KINGSTON, Jamaica – Project STAR, a social and economic transformation program created by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) has been listed on the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange (JSSE), providing a platform to assist social-sector organizations to attract long-term funding to make their projects sustainable .
“The Jamaica Social Stock Exchange represents an avenue for socially responsible investors, not just people who want to make money but people who want to do well so that they can do good, and that’s really what the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange is about,” said Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister,. Aubyn Hill.
He told the ceremony that the listing represents a significant milestone for both the JSSE and Project STAR (Social Transformation and Renewal) created by PSOJ in partnership with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and driven by communities, to bring about societal transformation through targeted interventions in under-resourced areas of Jamaica.
“People interested in contributing and improving the quality of life in Jamaica, and those people are not just in Jamaica; they’re in the diaspora; there are some foreign investors, all kinds of people, but to make sure life is better in Jamaica for all of us, invest in wholesome projects,” Hill said.
He said the Project STAR initiative was founded on an aspiration to instigate social transformation through focused interventions in under-resourced areas of Jamaica.
Hill said through the programme, more persons will be employed, which will have a significant impact on the country’s low unemployment rate.
“Project STAR is changing communities. We are at 4.2 per cent unemployment, so from the time we hit seven per cent we set a historic target. When we came in it was 13.4 per cent, so at seven per cent we had a historic target [then] 6.5, 6, 4.5 and now 4.2, the lowest in our history. So, we’ve had five or six records of low unemployment,” he said, noting that the initiative will assist in reducing unemployment rate in the targeted communities.
“Project STAR is vital to make sure we find the young people with brains to make sure they can work in our economy. Project STAR is doing a fantastic job to make sure that becomes a reality to people who normally wouldn’t be looked at,” he said.
Hill said that the government has and will continue to support the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), the Junior Stock Exchange and the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange.
JSE managing director, Dr. Marlene Street Forrest, said the historic listing marks the first listing ceremony of the JSSE for the year and its fifth listing to date.
“This is a landmark listing as it represents the first of its kind in Jamaica or anywhere else in the Caribbean and I probably say in the world, coming after the raising of funds through a social public offering. This has certainly been a journey through ideation, collaboration and significant investment by corporate Jamaica and the social sector and is worthy of commendation for all the parties involved,” she said.
She said Project STAR’s listing and their interaction with the JSSE can be a catalyst for more corporate foundations and Jamaicans to access the JSSE’s platform, which is a vehicle to ensure a fair, efficient and transparent mechanism for mobilisation of social capital and building sustainability.
“Project STAR is listing today because of the proper due diligence and approval of the JSSE listing and Standards Committee. I wish to recognise that process, the team and also Project STAR in subjecting itself to the scrutiny of listing.
“The question will be asked as to what listing means? It means that Project STAR, having successfully raised approximately $14.7 million in the first round of capital raised through the social IPO, and while the project is not fully funded, it will have the opportunity, because it came to market to return to market to access additional capital,” she added.
Project STAR co-chair, Keith Duncan, said the initiative has been up and running for over a year and has already delivered its first annual report.
He said governance and transparency are critical to building trust.
“We are not only accountable to the investors who have come on board and supported [but] we’re accountable to wider Jamaica for this project. We are accountable to the communities that Project STAR is targeting and doing work in. The communities are also accountable for the work that they have to deliver, as they have to have ownership of the programmes of Project STAR, because its theirs,” he said.
Duncan said more than 1,800 citizens have been impacted from the targeted communities, while jobs have been created for approximately 74 people.
