In 2015, Antigua and Barbuda was in a period of political stability. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer had been in office since 2004 and the government had achieved some successes such as economic growth and improved security. See ehealthfacts for Antigua and Barbuda in the year of 2005.
To address these issues, the government implemented a series of reforms aimed at diversifying the economy and reducing poverty. These reforms included increased investment in infrastructure projects such as roads and hospitals which improved access for rural communities across the islands. The government also increased foreign aid from countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which helped fund job creation programs for young people in rural areas.
Despite these positive developments, unemployment remained high due to lack of job opportunities outside of the tourism sector which accounted for nearly half of all employment in 2015. The government also faced criticism for its handling of refugees from neighbouring countries who had been arriving in Antigua and Barbuda since 2012. To address this issue, the government opened refugee camps throughout both islands and provided humanitarian assistance to those who were displaced by war or conflict.
Yearbook 2015
Antigua and Barbuda. In April, the government signed an agreement that meant the state took over as majority owner of the West Indies Oil Company Ltd. oil company. The company had been owned by Bermuda-based National Petroleum Ltd. since 1980. The acquisition was made possible by support from Venezuela, which took over 25% of the ownership, and a Chinese investor who bought 24% of the shares.
In May, five of the member states of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – announced that they launched a joint project to reduce poverty in the OECS countries. The project is funded by Chile and is supported by the United Nations Development Program UNDP.
In June, the EU published a list of a total of 30 countries and territories that are described as tax havens and used for tax evasion. Of these, 15 are in the Caribbean. Prime Minister Gaston Browne reacted strongly to the fact that Antigua and Barbuda were on the list.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Saint John’s is the capital of Antigua and Barbuda which is located in North America. Prime Minister Browne and opposition leader Baldwin Spencer signed an agreement in August to pave the way for the country’s accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice. Before it can replace the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as the country’s highest court, the constitution needs to be changed through a referendum. In August, one of the Caribbean’s most modern airport terminals was inaugurated in the capital Saint John’s on the island of Antigua.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Antigua and Barbuda country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
History. – The United Progressive Party (UPP) – which came to power in 2004 by ending the political hegemony of the Antigua Labor Party (ALP) and the Bird family – was confirmed in the March 2009 elections, despite winning a narrow majority of 9 seats out of 17 in the House of Representatives. A few weeks before the vote, the Allen Stanford scandal broke out in the country, which would have marked the second term of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer: the discovery of a 7 billion dollar scam, for which the Texan tycoon was later convicted in the first instance in the United States of 110 years in prison in June 2012, not only reverberated its effects on the economy of the country – in which Stanford was the main investor – but also highlighted the deficits still present in matters of control and transparency, despite the efforts made by the executive to implement specific legislation. With a view to improving financial conditions, in March 2013 the Citizenship by Investment Act was approved, which allowed the acquisition of Antiguana citizenship against an economic commitment in the country. The elections of June 2014 saw the end of the UPP’s parenthesis in government and the return to power of the ALP, whose new leader Gaston Browne assumed the post of prime minister.
In international politics, in addition to the continuation of collaboration with the other states of the eastern Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda joined – in June 2009 – the ALBA (ALianza Bolivariana para los pueblos de nuestra América), a regional cooperation project promoted by the then Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.