistance in looking at what is happening in the market. We also made some enhancements to our online trading platform and added new indexing features for the public and the member dealers.”

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SOCIAL INVESTMENT Last year, JSE also launched the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange (JSSE), establishing a new platform to drive investment in the social economy (principally NGOs and social enterprises) in Jamaica. “We believe that social growth contributes to overall market growth,” says Mrs. Street Forrest.

“JSSE is designed to look at the social aspect of the economy, and we have two phases there. In phase one, we are just looking to at how to enhance social enterprise projects through the Jamaica Social Investment Market (JSIM). Meanwhile, in phase two, we will be moving based on the government’s legislation, when that is enacted, to list social entities through the

Jamaica Impact Investment Market (JIIM).

Both markets will operate through the JSSE’s platform.”

In early 2019, we spoke to JSE about their e-Campus, a range of courses offering financial services education from the basics of investing for beginners through to postgraduate degrees and diplomas in financial services management, all accredited by the University Council of Jamaica and the Continuing Professional Development Certification Service. Now, with COVID-19, Ms. Street Forrest sees a heightened urgency to keep these courses and other online resources up and running. “We have upgraded our e-Campus websites,” explains Mrs. Street Forrest. “We believe that, within

this period, people need to be as educated about the market as possible. We increased the number of account holders at the Jamaican Central Securities Depositary (JCSD) by over 100% in less than three years.

Investors saw the market going up and just wanted to come in. So, we felt it was very important that those investors were given a market education, so they understand that markets go up and markets go down, and so that during this period there would be level-headed decision making.”

as a leader in. We consider communication as a key element in rallying the market through these tough times. Consequently, we’ve had several meetings and contacts with our investors to give them as much assurance as we can.”

“Our long-term plan is offering more products and services towards the growth of the exchange,” says Mrs. Street Forrest.

“We continue to look at business content and trading improvements, including at the IT end, because both of those things are

technology-driven. The stock exchange is really looking to make sure that in this age, there is a complete digital transformation.

We are looking at a complete digital transformation, both in terms of what we offer internally to our customers and to the market, and how we can assist our stakeholders especially our member/dealers in achieving this same objective. Ultimately, we want to be the exchange that processes or has an input in the processing of transaction within the capital markets.” c

FOSTERING TRUST JSE have also been improving their mobile app for investors. “With COVID-19, we recognize that quite a number of transactions and operations need to be done in a digital manner,” says Ms. Street Forrest. “To ensure we are well-equipped for this period, we have started with the improvement of our cyber security and the risk management framework, to ensure that the stock exchange is resilient and sustainable. We also built up the JCSD Trustee Services, and on top of that we implemented a fund management system for the trustee division. What this does is provide the back office support, which we see ourselves SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: BARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGE

GOING GLOBAL

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Marlon Yarde, Managing Director at the Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) about a global vision, advances in technology, and building a resilient investment platform.

The Barbados Stock Exchange (BSE) is the central marketplace for securities trading in Barbados, allowing Barbadians and international investors alike to participate in the trading of both local and international securities. Formerly known as the Securities Exchange of Barbados, the BSE was re-incorporated on 2 August 2001, remaining a privately owned non-profit organization until its demutualization on 22 December 2015. Sustainable Business Magazine last spoke to the BSE in 2019, when, at that time, the Exchange was seeking specific recognition from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the United Kingdom in an effort to facilitate cross-listings.

The BSE was also preparing to relaunch its 24 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

Junior Market for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while investigating the burgeoning potential of innovative, new technologies like blockchain. (See Sustainable Business Magazine issue 03/19 for the full story.)

INTERNATIONAL VISION “Since we last spoke, we’ve done a lot to enhance the attractiveness of Barbados as a jurisdiction”, explains Marlon Yarde, Managing Director at the BSE. “One of the things that we’re looking to develop is our International Securities Market (ISM), taking advantage of the opportunities for international companies to raise capital and list on our exchange. We’ve sought recognition by the

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INTERVIEW: BARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGE

“WE ARE AN EXCHANGE THAT SUPPORTS GROWTH, AND WE’RE SEEKING PARTNERSHIPS AROUND THE WORLD. WE ALREADY HAVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE NAIROBI SECURITIES EXCHANGE AND THE GUYANA STOCK EXCHANGE, AND NOW OF COURSE WITH THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE”

U.K. government to become a ‘Recognized Stock Exchange’, a goal we achieved on April 2nd 2019. This designation is a boon for the BSE and means that we’ve effectively become an extension of the U.K.’s capital market. In other words, securities listed on our exchange now meet the legal definition, in the U.K., of being ‘listed’ – a distinction that would only normally apply to securities directly listed on exchanges in the U.K. It’s a status therefore that presents the BSE as an attractive international market, not only to British investors that reside in Barbados, but also to the wider public in the U.K.” These moves are part of the BSE’s broader ‘Go Global’ strategy. “We want to become a global financial center,” says Mr. Yarde. “We

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are an Exchange that supports growth, and we’re seeking partnerships around the world.

We already have partnerships with the Nairobi Securities Exchange and the Guyana Stock Exchange, and now of course with the London Stock Exchange. These developments are an integral part of the BSE’s growth into a great and lasting international institution.”

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE The unique nature of the Barbadian economy means the BSE is well-positioned to realize its global ambitions. “Barbados by its very nature is an attractive designation as it relates to value propositions,” explains Mr. Yarde. “Many of our services are legal and accounting firms, with the Big Four all resident here. Consequently, the costs for companies wishing to list in Barbados, to do business, and to utilize the services of our professionals, are far more competitive than other international financial jurisdictions. Compared to other stock exchanges we are cost-effective, with fees set below benchmark exchanges by around 40-50%.

It’s a critical factor in this increasingly competitive environment.”

The BSE is working hard to make the most of these advantages. “To be a marketplace that creates liquidity and offer the best price discoveries, we need to guarantee that the microstructures within the BSE are efficient and effective,” says Mr. Yarde.

“We’re fortunate to have a team of people who understand the business well and the experience that allows us to become more efficient. We’re working with a company in Estonia to update our trading platform for the trading of traditional securities. This initiative will allow people to trade directly, giving them greater access to the market and giving the exchange greater access to potential customers. Previously, you had to email your broker who would then facilitate your access to the exchange. But we want to see people able to access the market via their laptop or their mobile device.

The regulations of the Barbados market stipulate that customers will still have to go via a brokerage, but they’ll be able to do that through the portal of our design.

That product is currently in the testing phase and is due to be finished for the first quarter of 2021.”

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SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: BARBADOS STOCK EXCHANGE

“ULTIMATELY, WE WANT TO BECOME MARKET LEADERS, AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT WE NEED TO OPTIMIZE OUR INTERNAL PROCESSES AND ADAPT OUR CULTURE.”

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EMBRACING THE FUTURE The BSE adopts a proactive approach towards new technologies that drive growth and deliver innovation. “Blockchain is a burgeoning phenomenon worldwide, and it’s gaining traction in Barbados,” explains Mr. Yarde. “We’re partnering with Blockstation, a solution provider based in Canada, to begin issuing what we call ‘digital assets’: security tokens that utilize blockchain technology for raising capital. These tokens are much like any other security, except they’re issued, listed, settled, and traded via blockchain, and the same goes for the due diligence checks we carry out on participants in the marketplace. We’ve also developed a body of rules to facilitate the listing and trading of digital assets. By implementing this technology, it will make the BSE more dynamic and the market more robust. We’ll be able to offer even better price discoveries, because with more people accessing the market, it enhances the potential for positive returns.”

