Previously, the 10,000-weekly circulation publication was only printed in French and distributed in Haiti. The Challenges print version has been in circulation since August 2015, currently the only newsweekly in Haiti.

“Our goal for Challenges has always been to serve the informational needs of both native Haitians and Haitian diaspora living in the United States and Canada,” stated Alexandre Thevenet, news director of Challenges.

“The best way for us to do this was to first get the news in print before we moved to an online, English version."

“Challenges aims to reach the more than 1 million readers of Haitian ancestry in the Unites States and Canada,” Laurence Bigio, publisher of Challenges news magazine and CEO of Caribbean Media, told Publishers Daily. The online version of Challenges targets Haitians living in Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, New Jersey and Chicago, as well as parts of Canada, including Quebec City and Montreal.

Bigio added that having an English online version of Challenges was “always the plan.” Challenges will add advertisers to reach its new English-speaking audience and will “welcome all advertisers,” Bigio said.

“Challenges wishes to promote Haiti’s development and bridge the gap with the diaspora. Because of this, it was important for us to have an English version of the magazine,” he said.

The French content will be translated into English. The Challenges site is in English by default, but a button on the navigation allows readers to switch to French.

Challenges operates as a media and publishing subsidiary within the GB Group, which primarily operates in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and St. Maarten and offices in the United States.

The GB Groups is comprised of 21 companies from seven different divisions, including agriculture, construction, consumer goods, infrastructure, energy, logistics and trading.