Prime Minister Philip Davis’s Remarks at the Opening of BISX Invest Fest Bahamas 2026

Good morning, friends.

Let me begin by thanking BISX for this invitation, and by thanking all of you for being here so early. 

The theme for this Invest Fest is a bold one: “Wealth Without Limits – Expand Your Vision, Multiply Your Opportunities.”  

Those are big words. They raise big questions.

Who is this wealth for?

What are the real limits we face?

And how do we make sure that multiplying opportunities does not mean leaving people behind?

This morning I want to speak about those questions.

I want to talk about the kind of world we are living in, about the kind of Bahamas we are building, and about the role that innovation and investment can play in giving our people a larger life.

Above all, I want to come back, again and again, to one simple idea:

We can choose our path, and we can take our people with us into a future of opportunity and possibility.

That is the frame for these remarks.

For a long time, the global economy felt like it ran on autopilot.

Interest rates were low.

Money was easy to borrow.

Inflation sat quietly in the background.

Capital flowed across borders as if nothing could stop it.

If you were lucky enough to be plugged into those flows, life could feel comfortable. 

If you were not, there was at least a feeling that the tide might eventually lift your boat too.

That period is finished.

Now interest rates have teeth again.

Climate events can wipe out assets in a single night.

Technology is racing ahead of our habits.

Geopolitics has returned in a very raw form, with trade, sanctions and payment systems used as tools of power.

For a small island nation like ours, this new reality can feel unforgiving. We are exposed to storms, to swings in tourism, to movements in oil prices, to rules and standards we did not write.

We cannot pretend that none of this is happening.

But we also must not talk ourselves into helplessness.

There is a big difference between living in a tough neighbourhood and having no say over your own house.

We do not control the global weather, but we control how strong our foundations are.

We do not control every movement of international capital, but we control what it finds when it comes here.

We do not control the pace of technology, but we control how ready our people are to use it.

That is where capital markets come in.

Let us strip away the jargon for a moment.

At the simplest level, a capital market is a meeting place between savings and ideas.

It is where a nurse’s pension meets a company’s expansion plan.

Where a young founder with a promising concept meets a crowd of small investors willing to take a chance.

Where a government that wants to build airports and energy plants meets citizens and institutions who want a safe place to put their money.

If all those meetings happen in New York or London, then we are passengers. Decisions about what to build and who owns what are taken somewhere else, under someone else’s rules.

If more of those meetings happen here, on our exchange, under our laws, with Bahamian people at the table, then we start to move from passengers to participants.

That is why BISX matters.

That is why what you are doing here over these two days matters.

Invest Fest is described as the region’s premier financial conference, connecting investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to shape the future of wealth, with keynotes, live investment opportunities, curated networking and hands-on workshops that spotlight Bahamian capital markets, unlock access to capital, advance financial literacy and drive growth.  

Those are impressive words, but they are also a mirror of what our country needs.

Because the truth is that The Bahamas is at a fork in the road.

One path leads to a future where serious financial decisions continue to be taken mostly somewhere else, where our role is to comply, to adjust, to make the best of whatever others have decided.

The other path leads to a future where our institutions are strong, our markets are deep, our people participate, and we use global capital to serve Bahamian goals.

We can choose our path.

Before we talk about where we are going, let us be honest about where we are.

We are an island people.

We know storms in our bones.

We know what it is to watch the sea change colour and feel a knot in the stomach.

We know what it is to board up a window, fill a bathtub, check on a neighbour.

We know that hope is good, but preparation is better.

That experience should shape how we think about finance.

We should never again build an economy that looks sturdy in good weather but falls apart at the first sign of trouble.

We already have some important strengths.

We have a central bank that is respected across the region.

We have regulators who have earned credibility.

We have professionals who are trusted in major financial centres.

We have BISX, our own exchange, which exists because earlier leaders refused to accept that every serious listing had to take place in someone else’s market.

So we start from a position of experience and capacity.

