Antigua & Barbuda welcomes you!

Antiguan homeowner, entrepreneur and media mogul, Oprah Winfrey, once said “The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”

Living or visiting the twin-island nation of Antigua & Barbuda has all the components of that dream. It’s hard to imagine anything more alluring than its limpid waters teeming with multicoloured fish lapping against impossibly white beaches fringed with swaying palm trees. A warm welcome, balmy year-round temperatures, lush landscapes, world-renowned yachting and sailing conditions, a dining culture to satisfy any foodies out there, and a UNESCO-heritage site to boot, certainly completes the dream.

But for others, the dream is to start their own business – to satisfy that entrepreneurial itch and bring that idea they have been nurturing to fruition. In unpredictable times, like the world finds itself in today, entrepreneurs are needed more than ever to ensure nations’ continued economic growth – indeed, history has shown time and time again that crises foster entrepreneurship.

It is not surprising then to learn that in Antigua & Barbuda there is a growing wave of local, innovative entrepreneurs who are using the emerging start-up and incubator programmes to forge ahead with their business plans. And with its world-class educational system up to university level, a stable government and robust economy, there are a wealth of opportunities to be found in the tiny-but-powerful nation.

Direct flights to major business centres in North America and Europe and the islands’ CARICOM membership means there is scope for any budding entrepreneur to look beyond Antigua’s shores to a regional or international level. Using the knowhow of experienced international entrepreneurs brought in by the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, the Nomad Digital Residence visa, and the returning diaspora, could boost the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, paving the way to potentially becoming a regional hub for accelerators and incubators in a not-too-distant future.

Antigua & Barbuda’s CBI programme is one of the best in the Caribbean and is in the top five of the Global Citizenship Programme Index in Henley & Partners’ Global Residence and Citizenship Programmes 2018- 2019 report. Citizenship to the islands allows visafree travel to 165 jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Schengen area.