In so doing, the BSE is also responding to the needs of its clients. “Millennials and younger people are driving change,” says Mr. Yarde. “They are accustomed to technology and they are asking why we don’t provide these services already. They want to cut out the middleman and to get things done. It’s important to stress that we’re not quite at the point of venturing into cryptocurrencies, but we are monitoring that segment as a future consideration. Simply put: these technologies are becoming more widespread, so we need to position ourselves at the forefront of those changes.”

LOCAL GROWTH The BSE is also working hard to ensure that its benefits are felt locally. “We want to enhance the platform for issuers requiring capital by connecting them with savers or

investors who have the capital to invest,” explains Mr. Yarde. “We’ve rebranded and relaunched our junior market, which is now known as the Innovation & Growth Market and set up for SMEs that require proportionate and affordable access to the capital markets. We’ve partnered with the Ministry of Small Business, Entrepreneurship and Commerce to develop SMEs in Barbados.

It’s an incubator program, consisting of three stages geared towards bringing these small companies to market: education, diagnostic, and raising capital. We plan to work with lawyers and accountants in sourcing these businesses, and we plan to host educational workshops with these and all stakeholders who are interested in being publicly listed.”

“We at the BSE have a simple mantra: ‘rethink, redo, revitalize’,” says Mr. Yarde.

“That means, we look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing, and then we decide upon the way forward, doing what we have to do to make ourselves more efficient. Ultimately, we want to become market leaders, and in order to do that we need to optimize our internal processes and adapt our culture. We’re now in the process of creating a three-year strategic plan taking us into 2023, designed to help us better-engage and utilize talent and to ensure that our team understands and buys into what we’re trying to achieve. We’ll look at our people, I’ll look at myself, and we’ll make the necessary changes to help us progress to the next stage.” c

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INTERVIEW: CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT SAINT LUCIA

PASSPORT TO

PROSPERITY Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Nestor Alfred, CEO at Citizenship

By Investment Saint Lucia, about good governance, CIP’s role as a source of revenue for Saint Lucia, and its benefits for local communities.

Compared to its neighbors, Saint Lucia is new to the idea of a citizenship by investment program (CIP). The program, which allows eligible individuals to apply for national citizenship, has been in place in neighboring Saint Kitts for over 36 years, for 27 years in Dominica, and roughly 15 each for Grenada and Antigua. In 2020, Saint Lucia CIP celebrated its fifth year, but despite its infancy, the idea behind the program remains the same: an opportunity for the country to generate economic growth and stability.

“In pursuing CIP, Saint Lucia was very cautious,” says Nestor Alfred, CEO at Saint Lucia CIP. “We took the time to understand how the program was being managed in other islands; what were some of the pitfalls and the strengths. It was on this basis that in 2015, Saint Lucia drafted a piece of legislation with regulation to drive such a program.”

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PRESERVING INTEGRITY At the center of Saint Lucia’s CIP is a commitment to rigorous due diligence. “There’s some common traits amongst the islands that operate CIP programs,” says Mr. Alfred.

“All these countries have beautiful sunshine, blue seas, and white sand. But here in Saint Lucia, we spare absolutely no effort regarding the conduct of due diligence. From the outset, the island decided that the grant of citizenship ought not to be in the hands of

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INTERVIEW: CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT SAINT LUCIA

“SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN, THE CIP HAS RECORDED ITS BEST PERFORMANCE IN FIVE YEARS, WITH AN INCREASE IN REVENUE IN EXCESS OF 100%.”

politicians, but in the hands of competent technocrats and so legislation provided for the setting up of a board of directors, who are charged with the final decision over whether any individual citizenship is granted or denied. Likewise, Saint Lucia’s legislation mandates that Saint Lucia’s CIP Unit undertakes a financial audit of its affairs by a professional audit firm and presents to the Cabinet of Ministers, for onward transmission to Parliament, its audited financial statements. When this statement is presented to Parliament, it becomes a public document, which means that all Saint Lucians can lay their hands on this document to see the amount of revenue that the program has generated, as well as how many applications have been approved and declined as well as the financial standing of the Unit.”

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Despite its small size, Saint Lucia has worked hard to prioritize transparency and good governance within its programme.

“Since the collapse of Cyprus’s golden visa program, there have been questions as to whether small states have the capacity to undertake the requisite due diligence, to protect their own borders, and those of Europe and the United States,” says Mr. Alfred.

“However, we have clearly demonstrated that we the capacity and willingness to do just that. We work closely with CARICOM IMPACS and through its “sister” organization, Joint Regional Communication Centre based in Barbados, together with our own Law Enforcement, to ensure that before we grant citizenship, intelligence information is obtained on every single applicant. It is es-

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www.tmantoinelaw.com sential that we know whether any applicant is wanted by any other country; whether they’re on Interpol red lists; or whether they’re involved in criminal or terrorist activities. To advance the due diligence process further, we have contracted international due diligence firms. These firms have the responsibility to create a profile of our applicants, to confirm that they exist, they have friends, a home, a workplace. Without deliberate due process, we know that we cannot make an informed decision on the grant/decline of citizenship to any applicant.”

RELIABLE REVENUE The mainstay of Saint Lucia’s economy is tourism, contributing over 60% of GDP. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the island has seen tourist reve-

nues take a significant hit, with international lockdowns discouraging or preventing tourists from travelling to Saint Lucia from its main markets. “During the pandemic, the significance of CIP was really brought to the fore,” says Mr. Alfred. “We’ve all seen how fragile the tourism sector can be, and it’s partly because of this and the opportunity to develop another sector that the government of Saint Lucia first decided to pursue CIP as a viable platform. Now, what we have seen in the last year is that CIP has become practically the only sector that has been able to generate revenue irrespective of the pandemic and irrespective of lockdowns. In fact, since the pandemic began, the CIP has recorded its best performance in five years, with an increase in revenue in excess of 100%.”

The CIP Unit is fully aware of some of the underlying factors behind this increase in demand for its services. “It’s notable that, during this pandemic, we’ve seen an increase in applications for citizenship from countries that lie outside of our traditional areas,” says Mr. Alfred. “In any CIP program, people primarily seek international mobility, and that mobility is usually sought by people whose passports are not “strong” enough to give them visa-free access to many countries. In Saint Lucia, we are fortunate to have visa-free status with 146 countries in the world, and it’s a major pull-factor. But what the recent change in our applicant base suggests is that people are looking for a security platform.

As we’ve seen in the United States, there’s been a continued increase in COVID case numbers. Many people believe that in the Caribbean, the pandemic has been controlled in a more reasonable way. Because of that, more people are seeking a move, and wanting to take advantage of the opportunity that comes with a Saint Lucian passport.”

