A Bit More Detail

Report on Business Magazine features in its latest issue an article by Doug Steiner, "The art of investing dangerously", that explores the difficulties of doing business in Haiti. The country as a whole, the article argues, is caught in a bitter economic catch-22, with the influx of tourists and business investments needed to revitalize the Haitian economy depending on the establishment of the needed security which in turn depends on the establishment of a prosperous Haitian economy, et cetera. Some businesses can thrive in particular niches, still, such as Canada's Scotiabank.

The bank now operates four branches in Port-au-Prince and two bank mach-ines. The branches were closed during Carnival, which is basically a week of national holidays, but just walking around the exterior of one of them was intriguing. It looked the same as suburban Scotiabank branches in Canada: red signs outside, grey countertops inside, and a drive-through.

But a small building out back housed diesel-powered emergency generators and dozens of batteries. Stuck to the window of the main door, in addition to a sign with hours of business, was another with an outline of a handgun with an X through it. Back in Toronto, Scotiabank CEO Rick Waugh later told me that checking guns at the door is indeed a service provided by the bank in many countries.

The branch was also by far the tidiest building in the neighbourhood, and we only had to drive down the street for a few minutes to see how impoverished the retail customer base can be in Port-au-Prince. We arrived at a dusty open-air market with dozens of stalls that were no more than bits of cloth or plastic held up with tall sticks. A dozen ragged-looking cows were tethered near a refuse pile. As traffic roared past, a dog drank out of an open sewer across the road.

Any talk of cash in Haiti also brings up the question of drugs, corruption and money laundering. Charles is firm and polite, but short on details. "There are a lot of clichés about this country," he said. He and other bank executives also note that the operations in Haiti have to conform to Scotiabank's corporate rules on cash transactions, as well as Canadian law and international standards. Charles is also chair of a Haitian commission on money laundering.

The more familiar and immediate risk for Charles is personal safety—his own and that of his 79 employees. Two of them have been kidnapped. Both were returned safely after their families paid ransoms, and they are still working for the bank. Charles has two armed guards around the clock at his family's own elegant three-storey house in the hills. However, the only robbery of a Scotiabank branch in Haiti that anyone recalls was 30 years ago. In Canada, on average, one Big Six bank is robbed every day.

Are the risks in Haiti worth it? And would the bank ever leave? These are questions for Waugh and Rob Pitfield, Scotiabank's executive vice-president of international banking back in Toronto. They point out that Scotiabank has been active in the Caribbean for more than 120 years, and now operates in 25 countries in Central and South America. "We're an international bank that happens to have its head office in Canada," said Waugh.

Sure, Haiti and other developing countries look daunting, said Pitfield, but "people manage these issues." A global bank needs a broad mindset. "Canadians are somewhat insular and not aware of the countries out there with wonderful people trying to get what we have," he added. "It's taught the bank to be open to ideas and to be tolerant."

Without any available capital and a skilled workforce that's concentrated in the Haitian diaspora, Steiner argues, one of the only things Haiti can work with is the very low wages paid out to the workforce. This particular comparative advantage does little to address Haiti's unerlying issues.