If you travel around Jamaica, you might notice one of those Barita billboards advertising to clients the potential of good returns if they invest with their company.

Barita Investments Ltd (BIL) is a vital investment company within Jamaica, recently they have been making a lot of important bets by purchasing strategic locations, particularly in the northern region which might pay off in the future.

This successful investment company was created by an ambitious woman, Rita Humphries-Lewin. Due to her pragmatic business acumen and her disciplined practices, she was able to shape the culture of Barita and mold it into what it is today. Even though she is not present at the company, her business philosophy still lives on and she is highly respected in Jamaica’s economic environment.

The story of Rita Humphries-Lewin and how she started Barita is pretty interesting, it makes sense to go back in time to get a holistic picture of how she started this company and her contributions to Jamaica.

Early Years

Rita Humphries-Lewin was born in Jamaica, in 1936. She was a knowledgeable and energetic young woman growing up. Always challenging herself and learning new things. She attended Immaculate Conception High School which is a Roman Catholic High School for girls in St. Andrew, Jamaica.

Immaculate was and still is an excellent high school in Jamaica that always performs well in CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) exams. This is basically a list of exams across various subjects that each participant(student) had to take in order to test their competency.

After Immaculate Conception High, Rita never knew what she wanted to do, but one thing was clear to her, she never wanted to continue her educational studies. When other students wanted to move on to colleges and universities in order to pad up their qualifications, she wanted none of that.

It was an unconventional move but looking at how things turned, I doubt she regretted that one bit.

In fact, those early experiences helped her to create Barita. Upon Graduating from high school, she took up a job as a secretary at the Gleaner Company. That job was short-lived and she worked other secretary jobs after that. She later joined the local branch of Canadian stock trading firm Annett & Company as a secretary.

This was when the rubber started to hit the road for her, in 1962 she saw a memo that was asking for new traders. She was very interested in this position while other males working at the firm, saw the requirements as an extra burden because they have to go back to school.

She never saw anything wrong with that, she signed up, went to Canada, and took the 6-month course. She returned to Jamaica, completed the Canadian Securities Course, and in 1967 she became a stock broker.

It was perfect timing for her, as a mere two years later the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) opened (1969) and she was a designated trader on the exchange floor. Annett later went out of business in 1972 due to economic factors which were facing the country at that time and a wider part of the world.

The 70s was a pretty tough time for a lot of countries, especially in the western region. This economic downturn wasn’t enough to deter a young and energetic woman such as Rita Humphries-Lewin, so she pressed on.

After she went out of the private sector, she created a lot of public projects which looked small at the time but are pivotal today. For example, she helped established the Jamaica Industrial Developmental Corporation and the Small Business Development Centre. These projects were important, but she still felt that she could still do more in the private sector.

The Birth of Barita and Growing Influence

Due to the economic situation at the time, it was hard to trade on Jamaica’s Stock Exchange, and a lot of brokerage firms fumbled under the economic pressure at the time. This was when she conjured up the bold move to start her own brokerage firm.

In 1977, she founded Barita, with $10,000 of her own money. The company’s name was a combination of her first name “Rita” and her sister’s name “Barbara”.

It steadily grew over the years into the company it is today. During Barita’s Growth, her influence started to grow locally and she was called upon to take on more national projects on the island. In 1984, she became chairman of the Jamaican Stock Exchange market. She also took up the position again from 1995 – 2000 which was a pivotal time in our local history with a lot of economic turmoil.

During her tenure, she led the establishment of Jamaica Central Securities Depository Limited (JCSD) in 1998 and the development of electronic trading in 2000. She was chair of the Development Bank of Jamaica from 2001 to 2006, participating in the development of Highway 2000 and a planned resort in Trelawny Parish.

In 2000 she received the Order of Distinction, Commander Class from the Government of Jamaica for her contributions to the country’s financial industry. She also received an honorary doctorate in educational leadership from Mico University College for her contribution to early childhood development.

She finally decided to push the company public in 2010 on the JSE which was quite successful. In 2018, she sold 75% of her stake in the company for $3 billion and remain on the company’s board of directors while owning just 2% of the company. In January 2021, she decided to call it quits and finally announced her retirement from a very decorated career.

Independence and Philosophy

A decade ago, she disclosed to the Gleaner that the drive for independence has been one of the focal points of how she approached life.

“I have seen so many risks taken in business, many have come and gone. I want to be in charge of my own destiny; no one must be looking over my shoulder. I just didn’t want to be fired by anyone,” she disclosed.

That drive for independence and yearning to forever be independent has created a fire that will never be extinguished and gave her the energy and drive to push Barita beyond 4 decades which is not an easy feat if we look historically at all the firms that have been created and long gone since then.