JMMB Holding Company, SRL and its parent JMMB Group Limited have received final regulatory approval for the purchase of 100% of the shares in Banco Múltiple Bell Bank, S.A. in the Dominican Republic as well as to merge said entity with Banco Ahorro y Crédito, JMMB Bank, SA on July 28, 2022 . This is a significant milestones for the JMMB Group, as this will be our first commercial bank in the Dominican Republic.

The JMMB DR Group currently includes the brokerage house, JMMB Puesto de Bolsa SA, a fund manager company, JMMB Funds and a pension fund administrator company AFP JMMB BDI, S.A.

This acquisition and merger complements our regional diversification strategy as we seek to more effectively fulfill the financial needs of the local market in the Dominican Republic.

Photo: Founder and Chief Executive Officer of One on One Educational Services Limited, Ricardo Allen (centre, seated), points out features of the company’s e-Learning platform to students.

In 2017, when One on One Educational Services was facing financial challenges, the company’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ricardo Allen, went to the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) for assistance.

He tells JIS News that at the time “we were running out of money” and he had made the tough decision to close the physical office space and operate remotely.

The DBJ came to the rescue, providing Mr. Allen with financial support and guidance, which not only enabled him to rebuild but also to grow his business beyond Jamaica.

One on One now has contracts with clients across the Caribbean and the United States.

Mr. Allen tells JIS News that One on One was able to fund the development of software “that now the Government of Bahamas is using, Government of St. Kitts, all of these folks. I just got my first contract out of California, in the United States of America”.

One on One Education Services is among MSMEs that have benefited from billions of dollars in funding support to improve and grow its operations through a range of products and services offered by the DBJ.

As innovative technology company established in 2013, One on One provides a range of digital education and training solutions.

The company, located in New Kingston, has built out an award-winning online learning platform, with personalised courses for students, as well as corporations and governments across the Caribbean.

Clients benefit from e-learning courses, online training, instructional design services, and expert tutors and trainers. Some 400,000 students have been served through the online platform.

One-on-One Educational Services Limited – Junior Market Prospectus August 2022.

Mr. Allen says that the DBJ has been with the company “every step of the way”.

He recalls that “when we started the business and started the online learning platform, we felt like we needed money. We raised money from the market and we got investors, but we quickly ran out. With this big idea, we went to the DBJ, and they supported us [under] the Innovation Grant from New Ideas to Entrepreneurship (IGNITE) programme.”

IGNITE enables Jamaican entrepreneurs, particularly MSMEs with innovative business ideas, to access grant funds to develop and commercialise their products and services.

Mr. Allen notes that once he received the grant from the DBJ, there was a team of people that provided the guidance needed.

“When I sat with DBJ in that board room, they have this ability to just sit and listen to my crazy ideas and their attitude is ‘how can we help to support?’. And so, from day one, when we got that IGNITE grant of $2.5 million, it did wonders for us.

“That allowed us to create a technology and a software or online learning platform that we could now deliver to anybody anywhere,” he says.

One on One has also received loan support through the DBJ’s Credit Enhancement Facility (CEF).

This is a risk-sharing arrangement under which the Bank provides partial guarantees to approved financial institutions to enable them to increase lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and students studying online, Mr. Allen again approached the DBJ for assistance in developing an innovation, which will provide people with access to the Internet, particularly those in remote rural areas.

“So, we created this thing called Internet-in-a-Box. It’s really a small device, and what we do is download a version of the Internet on this device and we deploy it in rural Jamaica,” Mr. Allen notes.

“I grew up in Jackson Town, Trelawny, and if you put that [device] in Jackson Town, the students would gather around it, just like they do with Wi-Fi. They can consume any Internet-based resources on that device, without the need for Internet,” he explains further.

“We needed to bring that to the market, and we went back to the DBJ and said we have an innovation, and we need the funding to go. They had the perfect opportunity, which is this Innovation Grant [Fund] and we applied for it,” he adds.

The Innovation Grant is a product under the Boosting Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE) Programme, that provides grants for innovation projects by medium-sized enterprises.

These grants are used to assist in the development and commercialisation of new products, services, processes, or new business models.

Mr. Allen tells JIS News that the grant process was rigorous “because they [DBJ) wanted to ensure that whatever they are putting their money towards is something that is going to lead to nation-building. So, we accessed the grant, and we are now in the process of producing these devices that we’re going to deploy across Jamaica”.

For the Innovation Grant, the company had to provide evidence that it was making more than $75 million in revenues consistently over the past three years and also demonstrate that the product could be commercialised.

“Our product is in the process of being commercialised, so it’s not yet ready for the market; it’s something that we are building. The product had to be needed by the market and the DBJ looked at this and the next thing they looked at was the quality of the team behind this. Could they execute on this promise, because many of us have ideas but cannot execute on that promise,” Mr. Allen points out.

