Diasporic Entrepreneurship in the Caribbean - Firm Profiles.pdf Vol 2 | Page 6

Section 1: Background to the Report

Introduction
While available data analyzes the impact of remittances, philanthropic ventures and investment,
there is no data available to analyze Caribbean diasporic entrepreneurship. This study aims to capture
the experience of diasporic entrepreneurs operating in the region and diasporic entrepreneurs based
outside the Caribbean who tap into the diasporic market. There is also no literature on the Caribbean
diaspora entrepreneurs that engages the private sector in a dialogue to ascertain their views on
what government policy designs would be best suited for the region and their unique situation. This
research is aimed at closing the gap by providing policy makers with both qualitative data (through
case studies on major diasporic entrepreneur firms) and quantitative data (through survey issuance
and analysis) aimed at designing policy aimed to create an enabling environment for high impact
entrepreneurs to flourish.
This Report, ‘Development of Caribbean Diaspora Firm Profiles’, is set within a wider project, “Analysis
of Caribbean Diasporic Entrepreneurs”. The Report seeks to provide in-depth information on the
experiences of select firms in their business behavior in the Region in order to fully understand the
dynamics of how they operate in the Caribbean diasporic market.

Scope of Work and Methodolgy
Semi-structured interviews were held with
representatives of the selected firms in Suriname,
Jamaica and Guyana. (See Annex II – List of
Interviewees) While the interview questions
were pre-determined, each interviewer
was guided by information being shared by
participants and, as such, responses and related
questions posed vary according to the particular
firm. Interviews were conducted in person
as well as using teleconference facilities. (See
Annex I – Indicative List of Interview Questions).
The interview process was supported by desk
research on each company, thereby providing
a more fulsome description of the products and
services offered.
The selected sectors are (i) Food and Agroprocessing, (ii) Transportation, (iii) Remittances,
(iv) Creative/Cultural Industries, and (v)
Telecommunications. A total of eighteen (18)
firms were analyzed across the five (5) sectors.

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Limitations
The interview process experienced some limited
challenges, including:
1. Reluctance of interviewees to provide policy
recommendations;
2. Interviewees opting not to offer specific
information which was deemed as highly
confidential and competitive intelligence;
3. The inability of the interviewers to engage
multiple company representatives who
had the requisite authority to share specific
information;
4. The unavailability of firm representatives;
and;
5. Some firms found it extremely difficult to
participate in the interviews during the
months of November to January, as this
was deemed as the peak season for their
businesses. This was specifically the case for
agro-processing firms.