Igwe

This eclectic Antillean perambulator has finally decided where to tether his "’lowly donkey:’’ His hard working friend and jackass: ‘’Big Jim.’’ Yes Antillean brethren, he will tether his ass in North Sound, Virgin Gorda.

For the umpteenth time this week a member of the Virgin Island community has ‘’confronted’’ him asking him the ‘’well worn and much asked’’ question: ‘’which part of Virgin Gorda you from meh son? 

This "African-English-West Indian-Scott, then usually proceeds with a tedious explanation and rendition, a rhetorical foray into deeply personal and complex issues: explaining and describing his complex ancestral heritage, pedigree and geographic origins.  What a burden for one man to bear meh boy! However, wisdom has prevailed! Yes brethren, this Antillean is now officially a Virgin Gordian: the first Virgin Gordian Igwe. 

Yes: spectacular North Sound it shall be: enchanting, heavenly, peaceful and tranquil, with the purest and freshest air anywhere on the planet. Oh! and what a view: stunning Anegada, the Horse Shoe Reefs, gorgeous Necker, Prickly Pear, Bitter End, Biras Creek, the rolling hills, and exquisite views of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. OK, you may be correct in thinking: stop dreaming Igwe. And get on with it. What has all this pontificating on the beauty of Virgin Gorda’s geography, vista and panorama got to do with Buy BVI? Igwe’s answer is: everything!  And see why!

This "layman investigator’’ was reading the online news media last week when a very interesting article on ‘’buying BVI’’ caught his attention 

Now this Virgin Gordian by ‘’faith, resolve, and shortly, ‘’serious acreage’’ in North Sound looks at this issue: the ‘’buy BVI’’ paradigm as critical to BVI prosperity. But he also wishes to ‘’juxtapose a weighty issue with global reality.

Now Igwe is an islander who is typical of most islanders.  He is insular, suspicious of external influences, and believes profoundly that small and vulnerable communities must be proffered special protections against a world filled with sharks, piranhas and barracudas of every type waiting to pounce upon the small and vulnerable.  
 
 
 
 

And in the digitally oriented global paradigm of 2009, small islands communities that face seemingly insurmountable odds against increasingly aggressive multinational organizations and self-absorbed foreign powers can do no better than protect themselves geopolitically and improve their competitiveness through increased efficiency, cost effectiveness and specialization in what they do best.

 

Now, let us take a critical look at this issue. This 2009 AD, we live in a completely changed world.  At the click of a mouse or the touch of a keyboard, extraordinary things can be accomplished.  Products can be purchased from China, Japan, US, the Far East and various nations thousands of miles away, and by anyone with access to the internet or a telephone. There is a blurring of the line between retailer and consumer: consumers are increasingly accessing manufacturers in much the same way as retailers.

A simple telephone call, email, or web application: to a major manufacturer and supplier of vehicles, furniture, appliances, building materials, marine products, computer and electronic hardware, digital software, food and beverages, industrial machinery, and much more sets in motion a process whereby the product requested is delivered in 24 hours to a shipping facility in any number of coastal ports and cities ready to be shipped to your front door in a matter of weeks, even days.  And this process continues to improve in efficiency as millions of global consumers discover the ease of internet shopping and ‘’telephone commerce’’ while global firms unrelentingly fine tune the increasingly digitally aligned wheels of international trade.

Specialization is one way of combating this new world of digitization. For these pristine Antilles, specialization is the recognition of the priceless value of her natural geography for her tourism product and providing the first class infrastructure and customer service that will maximize the tourist dollar from this God given resource. Specialization is a focus on what the BVI does best. And this focus on business that utilizes the BVI’s natural advantages is an opportunity that all local businesses must be able to take advantage of. 

Furthermore, enhancing business competitiveness requires an understanding of the critical importance of the education product to all aspects of her economy.  Add to this the fact that digital technology and advanced science are the new drivers of global economic power. Then for a community such as the British Virgin Islands, this determines that the development of math and science are critical to BVI prosperity and development.  

Creating and then installing a cutting edge e-commerce infrastructure will put the BVI on par with nations many times her size.  And by ensuring the continued development of the digital information super highway: such as increasing bandwidth and access to the internet through training and resource availability for everyone, young and old. Access to a computer and related technologies is no longer a luxury: it is a critical necessity for national BVI prosperity.

And local businesses will have to take advantage of this global paradigm and adapt to a new technological and scientific reality.  Failure to do so will spell falling revenues and declining commercial opportunities as new increasingly technologically oriented and globally savvy businesses carry the day.  

Yes, in as much as it is possible, BVI society must protect her local commerce through the legislative, political and legal process.  However, and ultimately, buying BVI because that is better for the ‘’consumers bottom line’’ is better than buying BVI for patriotic reasons.  And consumers will only stop travelling to St. Thomas, Puerto Rico and St. Martin to shop when local firms increase their competitiveness especially in the area of price, variety, customer service and quality by every parameter measurable. 

In the interim, specialization in what the BVI does best by ensuring that she remains competitive in the area of tourism and financial services will give her some precious time in which to create and develop the new e-commerce and scientific and technological infrastructure critical to BVI prosperity in the 21st Century. 

Yes, in this new world of science and technology, the fittest survive: businesses either adapt or suffer. 

Buying BVI is not an option however.  By patronizing our own local businesses we build up our own local economy by keeping our people employed. More than this, keeping money in circulation in the local economy instead of sending it to foreign shores, supports our own local commercial infrastructure.  Buying BVI also enables our local businesses enhance their competitiveness by proffering the resources required for re-investment in tool and plant, labour and capital.  So the next time you are tempted to go off Island to shop, think about the long term effects of that decision to the BVI community, not just the short term benefits to your pocket.

Anyway let us return to ‘’Viewpoint North Sound.’’  Reality has set in and acquiring that ‘’serious acreage with a stunning view’’ appears as distant as the stars from Planet Earth.  This Virgin Gordian Igwe is not complaining however, as he sits in a rental admiring the view of a heavenly vista and ocean: he can still visit Virgin Gorda for the ‘’odd’’ weekend and overnight at a reasonably priced guesthouse in the Valley.  He can then sit in his car rental on ‘’Viewpoint North sound’’ on a glorious tropical afternoon and dream.  Yes Virgin Antillean brethren: dreaming is good for the soul.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by this writer do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of BVI News and its parent company.

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