Meanwhile, the CEO told JIS News that he values not only the financial support provided to One on One by the DBJ over the years but also the mentorship and advice, which have allowed his company to take advantage of the opportunities to grow.

He recalls that five years ago, when he made the decision to operate the company from home “the DBJ team came into my bungalow, and they sat down in a little corner and they …. worked through every problem I was having. They gave me all the solutions. They have never left me.”

“They have a team of people who stand head and shoulder with you to ensure it is done and is executed, plus they also connect you with their network of people and organisation to give you that support,” he notes.

Mr. Allen notes that with the assistance from DBJ, One on One has become a truly regional company, noting that “90 per cent of our clients are outside of Jamaica”.

“We would not have been able to do it without the vision, without the financing, the mentorship from DBJ,” he says.

Bank of Jamaica (the Bank) is pleased to advise that the phased rollout of JAM-DEX has progressed with the amendments to the Bank of Jamaica Act (BOJA) 2020 now being passed into law on 14 June 2022.

These amendments designate the Bank as the sole authority to issue Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), JAM-DEX, which is now legal tender. With the amendments, all references to “notes and coins” are now expanded and replaced with, “notes, coins and central bank digital currency”.

Given these amendments the Bank can now advance the national issuance of CBDC and in that regard, members of the public are encouraged to sign up for a digital wallet which facilitates access to JAM-DEX. Currently, National Commercial Bank offers JAM-DEX through LYNK®, its digital wallet.

Other wallet providers are expected to come on board for the distribution of JAM-DEX later this year. JAM-DEX provides a safe, efficient and convenient way to pay for goods and services.

Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ’s) central bank digital currency (CBDC) name, logo, tagline and image design competition is over, and Jamaica’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) now has a name.

The winning appellation is JAMAICA DIGITAL EXCHANGE – JAM-DEX for short – with the tagline, “No cash, no problem!”

The winning logo utilizes the very distinctive outline of Jamaica’s national fruit and national dish key ingredient, the ackee.

For winning both prizes in the name and tagline competition, Ms. Ashley Payne is the lucky recipient of a total of J$600,000 (J$350,000 for the name and J$250,000 for the tagline) in regular currency, plus a combined total of J$50,000 in CBDC.

Mr. Gerrard Harvey walked away with the prizes of J$350,000 in regular currency and J$25,000 in CBDC for conceptualizing and designing the logo.

Both winners collected their prizes in a small ceremony at BOJ in August 2021.

No winners were found for the representative image category, so that design was completed in-house by BOJ’s graphic arts unit.

The task of combing through over a hundred entries in each category fell to a small panel of judges led by Mrs. Natalie Haynes, BOJ Deputy Governor in charge of Banking, Currency, and Financial Markets Infrastructure. Other members of the panel were then, BOJ Communications Director, Mr. Tony Morrison; BOJ Senior Graphic Artist, Tashna Bulli; Project Director in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (and former BOJ employee), Mr. Lenford Salmon; and the Head of Department, Visual Communication, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Mrs. Shauna Gaye Murray-Coke.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The judges agreed that we wanted a name that is easily and preferably instantly recognized internationally as uniquely Jamaican, that speaks to brand Jamaica and the Jamaican vibe. There is hardly any word, term, or expression that is more quintessentially Jamaican than JAMAICA itself.

The secondary consideration to complete the puzzle was that the name has to signify not just money, but digital money. The full name, Jamaica Digital Exchange, took care of that, and the finishing touch was the visual reinforcement of running dollar signs through the ‘D’ in ‘DEX.’

THE TAGLINE

The tagline to go with the name had to match the Jamaican-recognition factor, as well as in some way speak to the digital currency and/or its use.

“No Problem” is a phrase that instantly evokes Jamaica, and moreover, speaks to exactly the mood we want consumers and businesses to have when they are using Jam-Dex. ‘No cash, no problem’ simply but explicitly speaks to the ease and worry-free convenience of using Jam-Dex as a substitute for cash.

THE LOGO

Bank of Jamaica is known for not using ordinary logos (who else has a crocodile in watchdog mode as their official logo?), and so we had a proud tradition to maintain.

We sought something that matched the authentic ‘Jamaican-nes’ of the name and tagline while being simultaneously simple and distinctively bold as an easily recognizable visual element. In terms of not only the bold and distinctive elegant simplicity, but also the symmetry compatible with an interconnected digital world, we found the 2D visual representation of Jamaica’s proud national fruit as irresistible as a Sunday morning plate of ackee and saltfish.

And, after all, speaking to the experience we want to create for users of Jam-Dex, one of the many ways to describe feeling good is to say, “I am in my ackee!” or in Jamaican, “Mi inna mi ackee!”

