Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

Surely the Caribbean can offer more than the African country of Kenya does. Surely?!

… and yet Kenya is providing a role model for the Caribbean to emulate, that of mobile money payment systems.

Let’s play catch-up.

Benefits await the Caribbean, more so than just playing catch-up. We can empower and elevate our economy and society. Notice here how this elevation benefits Kenya – an iconic and typical Third World country – in these news VIDEOs here:

VIDEO 1 – CBS 60 Minutes Story: The Future of Money – http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-future-of-money

• … requires CBS All Access Subscription…

VIDEO 2 – Financial Times: Mobile money keeps Kenya economy moving – https://youtu.be/ayo-rgayDJE

Published on Mar 11, 2013 – Kenya has led Africa’s innovative and revolutionary embrace of mobile telephones, and the country’s technology sector has grown faster than all others in east Africa’s regional economic hub. Bob Collymore, chief executive of Safaricom, parent company of the mobile payment system M-Pesa, talks to Katrina Manson, east Africa correspondent.

This is a familiar advocacy for these Go Lean commentaries. The full width and breadth of electronic payments schemes have been examined, dissected and debated. The benefits are undeniable:

• Instant access
• Safer transactions
• Expanded networks
• Mitigating fees
• Expanded money supply
• Availing credit

Previous blog-commentaries have promoted the following as advocacies integrating technology and money:

The world is moving forward with electronic payment systems; the standard of cash registers with cash drawers have passed. Many times, establishments do not even want to accept “cash”. They want the money, but only want it electronically. Consider this photo here, it demonstrates how United Airlines – the 3^rd largest airline in the world – will not even accept “cash” for travelling passengers to pay for baggage when they check-in for their flights. They want electronic money only (credit and debit cards). This photo depicts a cash-accepting kiosk to load the cash onto a pre-paid credit card … on the spot at the terminal … at the Metropolitan Detroit International Airport (DTW) in November 2015.

Those involved in tourism commerce must now adapt or perish.

What’s more, even the standard of magnetic stripe credit cards and debit cards have passed. As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO and previously Go Lean blog-commentaries, those involved in retail commerce – in general – must now adapt (or perish) to credit and debit cards … without the card!

This means you, Caribbean merchants (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, retailers, and business establishments). The environment must now change for tourism commerce and ordinary domestic commerce. The stewardship of Caribbean economics must improve to adapt to this changing world. This is a consistent advocacy of these Go Lean blogs: to “lean-in” to better economic stewardship as detailed in the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). This Go Lean roadmap depicts that these entities will drive change in payment systems, to includes options depicted in the foregoing VIDEO and beyond. Their role will include facilitating and settling transactions for new payment systems: new cards and telephony apps. The Go Lean roadmap calls for a regional currency for the Caribbean Single Market, the Caribbean Dollar (C$), to be used primarily as an electronic currency. These schemes will impact the growth of the regional economy in both the domestic and tourist markets. Consider the real scenario of Cruise Ship passenger-commerce; the solutions must be delivered here and now.

The CU/CCB roadmap anticipates these electronic payment systems from the outset of the Go Lean book; covering more than commerce, but the security and governing issues as well. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

• Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
• Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
• Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

As depicted in the foregoing VIDEO, there abound many security benefits with electronic payment schemes, mobile money in this case. In the field of Economics, the “cash currency” is referred to as M0. No doubt, changes for electronic payment system will reduce M0. The greatest benefit though of deploying these electronic payment scheme is the acceleration of M1 in the regional economy. While M0 refers to “cash: paper & coins”, M1 refers to the measurement of “cash” in circulation (the M0) plus overnight bank deposits. As depicted in the Go Lean book, and subsequent blog-commentaries, M1 increases allow central banks – in this case, the CCB – to create money “from thin-air”; referring to the money multiplier principle.

A final feature of M1 is that it normally does not include any Black Market activities. But with electronic payment systems, M0 reduces and M1 increases, thusly nullifying the Black Markets.

The Go Lean book posits that to adapt and thrive in the new global marketplace there must be more strenuous management and technocratic oversight of the region’s currencies. This is the quest of the Go Lean roadmap; it opened with these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

xxiv.   Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv.    Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

The Go Lean book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the proper controls for electronic/mobile payments in the Caribbean region:

The world of electronic payment systems now includes smart cards, mobile payments (like “M-Pesa” in the foregoing VIDEO and apps on Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone devices). To those in the Caribbean, we admonish you:

Try and keep up!

The benefits of this new “regime” are too enticing to ignore: fostering more e-Commerce, increasing regional M1, mitigation of Black Markets, more cruise tourism spending, growing the economy, creating jobs, enhancing security and optimizing governance.

Now is the time for all stakeholders of the Caribbean, (residents, visitors, merchants, vendors, bankers, and governing institutions), to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. These empowerments can help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.  🙂

Download the free e-Book for Go Lean … Caribbean – now!