Caribbean Times 4th Issue - Thursday 29th September 2016

10 c a r i b b e a n t i m e s . a g
Thursday 29th September 2016
ECTEL study reveals impact of broadband
on economic growth in Member States
CASTRIES, Saint Lucia - A study
on “The Impact of Broadband on Economic
Growth in ECTEL Member
States” indicates that an increase in
the broadband penetration rate of 1%,
would lead to an increase in real economic
growth of 0.076%.
The findings according to the report,
applies to all ECTEL Member States as
a single group.
The study which was commissioned
by the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications
Authority (ECTEL) under the
CARCIP project was the first attempt
to empirically test the economic impact
of broadband penetration in the five
ECTEL Member States. The CARCIP
programme is funded by the World
Bank and aims to leverage Information
and Communications Technology
(ICT) throughout the region.
The results of the CARCIP/World
Bank funded study, show a positive
linear correlation between averaged
real economic output and broadband
penetration rate for each ECTEL Member
State, for the period 2012-2014. St.
Kitts and Nevis stands out from among
the other Member States indicating in
part the varying levels of investment
per capita in broadband technology
among ECTEL Member States.
The empirical evidence from this
study means that Governments can
now strategically prioritize the communication
sector and proceed quickly
to modernize the regulatory framework
to “purposefully accelerate the delivery
of broadband services and provide support
for investment in broadband technology.”
The study concludes that the anticipated
economic impact from such a
move would definitely contribute towards
the national effort of putting EC-
TEL Member States on a sustainable
growth path. It was commissioned to
quantify the extent to which investment
in broadband technology and by extension
broadband penetration would impact
economic growth. An empirical
economic model approach using data
for the period 2012 to 2014 was adopted
for this study.
According to CARCIP Project Officer,
Winston George: “The study was
conducted as part of the process to understand
the social and economic factors
which were inhibiting the increase
in broadband uptake.”
The study was conducted by Consultant
Curlan Gilchrist, Associate
Professor, Department of Business and
Management at St. George’s University,
Grenada.
cont’d from pg 9
Director of the Caribbean
Export Development Agency,
implementing agency
for the programme stated
that “It is in our interest to
encourage the development
of a network of angels as
this significantly increases
the impact of angel investing
which in turn influences
new business development,
and job creation. Through
LINK-Caribbean and RAIN,
we aim to accelerate the development
of angel investing
in the region.”
Senator The Hon. Darcy
Boyce in his feature address
congratulated the Agency
on this initiative and pointed
out that there was a need
address the issue of intellectual
property for early-stage
businesses “we have to increase
the pace of our work
on protecting intellectual
property in these business
ideas, and on valuing such
intellectual property in early-stage
businesses” commented
Senator Boyce.
The growth of a regional
ecosystem for early-stage
investing will help to spur
greater innovation and the
development of business, but
whilst the facilitation grants
contributes significantly towards
this, the provision of
non-funding activities are
also critical to the stimulation
of angel investing and
to support the development
of deal-flow for early-stage
investment.
The Agency has already
delivered training to regional
entrepreneurs and BSOs
in Barbados, Jamaica and
Saint Lucia on best practices
for engaging angel investors
including an introduction to
finance options, exits, valuations,
use of investment
proceeds, creating a winning
pitch deck and finalizing investments.
Moreover, upon
joining RAIN, entrepreneurs
and angel investors are able
to connect and gain access to
a repository of learning materials,
best practice guides,
sample investment documents
and other relevant resources.