Above: Minister for ICT, Pamela Moses. Images taken from a streamed video of the launch of the project.

Co-published with NewsdayTT on July 29, 2021. This report was updated with additional information supplied by the Press Secretary of the Prime Minister of Grenada on July 31, 2021. The corrections addressed the status of the SEED programme’s relation to the uniform assistance programme and the number of Grenadian citizens who would benefit from the programme.

Trinidad’s digital payment service provider Wipay has assisted the government of Grenada in setting up its Digitally Enabled Uniform Assistance Programme, which will subsidise the cost of school uniforms for over 5100 families.

Grenada began the resumption of socially distanced, in-person schools in April. In May, the Government of Grenada approved the inclusion of two social safety net programmes – SEED (Support for Education, Empowerment and Development) and the School Uniform Assistance Programme – as pilots in WiPay.

WiPay signed an MOU with the Grenadian government just before the pandemic hit the island and used the technology it developed for the Trinidad Judiciary’s digital payment systems. The social assistance project uses QR codes for verification.

After evaluation, SEED Beneficiaries can receive between $50 and $300 per household, while successful applicants under the School Uniform Assistance Programme will be entitled to between $50 to $450 per household.

The project begins with with the distribution of 1200 QR codes on August 9 with the first of four batches of digital vouchers to be issued. Grenada’s government expects to complete the distribution by August 30.

“We could not have been here without WiPay,” said Minister for ICT, Pamela Moses at a launch event live-streamed on the government’s Facebook page on July 29.

“It’s a step toward becoming a cashless society, we want to become a digital economy,” said Moses.
“We know that people want to have their money in their pocket. We know that people want their voucher in their pocket.”

Grenada’s ICT Minister urged citizens to be patient with the system and to be assured that any issues would be addressed quickly.

Families without a smartphone or email address will have their QR codes printed by the government.
In a short address, WiPay CEO Aldwyn Wayne said, “Your Minister of ICT, Pamela Moses is very hands on. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a minister so completely on the ground. Your people are ready for this.”

WiPay will donate 100 of its NEO terminals to Grenada, beginning with a deployment of 50 to start the project and has given the Grenadian government access to its software platform without cost.

According to Wayne, the terminals will cost WiPay US$ 50,000 and the software platform is valued at $60,000.

Permanent Secretary with responsibility for ICT, Finley Jeffrey, said, “What we might have taken 15 years to accomplish digitally, we accomplished overnight and we are going on and on as the pandemic persists.”

“There are a lot of things that are on-stream and a lot of things that are coming.
These are exciting times, although they are pandemic times.”