“Strengthening the Foundations of a Bahamian Century”
Friends, partners,
Good morning.
Thank you for the confidence you show in The Bahamas by being here.
This gathering has always mattered because it is where the private sector and public leadership pause together to ask a serious question:
What kind of country are we building, and what kind of future are we preparing our people to inherit?
For years, we asked a familiar question: what kind of country could we become?
That question no longer serves us.
The better question now is this: what kind of country are we prepared to build — with intention, with discipline, and with confidence?
Because we no longer need to imagine possibility.
We are now in a position to make it real.
I want to speak today about the country we can become, not as an idea, but as a practical project already underway.
A country defined by confidence rather than caution.
A country that believes in its own people.
A country that plans for the long term and executes with seriousness.
A country where opportunity is broad, ownership is real, and prosperity is shared.
For many years, the national conversation focused on survival. Surviving storms. Surviving shocks. Surviving cycles.
Survival was necessary, but survival was never the destination.
The destination is progress with purpose.
The destination is long-term prosperity built on Bahamian talent, Bahamian enterprise, and Bahamian confidence.
When this administration took office, the country was emerging from overlapping crises that weakened confidence, strained households, and tested institutions.
The first responsibility of leadership was to stabilize the economy, protect the currency, restore trust, and put people back to work.
That work mattered because without stability there is no investment.
Without investment there is no growth.
And without growth there is no future worth defending.
We did the hard work first.
We made choices under pressure that restored credibility at home and abroad.
We reopened safely.
We reminded the world that The Bahamas remained open for business.
We protected the institutions that anchor confidence.
We steadied the fiscal path.
We reversed downgrades.
We rebuilt international standing.
Those decisions were foundational.
But foundations are only useful if you intend to build something higher.
And before we speak about what we are building next, we must be clear about what we have already secured.
Because ambition only works when it is grounded in evidence.
When this administration took office, the economy was still well below its pre-pandemic size after the most severe contraction in our modern history.
Output had collapsed. Unemployment had surged. Confidence had been shaken. Debt was rising fast. The fiscal deficit was deep. Global conditions were uncertain.
That was the inheritance.
So our first task was not to promise the future.
It was to secure the fundamentals.
We said we would restore stability.
We have.
We said we would bring the economy back to strength.
We have.
We said we would move from emergency to sustainability.
And we are doing exactly that.
Today, real economic output has fully recovered and moved beyond where it stood before the pandemic.
Growth has shifted from a fragile rebound to steady, sustainable expansion.
The labour force has returned.
Employment has recovered.
Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in more than fifteen years.
That did not happen by accident.
It happened because disciplined choices were made.
We brought the fiscal deficit down from crisis levels to near balance.
We moved from a large primary deficit to a primary surplus.
We began reversing a debt trajectory that was heading in the wrong direction.
Public debt is now on a clear downward path.
That is what restoring credibility looks like.
Inflation, driven by global pressures beyond our control, has eased back into low single digits.
Foreign exchange reserves are strong and stable.
The currency peg is secure.
Investor confidence has returned.
Tourism has not simply recovered. It has reached record levels.
Major private investments that were paused have resumed across our islands. International markets have taken notice.
Credit ratings have been upgraded.
Outlooks revised upward.
Borrowing conditions have improved.
Risk premiums have come down.
That matters because credibility lowers costs for everyone.
But let me be clear about something.
This is not a moment for self-congratulation.
And it is certainly not a time for complacency.
Because while the macro-economy has strengthened, many families still feel pressure every single day.
They are balancing work and family.
They are paying mortgages and rent.
They are watching prices at the supermarket.
They are trying to plan for the future in a world that still feels uncertain.
I understand that.
Economic leadership is not about pretending those pressures do not exist. It is about choosing priorities honestly.
The real world is full of competing needs.
Most of them legitimate. Many of them urgent.
The test of leadership is not how easily you say yes.
It is how responsibly you choose.
Without economic stability, there can be no lasting relief.
Without fiscal discipline, there can be no sustained investment.
Without credibility, there can be no confidence.
That is why our approach has been deliberate.
We chose to stabilize first, because without stability everything else collapses.
We chose to live within our means, because borrowing endlessly only pushes the burden onto the next generation.
We chose to protect the currency, because monetary stability safeguards every household’s purchasing power.
We chose to rebuild reserves, because resilience matters in a small, open economy.
These were not always the easiest choices. But they were the necessary ones.
And because we made them, we are now in a different place.
We are no longer managing collapse.
We are no longer governing in emergency mode.
We are no longer reacting to crisis.
We are now shaping the future from a position of strength.
And this is where we should pause for an honest national self-examination.
If we survived the hardest shocks of our generation, why would we settle for modest ambition now?
If our institutions held firm under pressure, why would we doubt our capacity to go further?
If we proved we can recover, why wouldn’t we choose to transform?
This morning, I want to speak about the structure rising above those foundations.
I want to speak about an economy that moves beyond dependence and toward diversification.
An economy that rewards work, skill, and imagination.
