Bahamas News
BAHAMAS: Mercy Corps & GBPA Bring RISE Initiative to a Successful Close
BAHAMAS, March 29, 2021 – It has been eighteen months since the passage of Hurricane Dorian and fifteen months since the Restoring Industries, Sustaining Employment (RISE) initiative journey began. While evidence of the catastrophic Category Five storm is still very much apparent, so too is the reemergence of more resilient pockets of economic activity throughout the length and breadth of Grand Bahama – a reemergence hundreds of business owners believe would have been considerably more challenging without the RISE program’s support.
The RISE initiative is a collaboration between implementing partners Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian organization, and The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA), with the generous financial support of the American Red Cross and Bacardi Limited. As the initiative officially comes to a close, its impact can be seen and felt in the day-to-day operations of the businesses it has empowered and helped.
Mercy Corps Bahamas’ Country Director, Paula Miller, attributes the accomplishments of RISE to the generous financial support of its donors, GBPA as the implementing partner, and the adaptability and incredible resourcefulness of business owners. “This initiative would not have been possible for any single agency to do alone,” said Ms. Miller. “We have really enjoyed working together with GBPA, and it is inspiring to see Grand Bahama businesses re-opening despite a pandemic on top of a natural disaster. While this particular initiative is closing, we stand ready to support Grand Bahama in future initiatives if needed.”
The RISE pilot launched in December 2019, supporting local merchants in the run up to the business year’s most profitable shopping season. The program’s initial goal was to assist 100 local businesses that were impacted by Dorian with grants of up to $10,000 to support their recovery efforts. As the pilot program was monitored and its impact and success measured, the RISE team reevaluated its goals and revised its targets upward, aiming to provide $2.5 million in funding to nearly 300 micro and small businesses across Grand Bahama.
Derek Newbold, Sr. Manager of Business Development for GBPA and Invest Grand Bahama, expressed, “GBPA is profoundly appreciative of the partnership created through the RISE initiative, and its accomplishments on Grand Bahama. We are extremely proud of each participant’s progress within their respective businesses and what that means for the business community as a whole moving forward.
“Business owners across the island continue to manifest the tangible and meaningful impact of the RISE initiative,” Mr. Newbold continued. “For many, it helped them defy the odds of a post-Dorian recovery, while creating a bolstering effect to help soften the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Equally important, we are impressed to hear participants speak of the value of the business resiliency training and mentorship aspects of the program, which many asserts have helped them emerge stronger and much more prepared to face similar challenges moving forward.”
Comments such as “I started budgeting for the first time” and “I learned I’m actually really good at social media marketing” are common sentiments shared among business owners helped through the RISE initiative.
“A lot of work went into measuring the impact of RISE,” said Allison Dworschak, Program Quality and Partnerships Lead for Mercy Corps. “The data we gathered during the program tells us a lot about the strength and resilience of the small business community in Grand Bahama. For example, 87 per cent of participants reopened and were regularly transacting after they received the funding and training. More than a quarter said that, without RISE, they wouldn’t have reopened at all. Another 12 per cent said they likely would have reopened eventually, but wouldn’t have retained staff.
Others leveraged the program to expand and grow. “The RISE program did a lot of good, but we are especially excited to have saved at least 300 local jobs,” continued Ms. Dworschak. “And looking at how the $2.5 million in grant funds were spent, we know the majority – 75 per cent – was reinvested locally into reconstruction, large equipment repairs and other local purchases. These numbers would be good in any small business disaster recovery program, but I think the RISE team and the community should be extremely proud of what these business owners have achieved, especially considering everything they’ve been up against since September 2019.”
GBPA and Mercy Corps are considering future ways to collaborate in the event of a new crisis. GBPA Executive Director Henry St. George commented, “When a restaurant that had been damaged by Hurricane Dorian was able to reopen having received a RISE grant, and then partnered with another recipient who was able to provide delivery services, and together they collaborated to distribute meals to the aged and vulnerable during the summer lockdown last year, then the impact of the program and the significance of the small business community was really visible.
“We are highly aware of the work still to be done in rebuilding our small business economy, but we are extremely proud of the RISE program and even more so of the men and women who participated in it,” added Mr. St. George. “Our partnership with NGO Mercy Corps has been a crucial pillar of our response to Dorian, and we are grateful to them and to both the American Red Cross and Bacardi.”
Release: GBPA
Photo Captions:
Header:The RISE pilot launched in December 2019, supporting local merchants in the run up to the business year’s most profitable shopping season. The program’s initial goal was to assist 100 local businesses impacted by Dorian with grants of up to $10,000 to support their recovery efforts. Pictured from left to right are grant recipients of the RISE Initiative Pilot Cohort: Jonathan Campbell – 5S Maintenance Service; Virginia Cooper, Program Officer – Mercy Corps; Kristian Rahming – OnPoint Designs & Printing; Kelsey Lundgren, Project Officer – Mercy Corps; Nicole Pinder – Skyline Express; Derek Newbold, Sr. Manager of Business Development – GBPA Group; Pete Sweetnam, In-Country Director – Mercy Corps; Sophia Smith – Escante Boutique; and LaShawn Dames, Business Services Manager & RISE Program Coordinator – GBPA.
1st insert: Partners of the RISE economic recovery initiative have supported the post-Dorian recovery efforts of nearly 300 micro and small businesses across the Grand Bahama, with upwards of $2.5 million in grant and post-COVID assistance. Picture from left to right are the RISE Initiative executives; Al Panico, Field Representative – American Red Cross Society; Michael Bowers, VP Humanitarian Leadership – Mercy Corps; Henry St. George, Director – GBPA; Mahesh Madhavan, CEO – Bacardi Limited; and Ian Rolle, President – GBPA Group.
2nd insert: As the RISE initiative officially comes to a close, its impact can be seen and felt in the day-to-day operations of the businesses it has empowered and helped. Pictured are members of the RISE Team Kerline McPhee, GBPA Customer Relations Officer (top left) with Ashleigh Lockhart, MC Program Manager (top right), providing one-on-one support to East Grand Bahama residents during a site information session for the RISE Initiative (photo taken in early 2020 before the onset of COVID-19). The RISE team continued all program activities throughout 2020 despite the COVID-19 lockdowns, delivering greatly needed support to RISE program participants.
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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