The challenge is to use that base to build something even stronger, something that fits this new world.

The world we are heading into is defined by three big shifts.

The first is climate.

The second is the digital revolution.

The third is social pressure.

If we ignore these shifts, they will push us around.

If we face them squarely, they can open doors.

Climate risk can become climate opportunity when capital is directed into clean energy, resilient infrastructure and the blue economy.

Digital change can become a chance for our people to sell services to the world without leaving home, if they have the skills and the tools.

Social pressure can become social progress if more people feel that they have a stake in growth through pensions, funds and shares that they understand.

Again, we can choose our path.

What does this mean for the strategic direction of our capital markets.

I would highlight four priorities.

First, resilience.

We know that shocks will come. 

Hurricanes, global financial scares, sudden moves in interest rates, cyber incidents.

We cannot prevent all of them, but we can choose whether they knock us flat or simply knock us back a little.

Resilience means sound banks and insurers.

It means a public debt path that is believable.

It means regulators who act early when they see trouble.

It means clear arrangements for how we manage stress, so that ordinary people are not left in the dark.

Our capital markets must be built on that kind of foundation. Investors, whether local or international, will bring serious money only if they believe that the system can weather a storm.

Second, depth.

Right now, BISX does good work, but the exchange does not yet reflect the full variety of our economy.

There are sectors that never appear on the ticker.

There are companies that could benefit from listing, but are unsure about the process.

There are instruments that would suit our needs that are not yet offered here.

We need more issuers across more sectors: energy, logistics, food production, digital services, culture and creative work, the blue economy.

We need a ladder of markets: private placements and crowdfunding for the earliest stages, growth segments for mid-sized firms, the main board for large and mature companies, active markets for both equity and debt.

We also need better information. You cannot invest wisely in what you cannot see. Regular, honest reporting from companies and from government is part of building depth.

Third, inclusion.

If the capital market feels like a private club on Bay Street, it will always be smaller than it could be.

Inclusion begins with financial literacy. 

People need clear explanations of what different products are, how risk and reward relate, what diversification means. 

They do not need to be told that risk disappears. They need to be shown how to manage it.

Inclusion also means access. 

A young person in Andros or Exuma should be able to open an investment account through a phone, with fair fees and clear protections. 

A small saver should be able to start with realistic sums.

When more Bahamians hold units in funds, own shares in local firms and hold bonds that finance national projects, they watch the news differently. 

They talk about policy differently. 

They teach their children differently.

That is how we take people along with us.

Fourth, purpose.

Capital markets are not neutral. They respond to incentives and signals.

If we let them, they will chase whatever gives the quickest return, even if it leaves our society weaker.

If we guide them wisely, they can fund what we know we need.

In this decade, our needs are clear.

We need to change how we generate and use energy.

We need to protect our coasts and communities.

We need to renew health and education facilities.

We need to open space for digital and creative firms that can sell to the world.

We need to unlock the potential of our ocean while protecting it.

Over the last few years, we have already started moving in this direction.

We have modernised our securities laws.

We have updated the framework for digital assets, so that genuine innovation has room to grow within clear lines.

BISX is working on a private listing facility for companies that are not ready for a full public market, on improved crowdfunding platforms, and on a new market segment for smaller, fast-growing firms.

In other words, the ladder I described is beginning to appear.

What we must do now is climb it.

That will not happen through government action alone. It will happen because people in this room make decisions.

A founder decides to list here rather than abroad.

An institutional investor decides to support a green or blue instrument.

A broker designs an app that makes investing easier for first-timers.

A teacher decides to attend a financial literacy session and then explains what she learned to her students.

Each choice nudges us further along the path.

So let me end by talking about us, as a country, and what we have already proved we can do.

Five years ago, The Bahamas was in a very different place.

We had absorbed major hurricanes.

Tourism had shut down.

Public finances were under real strain.

Ratings were sliding, unemployment was high, and many families were quietly asking, “Can we really turn this around?”