SUPPORTING THE NATION Although the CIP’s remit is simply to process citizenship applications, all funds received go towards the country’s National EcoSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: CITIZENSHIP BY INVESTMENT SAINT LUCIA

“THE CIP WAS ORIGINALLY SET UP TO GENERATE MUCH-NEEDED REVENUE FOR THIS ISLAND, AND TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT”

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nomic Fund that has been set up. “With a significant percentage increase in numbers, comes a significant increase in dollar value,” says Mr. Alfred. “This in and of itself sets a really good tone for the country, in terms of having a reliable source of revenue at such a crucial time and in helping the government meet its primary objectives. The National Economic Fund itself has its own board of directors, manned by the technocrats within the Ministry of Finance and two representatives from the private sector. The spenging of this Fund is captured within the respective legislation, and prioritizes infrastructure investments, reduction of national debt, and other social purposes. Prior to the establishment of the National Economic Fund CIP some of the funds were directed in areas such as the agricultural diversification program, and the completion of the St. Jude Hospital, located in the south of the island.”

As the country looks to the future, the main question is not about whether CIP can replace tourism, but about how it can work alongside tourism to shape and bring prosperity to Saint Lucia. “CIP was originally set up to generate much-needed revenue for this island, and to play an important role in its economic development,” says Mr. Alfred. “We’re proud to able to say that we’re already doing that. In the government’s 2019 budget preparation, CIP was cited as instrumental in reducing government deficit, a fact that speaks volumes about the capacity of this program. In the future, we would like CIP to have an even greater impact on the country’s development. With our focus on corporate governance, we hope that the spend of CIP money will be far more transparent. We need to continue in all of our endeavors to protect the integrity of our passport.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTEVIEW: TDC GROUP

REVOLUTIONARY TRADING Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Earle Kelly, Chairman and CEO of TDC Group, about real estate developments, community initiatives, and the company’s changing portfolio.

The St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla Trading and Development Company Limited (TDC Group) is a multi-sector group of companies, with a wide-ranging portfolio spanning a variety of goods and services. Founded in February 1973, and headquartered in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, TDC was listed on the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange in June 2003.

Today, TDC is one of the largest companies in the OECS region, with 630 employees and USD$56.22 million in annual sales.

HOUSING THE FUTURE “We’re just beginning to embark on a new real estate investment, with thirty homes to be sold to middle-income earners,” says Earle Kelly, Chairman and CEO at TDC Group. “The infrastructure is already in place; 36 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

sales have begun, and the development is expected to be built out over a period of 3-5 years. Over one hundred jobs will be created over the course of construction.”

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www.hendersonroof.com “The walls will be of concrete blocks; floors of concrete and roofs of galvanize and lumber,” explains Mr. Kelly. “We’re not using any sand from our beaches. Instead, we will use sand brought down from the hillsides by our seasonal rivers. Our use of concrete speaks to the integrity and the strength of the housing stock that we’re seeking to build to mitigate against the risks of damages from hurricanes. We will use solar energy to run some aspects of the operation of the homes and will catch and store rainwater in cisterns for use within the home and for gardening.”

EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION TDC is committed to supporting local communities. “We support youth and sports programs, community organizations and cultural activities,” says Mr. Kelly. “One of our major initiatives is a scholarship program named after the first Chairman of the company, Warren Tyson, that supports young, promising students who enter high schools annually.

In every class, in every high school and sixth form college, there is at least one student who the company supports. That means we have a significant number of students in schools throughout the Federation at any

one time. We provide them with financial support, which includes school supplies and uniforms. The program also involves a mentoring component, which also allows students to work during school vacations and weekends.”

CHANGING PORTFOLIO Although TDC remains heavily involved in trading activities, the company has also diversified into financial services and insurance. “Today, those services represent two major components of the businesses, generating approximately 50% of our

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INTEVIEW: TDC GROUP

“WE PROVIDE THEM WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORT, WHICH INCLUDES SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND UNIFORMS. THE PROGRAM ALSO INVOLVES A MENTORING COMPONENT, WHICH ALSO ALLOWS STUDENTS TO WORK DURING SCHOOL VACATIONS AND WEEKENDS.”

profits,” explains Mr. Kelly. “Currently, we have a finance company with a limited banking license which authorizes it to offer certificates of deposit and loans. The insurance company offers property, vehicle, and liability insurance, and was recently awarded, for the fourth consecutive year, an A- Financial Strength rating from A.M. Best, the international company that rates insurance companies. The Group’s re-insur-

EARLE KELLY, CHAIRMAN AND CEO

ance company was also rated B+ by A.M. Best. Those ratings provide the Group the opportunity to participate in covering risks throughout some of the other Caribbean islands, where it would not had been previously invited to participate.”

“To build on past successes, the company is presently undergoing a business transformation exercise, which is intended to make the Group more efficient and profitable,” says Mr. Kelly. “Over the years the company has expanded into many different areas, some of which are very competitive and generate low returns-on-investment. We are diligently reviewing what the company does best and will concentrate our efforts in areas where we have the competitive edge and generate more attractive returns. That means over the next couple of years we may be involved in fewer activities but generate higher profits”. c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: ASL GLOBAL

STARTING AT THE SOURCE Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Emma Pomeroy, CSR Director at ASL Global about the launch of company’s One World initiative, measuring impacts, and maintaining a culture of sustainability.

ASL Global is a Hong Kong-headquartered global marketing services business. Founded in 2005, ASL Global originally specialized in sourcing promotional materials, including gifts with purchase, textiles, and other giveaway items, for brands across Europe and Asia-Pacific region. Today, ASL Global has built a global supply network, with more than 300 employees in 51 countries working with some of the world’s best-known brands to develop and execute marketing campaigns which reach over 200 markets around the world.

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Over the last decade, ASL became a signatory to the UN Global Compact and engaged with sustainability assessment platform EcoVadis to benchmark and improve sustainability performance across the business. “Historically, we’ve been driven by client-specific requirements or initiatives,” explains Emma Pomeroy, CSR Director at ASL Global. “The customer would say to us: ‘We need to make this more sustainable – how?’ It was a responsive strategy. But as sustainability has risen up the agenda, becoming a bigger issue for everybody both

personally and professionally, ASL felt we were well-placed to become more proactive in our journey. We reviewed our own operations and those of our key stakeholder groups, and identified priorities in terms of social, environmental, and economic sustainability. We then developed our targets aligned with those issues.”

By embedding sustainability at the core of their operations and processes, ASL Global’s EcoVadis assessment scores have steadily risen. For 2021, ASL Global is set to be awarded an EcoVadis Gold medal, which is given to the top-performing 1% of companies across all industries in the key theme areas of Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.

“Lots of companies think of CSR as a side-project,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “We want sustainability to sit at the heart of our strategy, and for it to have a positive effect on all of our operations, our customers, our own people, and the communities in which we were operating. It isn’t a bolt-on for us.

We believe there’s no point in taking an ‘off the shelf’ sustainability strategy that doesn’t work for your business. It’s got to be relevant for what we do, and specifically designed for where we can make a difference.”

ONE WORLD January 2020 saw the launch of ASL Global’s ‘One World’ initiative, a brand-new sustainability strategy formed of three principal commitments: Reduce Our Impact, Inspire Our Partners, and Help Communities Flourish. “We wanted to give the strategy its own identity, so that we could talk about it more coherently and help build momentum,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “’Reduce Our Impact’ focuses on our own impact as a business, our emissions and energy consumption.

