Looks
like more Call Centers are on the way for Jamaica, eight at least valued at
some US$33 million as stated in “US$33-m
BPO projects in the pipeline”, published Wednesday, July 09, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.
So
says the notes mentioned in the GOJ's Prospectus for their Government Bond
issue as posted on the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) Website.
Government Bond issued recently successfully raised some US$800 million as
explained in “Record
Haul! Jamaica Raises US$800m From External Bond Market”, Published Wednesday
July 2, 2014, by Avia Collinder, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Jamaica
issues US$800-m eurobond, published Wednesday”, July 02, 2014, The Jamaica Observer.
Some
of that money is being used to float a DBJ (Development Bank of Jamaica) Loan
to finance these eight (8) BPO Projects, mainly Call Centers. A Loan that’s
more than justified, as Call Centers have proven themselves to be a real
money-maker for the GOJ, bringing in some US$350 million in annual revenues!
If
this announcement is real, then we’re looking at no more than eight thousand
(8000) new Call Center jobs coming to Jamaica to add to the 14,000 alledgedly
employed in this burgeoning but secret sector. This bring up the total number
of members employed in the Call Center arena to a whopping 22,000, which is
roughly 50% of the 45,000 figure quoted by BPIAJ Chairman and President Yoni
Epstein as being the saturation point for the Call Center Industry.
Most
likely this new batch of Call Center Workers will be housed in the expanding
Montego Bay Freezone are and will thus be trained at the 200 seat Call Center
Training Facility being built by the BPIAJ (Business Process Industry
Association of Jamaica) as announced in my blog article
entitled “How
to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - BPIAJ Call Center Agent Training
School for US$900,000 as Montego Bay Freezone Expands”.
DBJ loan for 8 Call
Centers – US$800 million windfall from GOJ EU Bond to expand a profitable
Industry
This
was expected, just not so quickly.
It
comes on the heels of the positive review by the IMF (International Monetary
Fund) head Christine LaGarde over a three (3) day period now concluded as
stated in “Christine
Lagarde Impressed By Awareness Of Jamaica's Need For Economic Reform”
published Sunday June 29, 2014 10:48 am, The
Jamaica Gleaner, we’ve slowly begun to reap the benefits of her positive
words and actions.
Bearing
a Coupon Rate of 7.65% to about 8% per annum, this new GOJ Euro Bond has the
lowest Coupon Rate in all of Jamaica's time going to the EU Capital Markets to
borrow money. These new GOJ Euro Bonds were underwritten by Citibank and
France's BNP and were oversubscribed to the tune of US$800 million . They're
can be encashed after a 11 year period in 2025, with principal repayments made
each year starting from 2023, 2024 and 2025 and are a bell-weather for the
level of confidence that lenders of Credit have in the Jamaica Government.
It's
the Yield Rate that the significant stat, as normally Developing World
Economies like Jamaica are perceived as high risk investment only good for
short term Bonds. Thus in the past, higher Coupon or Yield Rates had to be used
to attract investors to effectively bet on the future profitability of the
Jamaica's Productivity Sector driven by GOJ Regulations.
The
fact that it got snapped up at such a low rate, was oversubscribed and even
better, surpassed its initial target of US$500 million suggests that investor
confidence in Jamaica's ability to turn itself around and start achieving
Growth in the Long term is high. To that end, this justified the lower Coupon
rate; the Investors are willing to invest in a lower yield Bond which
translates to longer periods and larger investments, knowing that they're
confident of getting their money.
Best
of all, this recent issue of GOJ Euro Bonds was done mostly via a Debt swap
similar to the NDX (National Debt Exchange) back in 2012 as explained in my blog article
entitled “Jamaican
Government to implement NDX, essentially JDX2 2.0 to get IMF Agreement - Tax
Reform and FDI Investments Bullet to the Head and Oblivion”, except it
involves GOJ Bonds issues on the International Markets.
These
new GOJ Euro Bonds gave previous holders of the previous set of GOJ Euro Bond,
valued at some EU 150 Million with a Coupon Rate of 10.5% per annum, chance to
swap them for this newer, low yield GOJ Euro Bond valued at 7.65% to 8% per
annum.
The
fact that the new GOJ Euro Bond was oversubscribed suggests that now only did
the Bond Swap work, but new buyers of these GOJ Euro Bond bought Bonds as well.
Holders of the older 10.5% per annum GOJ Bonds issues may has also brought
additional Bonds along with the ones that they swapped out.
Eight Call Centers
Coming - Call Center Jobs for Montego Bay Peeps
So
when will these 8000 jobs appear in the Call Center Sector so you can go
hopping off in a bid to expand your career and rise higher in the field? Not
any time soon I’m afraid; this looks like around next year, as expansion work
is ongoing within the Montego Bay Freezone area.
It’ll
be a huge relief to those of you still seeking work to know that more may be
coming in the future. Just stay tuned to
the Social Media Grapevine on your smartphone and this blog!
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