THE GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION

PHOTO: MARK BELL
General Manager for the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) Project Management Office, Hugh Grant (left), signs an agreement formalising the DBJ’s partnership with Victoria Mutual Investments Limited (VMIL) for the creation of the Jamaica Actus Small and Medium Enterprise Fund 1 (JASMEF 1). Observing are VMIL Chief Executive Officer and co-signatory, Rezworth Burchenson (right), and Actus Partners Founding Director, Murat Tasci (centre, seated). Overseeing the proceedings is DBJ’s Legal Officer, Adrian Nelson. The signing took place at the DBJ’s head office on Oxford Road in Kingston, on Thursday (June 30).

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and Victoria Mutual Investments Limited (VMIL) have partnered to invest US$15 million in a new facility that will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with additional funding.

The Jamaica Actus Small and Medium Enterprise Fund 1 (JASMEF 1) will target equity or quasi-equity support for SMEs.

International management advisory and consulting firm Actus Partners, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom, was selected to establish the SME fund.

The focus of the support will be on businesses operating in areas such as technology, climate and renewable energy, agriculture and food security, and tourism.

General Manager for the DBJ’s Project Management Office, Hugh Grant, and VMIL Chief Executive Officer, Rezworth Burchenson, signed an agreement formalising the arrangement, at the DBJ’s head office on Oxford Road in Kingston, on June 30.

Mr. Grant, in his remarks, indicated that the DBJ is investing US$5 million on behalf of the Government of Jamaica, with VMIL committing the remaining US$10 million.

He indicated that the money from the DBJ was provided from a US$15-million World Bank loan, for which the Government signed an agreement in 2018.

Mr. Grant explained that this funding supported the Access to Finance (A2F) for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Project.

This initiative aimed to provide local MSMEs with additional access to finance through the provision of innovative financial instruments.

“A key component of the A2F Project was support [for] the establishment of an SME Fund, which would provide private equity and other instruments to support SMEs in Jamaica. Coming out of this initiative, the DBJ issued a call for proposals from local and international fund managers,” Mr. Grant informed.

He said Actus Partners emerged from that competitive process in 2021 as the preferred candidate to establish the SME Fund.

For his part, Mr. Burchenson described Thursday’s signing as a “very important milestone”, adding that “what we are laying is a foundation for future growth”.

Meanwhile, Founding Partner for Actus, Murat Tasci, noted that the potential of the venture being undertaken is “huge”.

“We would like to focus on high-growth potential SMEs, which Jamaica is not out of at all, and we would like to address the financing gap, when it comes to equity,” he added.

Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) announces its decision to increase the policy interest rate (the rate offered to deposit-taking institutions on overnight placements with BOJ) by 50 basis points to 5.50 per cent per annum, effective 30 June 2022.

The Bank also decided to continue pursuing other measures to contain Jamaican dollar liquidity expansion and maintain relative stability in the foreign exchange market.

In the wake of the MPC’s past monetary policy adjustments, interest rates on new bank deposits and loans in Jamaica have started to rise and there has been greater stability in the exchange rate, relative to the recent past.

The Bank’s current decision will cause liquidity conditions to remain tight and interest rates on bank deposits and loans to rise further, making savings in Jamaican dollars more attractive relative to foreign currency assets and borrowing in Jamaican dollars more expensive.

Additionally, the tightening of monetary policy will generally reduce demand in the economy and, consequently, businesses’ ability to pass on price increases to consumers. These decisions are also expected to continue to support stability in the foreign exchange market, reinforced by the Bank’s strong international reserves position.

At 27 June 2022, Jamaica’s gross reserves amounted to US$4.4 billion, which represented approximately 129 per cent of the projected IMF’s Assessing Reserve Adequacy (ARA) measure for FY2022/23.

Policy decisions are being made in the context of high uncertainty and future decisions will be subject to incoming data materializing as expected.

The Bank’s decision to further reduce the level of monetary policy accommodation was made by a unanimous vote by the MPC. This decision was based on the following assessment:

1. Annual inflation at May 2022 of 10.9 per cent was below the April 2022 outturn but above the Bank’s target range. Core inflation also remained elevated.
2. While headline inflation at June 2022 may be lower than expected, the Bank prefers to see evidence of a definitive fall in commodity prices, consistent with global consensus forecasts, and a reduction in core inflation before moderating the tight monetary policy stance. The Bank expects to see this in the September and December 2022 quarters and with it, a fall in inflation expectations. Of course, this depends on tensions between Russia and Ukraine not escalating and inflation among Jamaica’s trading partners also moderating.
3. The Bank’s forecast for GDP growth for FY2022/23 remains unchanged in the range of 2.0 to 4.0 per cent. This is supported by continued strong growth in Tourism and its allied services as well as higher agricultural production.
4. The Federal Reserve Board (Fed) decided to increase the benchmark federal funds rate by 75 bps in June 2022. The Fed also signalled that further increases in the policy rate could be at a faster pace than originally projected for the remainder of 2022.

A summary of the discussions influencing the monetary policy decision by the MPC has been published on the Bank’s website at https://boj.org.jm/core-functions/monetary-policy/policy-schedule/summary-of-decisions/.

The date of the next policy decision announcement is 18 August 2022.