‘Inspire Our Partners’ looks at how we can work with our customers to facilitate better product sustainability, use innovation to create more sustainable marketing campaigns, and grow a more sustainable supply chain.

‘Help Communities Flourish’ asks how we can be a responsible employer, an ethical customer to our own suppliers, and how we can help our employees develop and grow.

Because we work with suppliers all over the world, our strategy also considers how we can support global and local communities.

For example, we can offer smaller suppliers a platform to undertake work for our global clients. Encouraging these local suppliers gives them a unique opportunity to grow

their business and gives our global brand clients the chance to support local, sustainable suppliers that are otherwise difficult for them to reach through more conventional, global supply chains.

Despite the complications of COVID-19, the company’s new strategy is already taking effect. “We are committed to reporting on progress,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “So far, it’s been about setting up new systems and processes so that we can report a full year in 2020. As we move into 2021, we will begin to set ourselves targets for reduction. We’ve already done a lot of work in terms of setting up reporting for key areas such as energy consumption, waste and business travel. In 2020, our business air miles were down over 80% compared to 2019, for obvious reasons, but we’re aiming to keep that reduction in place, as far as possible, moving forward”.

EDUCATING PARTNERS ASL Global works closely with clients as they adopt new, innovative ways to measure their impacts. “We’ve worked with Heineken this year, doing a lot of work on creating more sustainable marketing materials for their campaign activity,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “They wanted more visibility around the carbon footprint of their marketing products, which is a big challenge, given the complexity of the processes involved in creating a myriad of different products. We have developed a carbon footprint calculator which helps to show the impact of each product. For example, we produce plastic ice buckets for them. They wanted to know the carbon footprint of that ice bucket, and how it can be reduced. To do that, we looked at the whole product lifecycle from raw materials, production methods, packaging, shipping SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: ASL GLOBAL

WASTE 2 WEAR The Flipflopi is the world's first sailing boat made entirely from waste plastic washed up on beaches in Kenya and covered in 30,000 discarded flip-flops. It is an African circular economy project whose expeditions are supported by the United Nations Environment Programme #CleanSeas Initiative. Waste2Wear are the pioneers in recycling plastic into textiles and are providing the fabric for the 62-meter sail for Flipflopi’s upcoming expedition around Lake Victoria in March. Using material made entirely from recycled plastic bottles not only prevents those bottles ending up in landfills or the ocean, it uses 70% less energy, 75% less CO2 and 86% less water than traditional fabrics. Follow the story on waste2wear.com and @theflipflopi

SCAN TO SEE HOW IT WAS MADE INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS FROM RECYCLED PLASTICS

logistics, to product use and end-of-life. By breaking each product down in this way, we can analyse the lifecycle stages separately and begin to identify opportunities to reduce its overall carbon footprint”.

Another of ASL Global’s client-led projects is with L’Oréal. “They have a Solidarity Sourcing supplier initiative, where they encourage sourcing from smaller suppliers to help facilitate access to work and sustainable incomes,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “We’re supporting this by driving the indirect spend we manage for L’Oreal through our sustainable supply chain. For example, we use suppliers who might be community-led, run by women, or located in vulnerable communities. We’re also collaborating with Mars, helping to develop a supplier sustainability scorecard and running workshops, so they can learn from our own sustainability journey.”

“Another way we can help is by encouraging collaboration across our clients’ marketing teams,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “Often, if a company’s marketing operations are based across different countries, they won’t necessarily share information with each other about what they’re doing. Because 42 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

we often work with all the marketing teams, regionally and globally, we’re in an ideal position to pull all that together. For example, if we’re doing a big textile production in Asia Pacific, we can create an order window and invite other markets to join a grouped production run. Our customers benefit from economies of scale, but from a sustainability perspective, it also means we’re optimizing the whole process from production, pack-

aging, logistics and every other stage of the lifecycle, rather than just handling lots of different orders from different places.”

BUILDING A CULTURE “Like many companies, we’re a complex and diverse business. When you’re talking sustainability, there’s a danger that the message gets lost or diluted across the piece,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “We’re mindful

“WE WANT SUSTAINABILITY TO SIT AT THE HEART OF OUR STRATEGY, AND FOR IT TO HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON ALL OF OUR OPERATIONS”

of that, which is why the One World identity is so important. It’s also crucial to be open and honest with all our stakeholders about our progress. To help keep connected, we have around 30-35 volunteer CSR ‘Champions’ representing all the different regions where we operate, across the full range of seniority. For example, we have Champions at board level, and others working in the finance team, processing invoices. They are all passionate about the One World initiative, and they have a tangible role to play, whether it’s helping with collating emissions tracking information, feeding in ideas from the marketplace, or working with customers to develop more sustainable products”.

“Right through the business, people understand what it is we’re trying to achieve and feel like they are a part of it,” says Ms. Pomeroy. “For that, things like team-building days are really important to keep people on board with the journey. If you don’t maintain that engagement, people will drift away. An important initiative we run is to give people time off - a day where they can leave the office and engage in charity work within their own communities, either as individuals or

as a team. For example, in Portugal, we’re looking to partner with a famous surfer on a major beach-cleaning initiative in 2021.

“One World helps us to stay focused on what is important and identify how we can make a practical impact through our day-to-day operations. Ultimately, it’s driving us to make real progress towards becoming a more sustainable business. For 2021, we’re setting ourselves new goals,

including making further progress towards plastic free packaging, growing our sustainable supply chain and introducing firm carbon reduction targets for ourselves & our customers. We know these are ambitious goals, but we have already started to create a powerful roadmap for ourselves.

2020 was about establishing a baseline; 2021 and beyond will be about making real progress towards these targets”. c

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FOREWORD: AFSIA

AFRICAN SOLAR A foreword by John van Zuylen, CEO of the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA).

Here in Africa, we have a different landscape for solar than other regions. Solar companies typically spread their activities across several nations, and they often use a mix of business models. For example, companies that previously focused exclusively on utility-scale projects are now also involved with mini-grids and solar home systems.

We established the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) after seeing that there wasn’t any public or private body sharing information about the entire industry across the African continent, despite many years of independent solar projects being developed across the continent.

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DIVERSE MARKET Every country in Africa has its own culture, way of doing things, and rules governing the electricity market. That’s what makes this continent so exciting and provides lots of opportunities. There are large-scale, commercial and industrial (C&I) and residential projects spread across home systems, grids, eco-solar, solar mining, irrigation, even solar cooking.

Take Togo as one example. The industry there has decided to go all-in and tackle all the segments at the same time. They have ongoing developments of several largescale projects and even a massive tender for

317 minigrids. Togo is also innovative when it comes to solar home system solutions, particularly for rural communities, and has a fast-growing C&I segment.

Zimbabwe is also very active right now. That country is really driven by the market: they’ve been faced with power cuts and loadshedding for a long time now, and people realized that building their own standalone systems for providing electricity was the way forward. As a result, there are a lot of private initiatives for the C&I segment. However, the government is also launching a tender for 500 megawatts of solar for the public utility.

There are so many different segments and every country is a little bit different, but the excitement can be felt from industry players as well as from international investors.

JOHN VAN ZUYLEN, CEO OF THE AFRICAN SOLAR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (AFSIA).

