PR – Nevis Premier Mark Brantley delivered a sweeping nine-point economic development blueprint for Grenada — and the rest of the Caribbean region — at the inaugural Congress of the Democratic People’s Movement (DPM) on Sunday, March 22, urging Grenadians to seize the moment as a collapsing international rules-based order reshapes global power dynamics.
Brantley, who was the keynote speaker, warned that the Caribbean faces mounting external pressures — from great-power competition and tightening immigration policies in the Global North, to U.S.-led disruption in Venezuela, and escalating conflict involving Iran that threatens global energy markets and, by extension, the cost of living across the region.
“When energy prices rise, everything else rises — from the cost of electricity to the cost of bus fare to the cost of a loaf of bread,” he told the Congress. “Every household in Grenada and across the Caribbean will be forced to cash a cheque it did not write.”
Against that backdrop, Brantley laid out a nine-point agenda he argued would diversify and future-proof the economies of regional nations like Grenada.
He called on Grenada to accelerate development of its renewable energy resources — solar, wind, ocean and geothermal — arguing that energy independence would reduce household costs, attract data centres and shield the island from external shocks. On food, he was equally direct, urging immediate investment in agriculture and agro-processing.
“Food security is national security,’’ the Nevisian Leader said.
Brantley turned his attention to the cruise industry, noting that while the Caribbean accounts for 45 percent of global cruise traffic, it captures less than 15 percent of the US$30 billion in annual revenues cruise lines generate from the region.
He called for OECS-wide harmonization of head taxes, pointing out that Grenada’s current US$4.50 per-passenger levy is among the lowest in the region.
On the creative economy, he cited Nevis’s film industry — 14 feature films and two television series produced in five years — as a model, challenging Grenada to monetize its own cultural assets, including Spicemas and the globally spreading Jab tradition.
The Premier also proposed the establishment of special economic zones targeting tech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), hospitality, agriculture, education, health and residential sectors.
On Citizenship by Investment, he urged Grenada to shift its focus from constantly seeking new economic citizens to unlocking investment from those already holding Grenadian passports, recommending a dedicated unit within IMA Grenada to network with and engage that community.
He paired this with a broader call for a national strategy to incentivize locals and Diaspora Grenadians to invest at home, with small business development as an urgent priority.
Rounding out the plan, Brantley urged Grenada to build on the legacy of St. George’s University by further incentivizing international students to the island and addressed what he described as a demographic challenge shared across the OECS — populations too small to sustain a robust tax base or adequate human capital pipeline.
Brantley called for targeted migration policies and active Diaspora-return programmes to tackle the problem of population size and its impact on human capital and the tax base.
