Social Security Board Weighs BEL Investment

Back in October, the Briceño administration made a big move, buying Fortis Belize’s hydro assets and its thirty-three-percent stake in Belize Electricity Limited for a whopping one hundred and ten million Belize dollars. The deal sparked heated debates in both the House and Senate, with questions about environmental impact and long-term energy security. During negotiations, Prime Minister John Briceño hinted that local investors, including the Social Security Board, were eager to get in on the action. So today, we asked SSB’s CEO, Jerome Palma, just how far those talks have gone, and whether Belizeans’ retirement savings could soon be powering the nation’s energy future.

 

Jerome Palma, C.E.O., Social Security Board

“I think what has been in the public site is that the government has purchased Fortis and I think has been renamed as Hydro Belize. The opportunity for SSB is one that we still have to look at. It has not come to us fully for us to look at. It is something that I would say that most Belizean may look at and say, it is a worthwhile investment. So, when that opportunity comes to us, we have to do our due diligence to appreciate exactly what it is, what it entails, what it would cost, what would be the returns, and that’s an exercise we still have to go through. With respect to investments, I think there are a couple things that we must look at. We must look at the reserves itself growing and therefore the opportunities that we have to capitalize on will actually increase. There are opportunities that we may create through development of programs that we have. Our DLM building is one for example, that we created. And then there are opportunities that may come our ways. There may be opportunities that municipalities develop bonds that we may wish to partake in, entities that are legitimate may wish to borrow from this team that we have to work with. So those are opportunities that we anticipate will continue to come with any economy, as the economy grow, there will be a need for investment. So for us, the due diligence has to take place. It has to be both us capitalizing of those opportunities that may come our way, that are secure, that makes sense for the fund and us being creative to see what are practical things that can be safe, secure, reliable, and generate a consistent return of the time.”