The Bahamas is missing out on opportunities to cash in on millions of dollars by not maximizing on the tremendous potential that the World Wide Web has to offer the business community, according to local business analyst Wayne Johnson.
Considering its proximity to major economic players in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, Johnson said The Bahamas is in perfect position to benefit from conducting business transactions online.
Johnson revealed to Guardian Business that The Bahamas continues to miss out on lucrative ventures, which could translate into millions for the country’s bottom line, because it is afraid of change.
He noted one problem is that most of the country’s financial institutions refuse to give merchant accounts to small business, which would enable them to do online transactions.
“The Bahamas can make anywhere from $50 to 100 million just from a local perspective, making the opportunities tremendous. Offering solutions when people are afraid of change creates resistance and leaves the door wide open for us to miss many opportunities,” he shared.
Johnson said many still believe that the focus should be on investing millions of dollars in the country’s tourism and financial services industries.
Although this is model has been successful for the past 50 years, Johnson pointed out that The Bahamas has the intellectual capital to explore other areas and should invest millions elsewhere to create a new sector.
“If we were to create a new sector and invest millions of dollars into that and deal with the intellectual capital that we have, you would be amazed at the kind of services and opportunities that could be presented here for The Bahamas to be able to do the offshore database processing of credit cards of multibillion-dollar companies in the United States,” Johnson explained.
“This could save them millions of dollars in taxes as The Bahamas has a double taxation treaty that we can benefit from, therefore creating jobs and opportunities locally for Bahamians.”
This is why Johnson stressed the importance of making it feasible and easier for Bahamians to do business online, whether it is through service offerings or accepting online payments.
“There’s a solution to that where there’s an online payment gateway that is able to offer payment solutions to people online, and for them to have the opportunity to produce the kind of results that they need to in an online market at an international level,” Johnson shared.
He further noted that legislation plays a crucial role in pushing the industry forward.
“You have the laws in place. It’s just getting the government, private sector and business people to agree that the country is going to move in the direction where local businesses, no matter the size of the enterprises, have the ability to accept payments with debit cards and credit cards,” Johnson explained.
“This would begin to alleviate those persons that might currently be afraid to use their debit card even though you have the encryption. Whether I am a business owner, consumer or both, I would like the option to pay for any of my purchases made locally online.”
With the proper legislation in place, Johnson said The Bahamas has the opportunity to attract international companies to come and set up tech centers across the country. These would include database management and offshore credit card processing.
“We are the gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean. We have the telecommunications infrastructure to be able to do this. We are missing out on a tremendous opportunity in the areas of offshore database management, e-commerce and e-trading, to be able to do business in The Bahamas,” he said.
Source: The Nassau Guardian