An economy that gives young Bahamians reasons to stay, build, and lead right here at home.
An economy where success is measured by how many people can participate, not how few can access the gate.
This is the heart of our national ambition.
We are shaping a Bahamian economy where opportunity expands across islands, across industries, and across generations.
Where success has many entry points.
Where a young person with skill can compete globally.
Where a small business can scale.
Where capital finds consistency.
That is why we began by investing in people.
Human capital is the most valuable asset any country can develop. Talent multiplies investment. Skill compounds growth. Confidence fuels innovation.
Through national upskilling, apprenticeships, technical training, and expanded access to education at every stage of life, we are preparing Bahamians to compete in a world that is changing faster than any generation before ours.
We are redefining what success looks like in a modern economy.
So let us ask ourselves: do we still believe opportunity must be rationed, or are we ready to expand it?
Do we want an economy that works for a few, or an economy that invites many to build, own, and lead?
Trades matter. Technology matters. Creative industries matter. Maritime services matter. Agriculture, energy, healthcare, logistics, finance, and entrepreneurship all matter.
When we train a solar technician, we reduce energy costs and keep value in country.
When we train a marine engineer, we strengthen maritime leadership.
When we protect intellectual property, we unlock creative enterprise.
When we invest in agriculture, we reduce exposure and build resilience.
Each policy connects to the next. Each reform strengthens the whole.
Alongside people, we invested in infrastructure.
An economy moves at the speed of its connections. Airports, ports, roads, clinics, hospitals, digital systems, and energy grids determine whether investment flows or stalls.
For decades, Bahamian businesses carried the cost of outdated systems. High energy prices. Unreliable supply. Aging infrastructure. Those costs reduced competitiveness and discouraged expansion.
That is why we chose to confront energy reform at scale.
Every generation has a choice.
Patch what is broken, or rebuild what is possible.
For too long, the country paid the price of delay.
This generation chose action.
We modernized the grid. We invested in utility-scale solar. We introduced cleaner, more reliable generation across islands. We replaced stop-gap solutions with long-term planning.
The question was never whether reform would be difficult.
The real question was whether delay was acceptable.
Energy reform is economic reform.
Infrastructure reform is opportunity reform.
We also confronted one of the quiet barriers to wealth creation: land insecurity.
Without clear title, families cannot borrow. Entrepreneurs cannot expand. Homes cannot become assets. Generational wealth remains trapped.
Land is not just soil beneath our feet.
It is security. It is leverage. It is legacy.
So we must ask: what does prosperity mean if it cannot be passed on?
Through land reform and modern registration, we are converting uncertainty into opportunity. We are unlocking capital that belongs to Bahamians. We are turning inherited land into living equity.
This changes the trajectory of families. It changes the future of communities.
As these foundations strengthened, investment followed.
The Bahamas is attracting major private capital because investors see stability.
They see a country that plans, executes, and honours its commitments.
They see a workforce being prepared.
They see infrastructure catching up to ambition.
Investment creates jobs, but it also creates standards. It demands skills. It rewards reliability. It raises expectations.
That is good for the country. But growth carries responsibility.
Prosperity without inclusion creates division. Development without dignity erodes trust.
That is why affordability remains central to our agenda.
Families feel pressure at the grocery store, at the fuel pump, on utility bills, and at the pharmacy counter.
We address affordability through action.
Expanded access to healthcare. Reduced costs for essential medicines. Support for food security. Investment in local production.
Adjustments where relief mattered most. Because an economy that works on paper but fails at the kitchen table, fails in reality.
Now let me speak directly to the business community.
Your success and national success rise together.
So let me ask this room: are we prepared to build enterprises that last, or are we satisfied with short-term returns?
Are we training for yesterday’s economy, or preparing Bahamians for the next one?
The role of government is to set the framework. To remove barriers. To invest where markets cannot. To enforce fairness. To prepare people.
We have chosen to use the authority of the government as it was meant to be used – to resolve, to protect, to restore confidence and to empower our people.
Recognition that government exists to settle what people cannot settle on their own.
The role of business is to build, innovate, train, and compete.
Together, that partnership defines the next chapter of our economy.
The Bahamas has the opportunity to lead in energy transition, maritime services, creative enterprise, climate adaptation, financial services, and technology-enabled business.
But leadership requires intention. It requires patience. It requires resisting short-term noise in favour of long-term gain.
This is a moonshot moment.
There was a time when we spoke about potential as something distant. Conditional. Fragile.
That time has passed.
We no longer have to imagine the country we want to become.
We are now in a position to build it.
Not someday.
Not after another crisis.
Now.
The real question before us is not whether change is coming. Change is already here.
The question is this: will we shape it, or will we chase it?
Will we prepare our people to lead, or ask them to adapt too late?
Will we choose momentum, or risk standing still while the world moves on?
This moment asks something of all of us. Government. Business. Workers. Young people.
The future of The Bahamas will not be built by chance.
It will be built by choice.
And we are choosing to build — with confidence, with purpose, and with belief in the truest of the Bahamian potential.
Thank you, and may God bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.