A warning to the Haitian Diaspora
By Dr Lesly Kernisant
Most developing countries rely heavily on the investment arm of their diaspora. As such, they create incentive-driven opportunities to attract expatriates willing to switch their money from the guaranteed safety of “Wall Street” to the risky “ Main Street” of their homeland. India, Mexico, and many other countries in Africa are great examples of economies that their diasporan investors have uplifted.
Haiti has a Diaspora that is numerically powerful and historically virtuous in its enduring love for the country. Their patriotic values have been expressed openly abroad in the form of mass celebration of every national holiday, sparking pride and hope for their country’s future. At this very moment of widespread gang violence that has brought the economy to its knees, Haitians everywhere are mourning the faith of their nation in light of this sudden shift from a proud, first black Republic to a country embroiled in a scandalous scheme of fraud, abuse, corruption that have caused a general sense of disillusionment and trust in the present government. Yet, their ability to help choose a leader with the Mandellian fervor to steer the country back to a winning track is at best limited, despite the much-publicized "Constitutional reform" toward full Diaspora integration.
This aggressive stance reflects a lack of empathy and a misunderstanding of the Diaspora's essential economic role in a country struggling to survive. The tourism sector is slowly dying, being decimated by insecurity. Travel advisories, combined with negative press, continue to deter visitors from our empty hotels and threaten the livelihoods of many employees. It is not the time for banks to double down on threatening repayment tactics. It is morally questionable and economically shortsighted. Financial discipline cannot be achieved during a national crisis. As a diaspora-inspired organization, SIMACT investors have demonstrated patience in weathering the repeated political storms that have stalled their investment and continued to make heavy loan interest payments, which are higher than those for mortgage loans in the U.S., for well over 20 years. To this day, the principal remains the same, and the interest payments continue to accumulate.
We would hope that the leadership of the Haitian banks will adopt a more flexible approach instead of “doing business as usual” despite this on-going nightmare we are all experiencing, a behaviour that will surely backfire by alienating the very group, the Diaspora investors that are willing and ready to engage in a responsible partnership once stability and security returns for a more prosperous Haiti, the country we all share and love.