Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority’s (JSEZA) Sustain-A-Livity concept has won the inspiration of the Agaciro Development Fund (AGDF) managed by the Government of Rwanda, which is seeking to tailor the concept to fit its business environment.

To this end, the JSEZA recently facilitated a four-day visit to the island by Jean Bosco Ntabana, projects manager at Agaciro Development Fund based in Kigali, Rwanda. The purpose of this visit is to learn about the Jamaica’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ) regime, the Sustain-A-Livity concept, as well as to discuss potential collaboration to increase productivity and exports in both nations.

Sustain-A-Livity is a Jamaican concept whereby persons can develop an awareness to expand their workstyle, lifestyle, life-based and spiritual interests. It is where eco-industrial parks interact/cooperate with the local community to achieve a harmonious living philosophy emanating from Jamaica’s motto “out of many one people” and to protect the environment and to achieve economic prosperity.

Several SEZ site visits made

A team from the JSEZA along Ntabana embarked on several SEZ site visits to highlight the socio-economic development in Jamaica, which will be used as a benchmark for inspiration for Rwanda to implement similar sustainable practices in their economy. Among the sites visited were the Kingston Free Zone, Kingston Logistics Centre, Kingston Wharves Limited, and Portmore Informatics Park.

These visits aimed to showcase the operational efficiency and infrastructure of the SEZs, as well as gather insights into their economic impact and potential for expansion. During these visits, Ntabana engaged with the local SEZ businesses to gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities the SEZ regime presents to inspire Rwanda’s economic development.

This initiative highlights Rwanda’s commitment to fostering a conducive environment for investment and trade within its SEZs.

About JSEZA and AGDF

JSEZA is the agency of the Government of Jamaica responsible for facilitating the development of and promoting investments in SEZs in Jamaica. The JSEZA was established in 2016 under the Special Economic Zones Act.

The AGDF is Rwanda’s sovereign wealth fund, launched in August 2012 to build up public savings to achieve self-reliance, maintain stability in times of shocks to the national economy and accelerate Rwanda’s socio-economic development goals. The fund is unique as its capital comes from voluntary contributions by Rwandans at home and abroad as well as friends of Rwanda.

AGDF is a professional and prudent institutional investor with a long time horizon, which enables it to seek out sustainable real returns and ride out short-term economic and financial market fluctuations.  AGDF aims to achieve above-average real returns while maintaining risk within acceptable limits, so as to preserve capital.

AGDF invests both domestically and internationally. Its portfolio is presently invested in fixed income government securities, term deposits and equities. Its long-term objectives and expected economic and market conditions determine the choice of asset classes and their weights in the Fund.