By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan
September 2, 2022
African Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum Starts
With an invitation to set up the AfrEXIMBANK in Bridgetown, its President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), Professor Benedict Oramah says some US$700M is envisaged for the Caribbean, building on the US$250M made available to support Africa-Caribbean trade and investment through the opening of its first bank in the region.
According to the professor, the forum signifies historic importance, going beyond trade and finance arrangements, and with “the African borders now extended to the Caribbean, we will have ourselves to blame if we fail to realise that we are the same people and therefore can constitute one integrated market”.
He said it was “naïve to think others would give us prosperity, as we had to work for it”, however he urged those to be focused despite the many hurdles to cross.
The professor added while many Africans came to the Caribbean for vacation, reservations were often done through other agencies outside both regions including bookings for domicile services such as taxi transport, and other tourist like activities, resulting in very little financial benefits coming down to local providers. The professor says he hopes this tourism link will be greater improved through local agents in the regions allowing for both to benefit in the tourism sector, with actionable proposals to air and sea links through the Caribbean and Africa.
In addition to open banking and payment trails, to see joint ventures for industrial projects, and commercial proposals for both the cultural and creative spaces, get intellectual properties and share in climate adaptation projects
Meanwhile, he spoke to the Caribbean being a rich resource to fisheries and with Africa pouring some US$4.5M in this sector for its crayfish supplies, and the Caribbean only supplying one percent of this was reason enough to build business relations in terms of agro-processing in this field as an area of interest.
Opening the event, Chair of Invest Barbados, John Williams listed the objectives they hope to achieve in the coming three days, “including boosting its inter-banking relationships, encouraging increased trade and investment between the Caribbean and in Africa, by creating that enabling space for market identification for the building of partnerships and alliances and the sharing of trade and market information upon which to advance its mutual causes”.
Williams shared that through active 2022, “we also want to explore and enable possible Afri-Caribbean Free trade area, develop creative and cultural partnerships and importantly to propagate products of the Africa Export Bank that support trade between Africa, Africans and the diaspora while also reducing the counterpart risk perception among African and Caribbean businesses and do businesses among themselves”. Practical ways to achieve these objectives, Williams says built an investment platform for international business that is void by an extensive bi-lateral
Earlier this month Barbados introduced VISA waivers to 24 African countries wishing to travel and set up shop in Barbados. This comes on the heels of its recently opened consulate office in Nairobi, Kenya, something done in partnership with CARICOM with Barbados now having a Charge de Affairs and Commercial Attaché in Accra Ghana.
He hopes that business ventures in tourism, culture and creative arts, agriculture and finance will be explored and fostered by the partnerships between both regions, and describes it as an expansion of the Caribbean’s diplomatic footprint on the continent is a representative of its desire to change its narrative and course in the future. Meanwhile, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, the President of Suriname and current Chair of CARICOM, speaking on behalf of his fellow member states, says the partnership symbolizes the region being proactive against the direction the world is taking in terms of trade following the pandemic and the latest war in Ukraine. He underscored the need for further expansion of relations at this juncture given the state of geopolitics at play. Santokhi shared with crisis, comes opportunities, and called for strategic partnerships between the two regions and see business flows to respective countries. He anticipates the latest happenings to also be a trading force to be reckoned with globally. In the same breath, he called on those from the visiting continent to consider Suriname for business relations in terms of agriculture, fisheries and land mass available for setting up investments.
CARICOM Secretary General Dr Carla Barnett says the partnership called for strengthening of infrastructure to support this trade movement. This she said included air and maritime distribution channels, and a movement for a multi-lateral air movement agreement between African countries and the community. Using this forum, and the mutual membership between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, she says “we can continue to promote and forge business to business contacts, through networks of private sector organisations, business development support organisations, such as Caribbean Export and its regional investment and promotion agency”. She added that CARICOM looked forward to concluding the MOU between the secretariats of CARICOM and the African Union, to strengthen collaboration to support this process.
In addition to the opportunities provided by the CSME, she added that CARICOM offers to opportunity to other gateway markets, with preferential trade agreements with several Latin American and Caribbean neighbours as well as others provide significant market opportunities for investors producing within CARICOM that provide a combined US $11B in imports and services in revenue.
She says with the African Free Trade agreement and the CSME, providing solid foundations for trade and economic cooperation between the two regions, the CARICOM SG says she anticipates this to be the first forum among the two regions to come.
Solidifying the move to see investment and trade deepened, a Partnership Agreement was signed between Afreximbank and several Caribbean Countries including the Government of Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
The African Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum is a three-day event ongoing in Barbados until September 3rd, and expected to see over 750 delegates from Africa and the Caribbean, including government and private sector officials from both regions, as well as investors, development partners, and trade support institutions come together for talks. The Forum is being held under the theme: “One People. One Destiny. Uniting and Reimaging Our Future