Jovan Johnson, Author at Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network

Jovan Johnson

Jovan Johnson is an investigative and multi-media journalist with over 10 years' experience in the profession. He currently works with The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, the oldest publishing paper in the English-speaking Caribbean. He's won several national journalism awards including the 2021 Press Association of Jamaica Journalist of the Year prize. He's won the top news (print) journalism award for the last two consecutive years. In 2021, he won the top financial journalism award. The 2017 Chevening Scholar is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom, where he completed a Master of Science Degree in Development Management. He also holds a Master's Degree in Development Studies from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Media and Communications from the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) - both from The University of the West Indies. Jovan draws other experiences from having worked in international development with the European Union and teaching media, communication, and journalism at CARIMAC and the University of Technology, Jamaica. He has co-authored a Transparency International research paper on corruption risks faced by development finance institutions involved in blended finance.

Citizenship by Investment

Grenada

Where CBI Answered an Economic SOS

By

Jovan Johnson,

Linda Straker and

Cheriann Blackman | May 20, 2022

When the Grenada Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme was launched in August 2013, it was believed by many to be the only way to save the island from an economic downfall.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell pushed the passport scheme in 2013 as his government battled economic struggles whipped up by the global financial downturn. Government declared that the programme would become a main source of revenue to help develop the island and pay outstanding debt to international creditors and lending agencies.

The programme offers individuals the ability to buy its passport in as few as 60 days at a minimum cost of USD $150,000 USD in addition to USD $8,000 processing fees. In 2018, five years after the programme started, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of an overreliance on CBI inflows, noting that the programme accounted for 4.5 per cent of GDP in 2017:

“Further improve mechanisms for monitoring the proceeds of CBI inflows and recording all flows through the consolidated fund on budget to improve fiscal management and reporting,” was a major red flag from the IMF, which also asserted that “strict enforcement of the due diligence process of the CBI program are critical for Grenada’s continued stable access to cross-border bank payments”. (https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2018/236/002.2018.issue-236-en.xml)

Source: IM Daily https://www.imidaily.com

The CBI program based on projections in the budget estimate is expected to remain a vital earner for Grenada’s economy. Red Flags

By law, the identity of beneficiaries under the programme is a tightly kept secret – just one of the restrictions that raises a transparency red flag for a programme that plays a major role in raising cash and investments to boost economic growth.

Grenada is just one of five countries in the English-speaking Caribbean to offer the programme.

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