PLATFORM FOR DIALOGUE Solar has already had big impacts on communities across Africa. Many people who have lived off the grid for years without electricity for even basic lighting are now benefitting from the incredible innovative thinking of solar home systems companies.

This has helped people to live better, and it provides small business opportunities.

A recent study showed that for every 100 solar home systems sold in east Africa, 21 full-time equivalent jobs were freed up.

The biggest challenge in Africa is the problem of financing. Solar is great for providing stable and cheaper electricity, but most of our potential customers simply can’t afford the upfront cost of buying and installing the systems that would actually benefit them. That means we need a financing model that spreads the costs over time. Such models exist for large-scale solar projects but are a real problem for C&I and home systems because there aren’t enough outside investors willing to take this one.

This is something we are trying to work with at AFSIA by creating a platform for more dialogue and a common understanding between both sides of the story. There are plenty of opportunities across Africa for investors, and we believe that AFSIA can connect investors with the right developers. c To learn more about AFSIA, and to apply for membership, visit: http://afsiasolar.com/ SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: GC SOLAR

HOME-GROWN MADAGASCAN ENERGY

Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Hery-Zo Rajaobelina, General Manager at GC Solar SA, about Madagascar’s domestic energy market, the applicability of solar PV to agriculture, and the future of PV in the region.

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GC Solar SA is a renewable energy company, offering tailor-made turnkey solutions across the Southern African region. ‘GC’ is a contraction of GreenCorp – a previous company launched in 2009. “Through GreenCorp, we performed a few installations, and we were able to gain a better understanding of the solar PV industry, the local market, and the main producers,” explains Hery-Zo Rajaobelina, General Manager at GC Solar SA. “It was also a great opportunity for us and our staff to get trained and improve our skills. In order to achieve our objectives, we also established a strong partnership with the world leader in centralized and decentralized photovoltaic systems, SMA Solar Technology, by joining its SMA Sunbelt Energy program.

Every two years, during the nine years of GreenCorp between 2009–18, we used to send our staff to the SMA solar academy in Germany. We continue to do so to this day.”

In 2018, the company decided to rebrand as GC Solar SA, as a subsidiary of their new holding company Lights of Kapital Investments Holdings (LOKIH). “We needed to grow, and we needed more funds this end,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “For that reason, we made up our minds to found LOKIH, as a means to give GC Solar the best conditions to grow. This change has allowed us to deliver bigger installations with more specifications. These installations need more engineering, and they need people with more skills and greater training, and they’re being delivered for international clients.”

In Madagascar, GC Solar SA supplies the residential, commercial, industrial, and rural

markets. From engineering in its design office, to maintenance, through installations adhering to the strictest international standards and norms, GC Solar SA handles all aspects of the development of solar projects.

“The commercial and industry market is our main client target, as they’re responsible for consuming about 60% of the public grid supply,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “But we dont exclude residential solarization.”

BUILDING ENVIRONMENTS GC Solar SA views solar PV as an integral part of Madagascar’s long-term development. “To succeed in our aims and ambitions as a country, we need to invest in low carbon technology, energy efficiency, the internet of things (IoT), smart grid developments, and more,” says Mr. Rajaobelina.

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INTERVIEW: GC SOLAR

“WE’RE FOCUSED ON MAKING CLEAN INVESTMENTS, DEVELOPING MORE PROJECTS THAT ALLOW OUR COMPANY TO GROW”

“PV solar is an ideal example of such investment. The technology is scalable, which makes it technically easier to implement for all kind of final users than other renewable energy such as hydroelectricity or biomass.

Using solar PV, we can take advantage from outstanding and optimal climatic conditions, delivering stable, renewable energy, at a cheaper price for both consumers and government. Because of all these factors, it appeared crystal clear that we should found an EPCM (Engineering Procurement Construction Management) company within the solar industry.”

Crucially, the company recognizes that renewable technologies have the potential to resolve domestic needs. “Madagascar is an island, and the agricultural output is 48 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

very low,” explains Mr. Rajaobelina. “The main food source for the Malagasy people is rice; but we’re not able to produce enough. Instead, we import food; and for whatever we do produce, we need energy, which we also have to import. However, because we’re also far away from the Afri-

can mainland, we experience what’s called ‘imported inflation’. That means, when you want to make a purchase in Madagascar, it’s expensive. For that reason, we hope that renewable energy can be the answer, by helping farmers and investors to produce locally at a lower cost.”

RELIABLE INVESTMENT At first, the local market was slow to adapt to solar. “It’s only since 2017 that we’ve legally been allowed to install grid-tie connections,” explains Mr. Rajaobelina. “Before that, all of the solarization with grid-tie was a gray area. Most solarization was off-grid, and it was more expensive as a result, and for us, it made the local market very hard to penetrate. The second barrier we faced concerned the price of kWhs from the public grid. In general, across Africa you’ll find that the public grid is subsidized by the state, meaning that the purchase price of kWhs doesn’t reflect the real price. Instead, money is lost for each kWh that’s distributed, and that remains the case now. It’s something that would be very difficult to change.”

Despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, GC Solar SA has a number of substantial large-scale projects on the horizon. “Before lockdown in March 2020, we had about 431 kW of projects ready to solarize,” says Mr. Rajaobelina.

“This was split across 6 industrial sites, including four gas stations for the petroleum company Total, and a luxury hotel, all with OnGrid technology, alongside a textile factory with PV-diesel technology. Each of these installations will be in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. In the case of the gas stations, we took full responsibility for the engineering, the procurement, and we also have a contract with operations and maintenance, using remote monitoring to check the production and anticipate future maintenance – something that’s very important for us. We also have all our commissioning checked by external and independent auditors from international independent expert firms, such as Bureau Veritas. These technologies represent a huge investment for our customers, and it’s essential for them to know that all the details have been performed to the highest standards.”

relating Madagascar’s environment. As it stands, we plan to have more projects to develop and to implement in sectors including agri-voltaics for the farming sector, floating solar for the fish-farming sector, and more. The lands in Madagascar are known to be particularly rich and productive, as such, our approach is to encourage the agro-industry sector to optimize its production processes, not only during the processing phase but also during the farming phase. This will help establish a blue circular economy. In general, we also know that if we want solar PV to become more developed, we as LOKIH and GC Solar SA need to continue investing in our people. It’s for that reason that we’re taking the decision to continually send our staff to Germany, to get trained, and to show that local people can do great things.” c

NEW MARKETS Looking beyond the current pandemic, GC Solar foresees opportunities. “If conditions improve, in 2021 we’ll have 145 kW of offgrid projects to implement for an international company,” says Mr. Rajaobelina.

“That will involve carrying out upgrades for an airport. We’re focused on making clean investments, developing more projects that allow our company to grow, and which enable us to invest in even more sectors SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: ABSOLUTE ZAMBIA SAFARIS

ABSOLUTE EXPERIENCE

THE

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Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Robert Zgozi, Director at Absolute Zambia Safaris, about the company’s tailored safaris & tours, sustainable travel, and overcoming the challenges of COVID-19.

Absolute Zambia Safaris is a registered limited company in Zambia, licensed by the Zambia Tourism Agency under the Ministry of Tourism & Arts. One of the country’s leading travel and tourism agencies, providing safaris & tours to the top destinations across Africa, the company was established by two indigenous Zambians, Robert Zgozi and Bertram Njobvu, and remains owner-run to this day, operating out of a head office in Chipata, in Zambia’s Eastern Province. Together, the pair have a combined experience of over 20 years working across Zambia’s tourism and hospitality sector, working towards their goal of sharing their passion for the African continent with travelers from across the globe.

