Good morning, everyone.
It’s wonderful to see you – thank you for joining us today.
If I do my job right this morning, you will leave here as excited as I am about the path forward, for our country, and for all of you.
It’s not that I don’t see the challenges and potential disruptions we face – I do – we all do.
But what is different is that we are finally facing the right direction.
We worked hard, to move from crisis to recovery.
Now we’re working to create something new: an economy that includes everyone.
That means we need to create thousands more opportunities – and good ones.
We need more ladders that lead more Bahamians up to success.
You know, I know what it’s like, to start up that ladder – and then you see a few rungs missing.
You feel like you don’t know the right things or the right people, you worry you never will.
You can’t see how you’re supposed to go any further.
I never want our people to stop there.
That’s why we’re not only investing in infrastructure – in new airports and docks and solar panels and more.
We’re investing in Bahamians – in 21st century skills and education, in grants and training and financing – so that ladder you’re climbing isn’t missing any rungs…
…and you can climb as high as your talent and hard work will get you.
Every Bahamian deserves a fair chance to reach their God-given potential.
It’s hard to overstate how important the National Apprenticeship Programme is going to be, in expanding high-quality opportunities for Bahamians.
For a long time, we have needed more and better pathways that lead from school to work.
Bahamian companies are looking to hire employees with the right experience – but if you’re just starting out, how do you get that experience in the first place?
Apprenticeships can be a big part of the solution.
Everyone who has been an apprentice – as I was myself – knows how meaningful it can be to learn on the job, and earn money while building skills.
Apprenticeships shaped the careers of many leaders in our country, in the private and public sector, including Minister Glover-Rolle.
Our apprenticeship programme gives participants important work experience and accredited training, so employers get staff who are ready to contribute, and young people get a chance to succeed, including in some of the most high-demand industries in the country.
It’s true that the world is changing quickly – but Bahamians are as capable as anyone else of navigating the accelerating changes.
Change is inevitable – progress is something we need to achieve.
If we want to turn change into progressin our country – and if we want as many Bahamians as possible to be part of that progress – we need to create all kinds of opportunities.
Along with the Apprenticeship Programme, there are many new or expanded initiatives to support Bahamian ambition and success.
From health care to fly-fishing to cybersecurity to renewable energy – there’s a place for you. Or maybe you want to be part of our growing agriculture sector – or you want to be an entrepreneur – or you want to attend our country’s first performing arts school – there are new opportunities in all of these fields.
Participation at BAMSI is at record levels, and we are making major new investments in BTVI – expanding skilled trades training in New Providence and bringing BTVI to Abaco, Eleuthera, and Exuma.
Our Upskill Bahamas programme offers training and certificates from the world’s top universities and training institutes – 11,000 Bahamians have registered, and that number keeps growing.
We will keep expanding capacity, because opportunity should never be limited by access.
These numbers tell a story.
Bahamians aren’t waiting for the future to happen to them. They are working to shape their own futures.
Every Opportunity Hub event we hold shows what happens when people are given a real chance to grow: they show up and take advantage of it.
I expect today will be no different.
The National Apprenticeship Programme connects Bahamians to jobs in high-demand industries.
And although the acronym may be N.A.P., or “nap”, let me reassure everyone that the people working on this programme are fully alert, focused on supporting apprentices in completing training, earning certifications, and securing employment.
When we invest in proper training and create clear pathways to progress, Bahamians excel.
I encourage every Bahamian to visit the Opportunity Hub website at opphub.gov.bs –
Learn, and register, and share the information with your family and friends.
And don’t forget to share your feedback.
We want to hear directly from the people these programmes are meant to serve.
We need to keep working and adapting together as new opportunities emerge.
Initiative by initiative, we are working to fill in the missing rungs on that ladder.
Whether you’re looking for a first chance or a second one, a new career or renewed prospects – when you are ready to climb that ladder, you will not be climbing alone.
We are rooting for you.
There are moments in history when change accelerates, and revolutions in opportunity come all at once.
I know this might be hard to imagine – in a country where we often have to fight for every step of progress – and then fight to ensure that progress is not canceled or reversed.
But we really can build a different kind of economy – one in which privilege and gatekeepers matter a lot less, and your skills and creativity and resourcefulness matter a lot more.
May God bless all of you, and may we rise to new heights together.