WORLD INDEPTH

A TALE OF TWO CARIBBEAN ISLAND COUNTRIES – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC & HAITI

A TALE OF TWO CARIBBEAN ISLAND COUNTRIES – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC & HAITI
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Maina wa Njuguna

LEDE

• Anything that France touches, rots. The genesis of Haiti’s challenges began as a French colony.

• Dominican Republic had multiple colonizers – Spain, France and the United States of America

• Dominican Republic is 10 times richer than Haiti, why so?

HISPANIOLA ISLAND

It is the largest island in the West Indies. Hispaniola island is located in the Northern Caribbean region and is home to two very distinct countries, The Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 and Haiti 🇭🇹.

Nothing exemplifies better about impoverishment and governance than a story of Hispaniola island countries that happen also to be the richest and the poorest in the Caribbean region.

CONTRASTS

• Dominican Republic is the richest Caribbean country, located on the East of Hispaniola, and occupies two-thirds of the island.

Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Image: /Courtesy/

• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere & definitely in the Caribbean region, and is located to the West of Hispaniola island. It occupies about one-third of area coverage.

• Political instability is a staple of Haitian administrations; the Dominican Republic is a democratic representative government.

• The Dominican Republic’s GDP per capita in 2023 was $23,100 whereas Haiti’s for the same year was about $1,210 according to Economic Review.

Dominican Republic’s capital, Domingo. Image: /Courtesy/

• Capital is Santo Domingo and the main language of communication is Spanish, whereas Port-au-Prince is Haiti’s capital. French and Creo are the main languages of communication.

• Haiti’s economy is 10 times smaller than its neighbor, Dominican Republic – ten times! Haiti population is 11.8 million vs. Dominican Republic at 11.4 million.

HAITI

France arrived in Haiti in the 17th century to exploit its resources and establish plantations to export sugar and coffee.

To keep up with a productive French colony (originally known as Saint-Domingue), France began importing hundreds of thousands of African slaves to replace the rapidly declining Taíno population to work the plantations.

It is estimated that France brought to Haiti 800,000 West African slaves. The brutality of the work conditions at the plantations led to short-life expectancy for the slaves necessitating aggressive import of more African slaves to replace them.

In the18th century, Haiti was the “Pearl of the Antilles”. It was the richest colony in the world and produced 60% of the world’s coffee. 40% of sugar was imported from Haiti by France and Britain.

Deforestation in Haiti has roots in its French colonial history where vast swaths of land were cleared for plantations.

Charcoal, Haiti’s main domestic energy source. /Courtesy/

The country’s natural disasters are exacerbated by widespread deforestation. Haiti’s main source for domestic energy comes from charcoal, hence trees get chopped down for energy.

ECONOMY

The country’s economic sectors are agriculture – mainly subsistence, textiles, trade and manufacturing. Haiti exports vetiver oil, used in high-end perfumes. Bananas, cocoa, and mangoes are also major exports.

Remittances are a major source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly 20% of GDP.

Haiti’s HDI ranking /Courtesy/

Entrenched corruption is a major economic growth impediment. It ranks very highly on Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 172/180.

“The lack of independence of the judiciary in the region undermines the rule of law and promotes impunity for powerful criminals.” – Transparency.

Transparency
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Christopher Columbus arrived in the present day Dominican Republic in 1492. 25 years after his arrival and domination by Spain, only 50,000 Taíno peoples, the original inhabitants survived following their genocide.

The country’s population is made up of a mix of the Taíno remnant descendants with Africans and Spaniards who migrated in doves to the island.

ECONOMY

According to the US department of State, the country historically has been the top Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destination in the Caribbean region.

Dominican Republic developed infrastructure. The top tourist destination in the Caribbean. /Courtesy/

Some major economic sectors include: tourism, real estate, telecommunications, free trade zones, mining, finance and a growing film production market.

Dominican Republic HDI ranking. /Courtesy/

Some major impediments to economic activities include: bureaucratic red tape, judicial malpractices, technical incompetence, and poor implementation of existing laws.

CONCLUSION

A tale of these two neighboring countries that share the same island is quite telling. While Haiti’s current never ending crisis squarely are Haiti’s to resolve, it would be disingenuous to ignore the many major powers that have had major impacts on the country’s downwards trajectory.

France as usual is one of the most exploitative, incompetent, and wreck havocing power of the Western economic powers. It has left a litney of failed former colonies as evidenced in West Africa and Haiti.

Hundreds of years of pillaging the African continent and its colonies of human resources and the wealth, France has produced a long trail of poverty, death and destruction.

Recently, a joint statement of Africa-France Summit in Nairobi in 2026 was announced by Kenya’s President William Ruto and the President of France Emmanuel Macron. See the link for further information.

France has been chased out, yes, literally kicked out of West Africa – Sahel region where its grip and plunder has left the countries severely impoverished. Now, France is working on a comeback with new adventures to East and Southern African countries lining up appointments of new ambassadors.

Deforested & improvised Haiti is distinguishable from space. Image: /Courtesy/

It is the collective duty and in the interest of the West to genuinely invest in Haiti in a sustained effort, a long-term strategy in order to stabilize the country, to end the human suffering and improve economic prospects that will positively impact the entire region.

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