AWARD-WINNING TRAVEL Since first registering as a company in 2017, Absolute Zambia Safaris has been focused on offering clients the best in personalized safari and travel experiences. “In terms of our

specialties, we deal in safaris and tours that are tailor-made to our clients’ interests,” says Robert Zgozi, Director at Absolute Zambia Safaris. “This includes a lot of private-guided safaris and tours. Many of our clients, such as professional photographers, want to spend as much of their time on the sightings as possible, to learn and to observe animals while taking the best photos. We offer these within the most attractive areas of the country, such as South Luangwa National Park, Lower Zambezi National Park, Victoria Falls, Liuwa Plains National Park, Kasanka National Park (for the bat migration, which is the largest mammal migration in the world), the Bangweulu Wetlands, and Kafue National Park, the second-largest national park in Africa, among other amazing places, to offer our clients the complete African travel experience. We combine these destinations with those in neighboring Southern African countries, such as Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, promoting as much of the African continent as possible, and giving our clients an option to easily combine their trip with other amazing African countries, being a one-stop-travel shop for their African trip.. We also offer destination-management company services to several travel & tourism companies outside Zambia. For example, tour operators in the UK and beyond can sell Zambia as a destination to their clients, but once their clients travel to Zambia, we are going to manage everything on-the-ground as the ground handler from arrival to departure. We are specialists in Zambia as a destination and Africa at large.

Most of our clients are international, from SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: ABSOLUTE ZAMBIA SAFARIS Europe and America, but we’re increasingly pushing towards the Asian market as well, by working with local partners in Asian countries. We are also seriously working on the local tourists, for Zambian residents interested in visiting these attractions and places across other African countries, as well as assisting regional clients to see what Zambia has to offer.”

In 2020, Absolute Zambia Safaris receiving the award of ‘Zambia’s Leading Travel Agency’ from the prestigious World Travel Awards. “It’s an honor for us to have won this award,” says Mr. Zgozi. “It’s an amazing experience, after a lot of hard work. The year 2020 started on a very bad note for everyone across the travel and tourism industry, and Absolute Zambia Safaris was no exception.

Winning this award gives us a lot of energy to keep doing what we do best, and even to do it better. It shows that we’re doing a great job in our service delivery and that we’re looking after our clients very well. We’ve decided to dedicate the award to all our clients, and to everyone who has been affected by the global pandemic.”

SUSTAINABLE PARTNERSHIPS Absolute Zambia Safaris is a big supporter of conservation, sustainability, and responsible tourism. “We can’t talk about tourism without conservation,” insists Mr. Zgozi. “We encourage our clients to go green, for example, by recommending that they stay in hotels that have implemented recycling programs, and we ask that they abide by those guidelines.

Or, if they’re staying in one location for more than a day or two, they are asked not to change their sheets and towels every day.

Similarly, if they are leaving their rooms, they are encouraged to turn off their air condi-

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tioning, heaters, or other electricals. We also work with hotels, lodges, safari camps, and other travel-related service providers that have a direct impact on making a difference. That could be through providing local communities with clean water, to supporting youth sports activities, or indeed towards education sponsorships. We work with these people and businesses to try and encourage sustainable activities. Most lodges in Zambia also employ the majority of local people. We take time to visit these places, and to assess which sustainable efforts tourists might be keen to see or experience. All of our drivers and tour guides are local people with local experience. We engage them, and they are trained by professionals, while also trying to encourage them to do what we believe they are capable of doing.”

DRIVING PROSPERITY Within its operations, Absolute Zambia Safaris is also championing practices that support the local economy. “Being a local company, our priority is the Zambian community,” says Mr. Zgozi. “We believe in sourcing whatever we can locally, as local businesses need

“WINNING THIS AWARD GIVES US A LOT OF ENERGY TO KEEP DOING WHAT WE LIKE DOING BEST, AND EVEN TO DO IT BETTER. IT SHOWS THAT WE’RE DOING A GREAT JOB IN OUR SERVICE DELIVERY, AND THAT WE’RE LOOKING AFTER OUR CLIENTS VERY WELL.”

our support. For example, we don’t order our uniforms online or abroad, but we try to source them from Zambian companies that are trying to make a living out of what they do. They’re the ones that we give these projects, whether it’s uniforms, or other marketing materials such as the printing of brochures, or the supplying of other stationery materials such as notepads.

We always think local.”

To this end, the company is investing and exploring in more ways to demonstrate the value of conservation to its clients. “We can’t encourage people to get involved in conservation if they don’t understand the benefits,” says Mr. Zgozi. “Hence, we recommend and arrange for our clients to visit conservation initiative programs, local schools, clinics, and

other developmental projects. Alongside wildlife and nature, there is an opportunity to interact with local communities, of which the majority of our clients are very enthusiastic about, in what we call travel-for-benefit.

They want to see local people profiting from what they buy as a service, and to see that its being put into practice.”

SURVIVE AND THRIVE The tourism sector continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Absolute Zambia Safaris is no exception.

“It is indeed a difficult time for everybody across the globe and all industries, especially the travel and tourism sector,” says Mr. Zgozi. “Our challenge is to find alternative

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INTERVIEW: ABSOLUTE ZAMBIA SAFARIS

“WE’RE DRIVEN BY BIG DREAMS AND VISIONS, DESPITE THIS GLOBAL CHALLENGE, WE HAVEN’T SHIFTED OUR FOCUS, AND WE STILL HAVE AIMS TO EXPAND.“

means. We’ve come up with measures to reduce our costs as we did for the first three months of the outbreak, then we keep on reviewing the measures, to try and cushion the business during this time. We’re trying to keep a connection with our clients, reminding them that we are in this together. For those scheduled to visit within this period, we are encouraging them to postpone instead of cancelling their trips. As we know,

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cancellations at this time are bad for tourism, for conservation, and from the perspective of company sustainability. Everyone is affected, but we’re hoping that things return to normal sooner rather than later.”

The company is keeping a positive outlook with regards to the months and years ahead. “We’re driven by big dreams and visions,” says Mr. Zgozi. “Despite this global challenge, we haven’t shifted our focus, and

we still have aimed to expand. Once things resume to normality in a year or two, our priority is to build a head office building here in Chipata. That’s one way that we can contribute to the development of our city, and show people what can be done and that they are many ways citizens can contribute to the national development, while also giving our clients an amazing facility when they visit us. Beyond that, we’d love to become Zambia’s most reliable travel and safari planners and build even stronger relationships with international tour operators.

