By Justin Cooper
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A Message to Every Bahamian. In 1973, we got political power. We were grateful. We were proud. We were finally free.
But somewhere along the way… we became a victim of our own success. We got the vote — but not the vault. We gained political power — but not economic control.
Fifty-plus years later, that hasn’t changed. We still don’t own the economy we live in. And instead of building together, we fight each other poisoned by our own Black Crab Syndrome while the same families and foreign interests that ran the economy before independence still run it now.
Let’s be honest about how our economy is structured:
* Pharmaceutical Industry – Lowe’s Pharmacy and Nassau Agencies dominate prescription drug imports and distribution. They have exclusive supply arrangements with National Insurance Board (NIB) and nearly every local pharmacy, giving them full control of access and pricing.
* Ports & Logistics – Arawak Port Development Ltd. (the Nassau Container Port) has a 50-year monopoly, controlled largely by the “Bay Street Boys.” The same network now controls the Nassau Cruise Port under another long-term lease — with overlapping shareholders. Mike Maura, who once managed Arawak Port, now leads Nassau Cruise Port — continuity of control under a new name.
* Banking Sector – The major banks (Scotiabank, CIBC FirstCaribbean, RBC Royal Bank, Fidelity, Commonwealth Bank) are either foreign-owned or tied to the same old Bay Street elite. Bahamians use the system, but we don’t own the system.
* Food & Retail Industry – Rupert Roberts (Super Value and Quality Markets) dominates grocery retail and reportedly benefits from preferential shipping rates through Arawak Port. That allows him to undercut other Bahamian grocers, locking in dominance.
* Construction & Building Materials – JBR Lumber, Tops Lumber, City Lumber, and Kelly’s Lumber Yard control most of the supply chain for construction materials, from lumber to finishing products.
* Food Wholesalers – Dalbenas, Asa H. Pritchard, Thompson Trading, Bahamas Wholesale Agencies, and Nassau Agencies dominate the food distribution network, controlling imports and wholesale pricing for the entire nation.
* Insurance Industry – Bahamas First, Insurance Management, Atlantic Medical, Colina Insurance, Bahamas Health, and Nassau Underwriters are all owned and controlled by the same small group of white Bahamian families. Together, they decide what protection costs in this country.
* Infrastructure & Government Contracts – Mosko Group, Brent Symonette’s Bahamas Hot Mix, IDS (Island Development Services), and Woslee Construction have had a decades-long grip on large government projects and road contracts.
* Mining & Natural Resources – Tony Myers and Mosko Group control long-term rights to sand and aragonite mining — the very raw materials that belong to the Bahamian people.
* Liquor & Alcohol Distribution – Commonwealth Brewery (Heineken Group) and Bristol Wines & Spirits dominate the alcoholic beverage industry, with foreign ownership and exclusive import rights.
* Auto Industry – Historically dominated by the “white boys club,” with dealerships like Friendly Ford, Executive Motors, Bahamas Bus & Truck, and Auto Mall controlling the prices and market access for decades, forcing everyday Bahamians toward old Japanese imports to survive.
This is not hate. This is history. And it’s still our present.
Black excellence and Black ownership are not radical ideas — they’re overdue realities. Until we move from representation to participation, from access to ownership, independence will only be political and not economic.
If we don’t change it, our grandchildren will be saying the same thing in 2073.
It’s time for a new kind of independence. Not just power on paper but power in practice.