Today, the picture is different.

The economy is growing again.

Unemployment is down.

International institutions that once marked us down are now revising their view. A downgrade story has become an upgrade story. A jobs crisis has become one of the lowest unemployment periods in recent memory.

As a country, we refused to give up on ourselves.

So we already know something important: when we set a clear direction and stick to it, we can move from setback to progress.

The question now is what we do with that proof.

We can treat this recovery as a breather and slip back into old habits.

Or we can treat it as a launch pad and put our capital markets to work at a much higher level.

If we could move from downgrade to upgrade, we can move from shallow markets to deeper ones.

If we could move from high unemployment to more people in work, we can move from a small investing class to far more Bahamians owning a share of their own economy.

That is where the record of the last few years in capital raising becomes so important.

Take energy and infrastructure.

In July 2024, CFAL brought a 100 million dollar bond for Bahamas Grid Company to market. The issue opened on 15 July and closed on 26 July. 

Twelve days. 

It was oversubscribed. 

Allocations to some institutions had to be cut back so ordinary Bahamian investors could be included. 

Those funds are financing roughly 130 million dollars in upgrades to poles, lines and substations on New Providence.

In August 2025, CFAL launched the first round of its Private Equity Fund to finance EA Energy and Island Power Producers. 

The offer ran from 21 to 29 July. 

Nine days. 

About five thousand subscriptions came in.

Thousands of Bahamians now own a direct stake in solar and LNG power projects in Eleuthera and Abaco, and in an LNG plant supplying cleaner power to cruise ships in Nassau.

In November 2025, CFAL returned to the market for Island Power Producers with a 100 million dollar bond. The book was open from 6 to 14 November. 

Again nine days. 

Again oversubscribed. 

The company accepted an extra 12 million dollars above the original target. That raise is funding a modern LNG plant in the cruise port that will cut emissions at berth and free up capacity for the rest of the grid.

Step back and look at what that means.

In a few weeks in 2025, Bahamian capital delivered 12 million dollars in equity and 100 million dollars in debt for cleaner, more reliable power.

In twelve days in 2024, Bahamian savers filled a 100 million dollar bond for grid upgrades.

And it goes beyond energy.

In April 2023, CFAL raised 145 million dollars in eleven days to refinance the Nassau Cruise Port bond. 

More than three hundred investors participated between 17 and 28 April. 

The port moved from an eight percent bond to a six percent bond, saving about three million dollars a year and securing long-term funding for a waterfront that supports jobs and small businesses.

Every month, the Government of The Bahamas raises tens of millions of dollars in Bahamas Registered Stock on the local market. 

A 20.3 million dollar offering in January 2026 ran from the morning of 9 February to the afternoon of 11 February. 

Three days. 

Domestic investors were ready and waiting.

Different sectors. Different instruments. Same signal.

When there is a clear project, proper disclosure, credible partners and fair terms, the capital shows up – and it shows up fast.

So when I say there is enough capital in this country to tackle some of our biggest problems, I am not speaking in theory. I am pointing to what has already happened:

– In about a week, we can raise 100 million dollars to strengthen the grid.

– In nine days, we can raise equity and debt to build new plants on the islands.

– In eleven days, we can refinance a major port and free up millions every year.

The turnaround in our economy and the performance of our capital market now reinforce each other. 

A stronger economy has given investors confidence.

A responsive market has proved it can mobilise money at scale for real projects.

We have proved we can raise money quickly, at scale, to fix real problems.

The next step is to widen that success, and use our capital markets so that more Bahamians, and more partners, take part in financing the solutions our country needs.

Friends,

We cannot slow the winds that are blowing across the global economy.

What we can do is decide how ready we will be.

We can choose our path.

And we can take our people with us into a future of opportunity and possibility.

That is the promise behind this Invest Fest.

That is the work of the years ahead.

Let us accept that work with clear eyes and steady hearts.

Thank you, and I wish you a thoughtful and rewarding Invest Fest.