We also plan to employ more local people across the country and to become more involved in conservation projects, responsible tourism, and doing more for the less privileged, in one way or another. Last of all, we aim to make Absolute Zambia Safaris a recognized brand, with an amazing reputation and services, while staying true to our key values: valuing relationships, honesty, innovation, passion, knowledge, and flexibility. That’s what the future holds for us.” c

WE SHARE THE ZAMBIAN SAFARI EXPERIENCE

Phone : +260216225015 WhatsApp: +260964410524 info@absolutezambiasafaris.com www.absolutezambiasafaris.com

AN UNFORGETABLE EXPERIENCE

WE ARE SPECIALIST IN TAILOR-MADE AND PRIVATE SAFARIS TRIPS TO ZAMBIA. PROUDLY ASSISTING OUR GUESTS TO DESIGN CUSTOMS MADE SAFARIS THROUGH OUR BIG SAFARIS OPERATORS. ZAMBIA, A COUNTRY WORTH EXPLORING Zambia is a landlocked country in south-central Africa with a population of about 14.7 million people and with 16 major cultural groupings, more than 72 different dialects. Zambia is recognized as one of the most secure and friendliest countries in Africa combined with its perfect and personalized safari experience, make it a unique and memorable holiday for vacationists.

One of the famous the 7 Natural Wonders of the World is found in Zambia, the Victoria Falls, and some of Southern Africa’s most beautiful national parks. Which includes include North and South Luangwa, Lower Zambezi and Kafue as well as some lesser-known gems such as Bangweulu wetlands, Liuwa Plains, and Kasanka National parks.

The parks give a wide range of different adventure different birds, mammals, plants and reptiles.

SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES INCLUDES: WALKING SAFARIS Zambia is the home of walking safaris, with Norman Car

having started these over 50 years ago for guests to get closer to the bush and feel, hear, touch as well as seeing it.

GAME DRIVES This includes night drives to discover many nocturnal animals whichis one of the best ways to experience the safari.

SPECIALISED PHOTOGRAPHY SAFARIS This includes both Professional and learner who are interest in taking amazing pictures of Wildlife and nature in general.

CULTURAL TOURISM Annual festivals, Cultural village, local school experiences, City Tours and Heritage sites.

ADVENTURE ACTIVITIES Sunrise and sunset boat cruises, Unique Zambezi Canoe safaris, Bungee Jump, Devil Pool, Helicopter Flight (Flight of an Angel).

MAGNIFICENT WATERFALLS Apart from the spectacular Victoria Falls, provide ‘cascade followers’ an adventure into the remote, undeveloped rural areas where a taste of village life can be experienced.

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INTERVIEW: THE GRENADA CHOCOLATE COMPANY

A TASTE

OF GRENADA

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Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Edmond Brown, Co-Founder of the Grenada Chocolate Company, about the making of their chocolate, their radical business model, and organic certification.

The Grenada Chocolate Company is a Grenadian small-scale chocolatier and internationally award-winning producer of organic dark chocolate. Founded in 1999 by Mott Green, Doug Browne, and Edmond Brown, the company employs people from within Grenada’s local community and guarantees farmers – who are organized into a co-operative – a fair price for their cocoa. Because small batch chocolate-making is an uncommon business model, the GCC had to create many of their own processing methods, designing specialist small-scale machines and refurbishing antique equipment to meet the unique requirements. Indeed, most of the company’s machines were designed in the early 1900s, and, two decades later, these machines remain in use. The co-operative remains true to its initial aims, paying 1EC$ (65%) per pound more for cocoa beans than the local price, and working with its farmers across over 200 acres of organic cocoa farms.

flavor to the chocolate. This has to be even, so during the process, you have to keep moving the cocoa from side to side. The cocoa then dries in the sun for 2-3 weeks, after which we extract any remaining moisture in our warehouse. The cocoa is then taken into the factory, where we sort the beans, removing any bad or broken pieces, before roasting them, cooling them, and beginning the winnowing process – separating the shells from the nibs. Those nibs are ground in a melanger, at which point we add in sugar, to produce a thick paste. That’s entered into a refining process, using heat and pressure to create a smooth, thin, liquid chocolate. To that, we add some cocoa butter that we’ve extracted from the leftover nibs, which helps to make the chocolate creamy, as well as a few other organic ingredients – soya lecithin and vanilla beans – to improve the flavor. The chocolate is then tempered before mold-

BEAN TO BAR By producing finished chocolate in among their growers, the GCC has complete oversight for the entire chocolate-making process – from the bean on the tree to the final packaged bar. “The farmers begin by harvesting the world-famous Trinitario cocoa beans from the tree,” explains Mr. Brown, Co-Founder of the Grenada Chocolate Company. “We put that into a big heap, crack it open, and remove the seeds, before taking it to the fermenting process, where it remains for six days. It’s through fermentation that you add SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: THE GRENADA CHOCOLATE COMPANY

Good Food, Genuine Staff, Great Prices Carriacou’s “leading supermarket”, providing quality products and services.

Tel: (473) 443-7994 Whatsapp: (473) 419-6831 Email: info@alexisfoodstores.com

“ALONGSIDE OUR ORGANIC COMMITMENTS, WE’RE ALSO VERY KEEN ON SUSTAINABILITY, AND MANY OF OUR MACHINES HAVE BEEN RECONFIGURED TO RUN ON SOLAR-POWER.”

ing, during which we vibrate the chocolate to ensure all the air bubbles are removed.

The final step is then to dry the chocolate in racks, forming a solid chocolate bar, which will then be hand-wrapped by our employees. We might wrap 2000 or so 80g bars every single day.”

The outcome of this process is the company’s dark chocolate, with its distinctive rich and fruity profile. “We only make plain, dark chocolate,” says Mr. Brown. “Our range goes from 100%, containing no sugar, down to 70%, which contains 20% sugar and the rest cocoa butter. We do one version with salt in it, which we’ve called ‘Saltilicious’, and we also do one with cacao nibs, adding them into the chocolate bar once they’ve been removed from the shell, which give a little crunch. We call that one ‘Nibilicious’. At the moment, if we need to get any other flavors, we have to first make sure it’s organic. For the next season coming up, we’ll get some organic ginger.”

SHARING SUCCESS The company’s co-operative status has been a key part of the company’s values since its founding, helping to ensure that farmers

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receive due pay for their cocoa. “The company has three main shareholders,” explains Mr. Brown. “I’m one, and another is the mother of Mott Green, my co-founder, who sadly passed away in 2013. The remaining 20% of the company shares belong to the farmers, distributed between every farmer.

Whether you have a hectare of land, or an acre, you’ll have a share in the company.

The farmers are all from around the community, mostly from the northern part of the island, and some on the eastern side. Without them, we cannot make chocolate, so it’s essential that we help them to organize, and continue to build good relations between us. It’s a model that’s been central to the business since its founding, and which continues today.”

These values are further reflected in the GCC’s support for local communities in Grenada. “We call ourselves a family,” says Mr. Brown. “That means all the people who work at the factory are from the local community. By employing them, they’re able to send their children to school, and we’re able to help them in other ways. We also offer training to our workers, across all aspects of the chocolate-making process,

whether it’s the roasting, the chocolate processing, and all other processes. It’s not a big building, so everyone works closely with each other, and around each other. We train our workers in all aspects to make sure that if somebody can’t come in, another can fill in and operate mostly everything in the factory.”

EXPORTING ORGANIC Another key feature of the GCC’s unique product is its organic certification, a status that it works hard to maintain. “As part of the organic process, we have to get all of our farmers certified”, explains Mr. Brown.

“To help us do that, we have a farm crew who goes around, working with our farmers to make sure that they don’t use fertilizer on the farm, to check that they’re not spraying pesticides, and that they’re keeping things nice and clean, with all waste or plastic properly cleaned and disposed of.

