COVID-19 has generated a previously unimaginable shock to economic activity in some sectors for counties across the world—an ‘extreme outlier’ event in statistical terms. For many countries, shocks of this magnitude have not been experienced except during periods of armed conflict or extreme natural disasters. A recent publication from Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) … [Read more...] about Extreme Outlier: The Pandemic’s Unprecedented Shock to Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean
Suriname
COVID-19, The Caribbean Crisis
COVID-19 is taking an unprecedented (albeit still unknown) toll on Caribbean region’s economic growth. According to the recently published Caribbean Quarterly Bulletin, the decline in the tourism industry will particularly affect The Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica. Plummeting international commodity prices are having severe consequences in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and … [Read more...] about COVID-19, The Caribbean Crisis
Suriname’s electricity company transitions to a digital and intelligent utility
Not many years ago, EBS, the state-owned electric utility in Suriname, used to operate the power system in a manual way. If more energy from the grid was needed, the system operator called the power plant to increase the generation. In the case of a failure in a transmission line, an emergency plan was activated to adjust the system and recover the grid stability. With … [Read more...] about Suriname’s electricity company transitions to a digital and intelligent utility
The women lighting up rural Suriname
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2019, we shine the spotlight on some of Suriname’s rural women who are being credited with leading the expansion of the country’s electricity supply. A 24-hour supply of electricity is a top priority for the South American nation of Suriname. However, despite its obvious benefits, many villagers in rural communities are reluctant … [Read more...] about The women lighting up rural Suriname