We work closely with a company from Ger-

many called CERES, who officially certify our chocolate as organic. Every year, they send people to Grenada, and help to make sure that we’re doing the right things, and that we’re following their process all the way through the making of our chocolate.

As we speak, right now, there’s farmers in the process of getting certified. Every year, we try to get 5-6 farmers certified, helping them to clean their farm and get ready to pass their inspection. Alongside our organic commitments, we’re also very keen on sustainability, and many of our machines have been reconfigured to run on solar-power.”

Although the present remains uncertain, the GCC has high hopes for the future.

“Right now, we’re looking to expand a little bit,” says Mr. Brown. “We’ve outgrown the building that we’re currently based in, and we have somewhere in mind that would offer a little more space. We’re hoping that COVID will ease up, so that we can expand,

and begin exporting more chocolate than we are currently, after seeing a reduction during the pandemic. We used to sell a lot of chocolate to tourists, who would come and visit our shop. They’re not here at the moment, but we continue to sell to the locals. As we export more chocolate, hopefully we can employee more people, and start getting even more farmers on board – because in order to export more, we’ll need more cocoa!” c Visit www.grenadachocolate.com and support the company, selected products available internationally

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INTERVIEW: GREEN GROUP

RESHAPING DUBAI -

GREEN IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE!

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Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Asif Fattah, CEO of Green Group, about green residential buildings, innovative new technology, and Expo 2021.

“Back in 2016, a lot of sustainability features were new for the UAE,” says Asif Fattah, CEO of Green Group. “The technology was not where it is today, and many things were just emerging and developing on a fast pace.

Our first project was a cluster of town homes, and we started small with the sustainable technology of that time, as we believe in creating efficiencies and benefits for end user and tenant. Because if it’s good for them, then it’s ultimately good for the investor.

Green Group is a Dubai-based real estate developer bringing unique, sustainable residential buildings and villas to the local market. Since completing their first project in 2016, Green Group has become known for cutting-edge smart homes in Dubai under their ‘Signature’ brand, showcasing a variety of green and tech features. “Sustainability in developments has

everything to do with how we think about the design,” says Mr. Fattah. “Design for us is how the whole thing works, not just how the final product looks. If you take a detailed look at our projects, you can see sustainable practices and technologies that are integral parts of our project. They are not visible to consumers on the first go, but these unseen features are essentials to creating the homes that the world needs today. Our understanding is, the world needs better buildings, a better living.”

ECO-FRIENDLY LIFESTYLE Green Group since its initial days has been environmentally responsible and resource-efficient. In their first project, Signature Villas, they installed technology that was evolving and a novelty at the time. Signature Livings is Green Group’s latest flagship residential project. The two solar-powered condominium blocks are located in Jumeirah Village at the heart of Dubai. With 276 condominiums, some approaching 2,500 ft2 of livable space, the project features a wide solar canopy encompassing the project, a striking piece of modern architecture which generates clean, renewable energy for project and provides aesthetically-pleasing shade for patios, balconies, and terraces.

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INTERVIEW: GREEN GROUP

“OUR LIVING CONCEPT IS ALL ABOUT SMART LIVING, SUSTAINABILITY, AND TECHNOLOGY, SO TENANTS HAVING TO DRIVE AND SPEND TIME AND MONEY TO GET BEANS, MAKE THE COFFEE, THEN CLEAN THE MACHINE AND ALSO TAKE CARE OF THE WASTE, THAT’S NOT IN LINE WITH OUR PHILOSOPHY.”

“Signature Livings was conceptualized at the start of 2017,” explains Mr. Fattah.

“We have installed in-house solar powered generation on the rooftops, which is one of the biggest for a residential building in the region. This initiative is expected to reduce the project’s carbon footprint by the equivalent of 1,660 thirty-yearold mature trees during the lifetime of its solar cells, with each condominium contributing the equivalent of six trees, and will provide power for everything in the building outside of the private spaces, including external building lights, cooling, and electricity in common areas. Through its artificially intelligent HVAC system, the overall project is expected to reduce its 62 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

carbon footprint equivalent to 5,681 thirtyyear-old mature trees from inception until the end of its useful life, which equates to 20 trees for each unit.”

ENERGY SAVING Everything at Signature Livings is calibrated to reduce energy consumption and improve environmental performance, from LED bulbs to Nest smart thermostats. “One of the biggest impacts comes from using high-performance glass, which reduces the need for artificial lighting and air conditioning,” says Mr. Fattah. “This glass allows higher light transmittance and at the same time keeps infrared penetration and ultraviolet values low. In addition

to this, it creates a thermal break and efficiently allows you to install windows wherever the overall concept allows. As a result, natural light floods the common area and the lobby. The decrease in need for electric lighting reduces the carbon footprint, so of course it’s good for the end users and the planet.”

SUSTAINABLE COFFEE Green Group takes pride in adding eco-friendly features to improve residents’ quality of life and user experience. “When we were designing the apartment kitchens, we originally thought we’d include traditional coffee machines in the kitchens so people don’t have to buy them,” says

Mr. Fattah. “Our living concept is all about smart living, sustainability, and technology, so tenants having to drive and spend time and money to get beans, make the coffee, then clean the machine and also take care of the waste, that’s not in line with our philosophy. So, we brainstormed an innovative and sustainable solution for this. We found out that Apple’s head office is using a coffee machine called Top Brewer, which allows you to make touchless coffee direct from your cell phone which is customized to the individual’s taste. Instead of putting an individual machine in every condominium, we’re going to place these machines in every lobby. In line with our values of being environmentally friendly, we discourage using single-use cups, hence residents only need to bring a cup to have an on-the-go, freshly-brewed coffee on the house.” .

EXPO 2020 DUBAI While Green Group delivers Signature Livings, their main focus for the immediate future is Expo 2020. Though it has been postponed until October 2021, Green Group is preparing to showcase Signature Livings and their green building concept to the world. “When you gather 192 nations and 25 million people or more for 6 months, what do you want every country to talk about?” says Mr. Fattah. “Global warming, of course. The central topic at Expo 2020 is sustainability. This is the first time the Expo has been held in the Middle East, and we’ve brought the biggest topic in the world to the table. We want to talk about how the impact of global warming can be controlled through sustainable and eco-friendly practices in the real estate industry. Moreover, Expo 2020 is primed to deliver one of the most sustainable Expo events ever. We believe that we are already contributing towards the objectives of EXPO 2020 and subsequently we believe Signature Livings fits right into Dubai Plan 2021, UAE Vision 2021, and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” c

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ADVERTISERS INDEX A Absolute Zambia Safari Alexis Food Store B Berger Paints Barbados C Chancery Chambers CRIF Information Beure Jamaica D DGM Trust Corporation

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55 58

H Henderson Roofing I International Provisions

37 38

J Jamaica Stock Exchange

12

29 9

K Keus Power

13

27

L ListAssist Services Lubeco 1991 Limited

27 38

38

P Power Services Company

10

S Sagicor Life Insurance Software Architects Ltd

27 23

T TM Antoine Partners Advisory Inc.

33

W Waste2wear 42

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SUSTAINABLE

B U S I N E S S

M A G A Z I N E

SUSTAINING TOMORROW. TODAY

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