A Bridge for Shared Prosperity

Prime Minister Mia Mottley marked the form a success outlining that the key goals had been achieved and went on to state that “What matters is not so much the subject area but the attitude and approach, one for collaboration and two for de-risking, that we come now to today’s moment to be able to deal with. And that is the importance of today’s inaugural a free Caribbean trade and investment forum because it allows us to see how we can work together to unlock those very difficult issues that have only been made worse regrettably by matters beyond our control”

A partnership agreement between Afreximbank and seven Caribbean States is poised to bring investments and solidify and reinforce the bridge between the two regions. The establishment of African Caribbean business council will end in business to business matchmaking.

The partners pledged to implement strategic partnership between the business communities in Africa and the Caribbean through bilateral corporation engagement in trade, technology transfer, investment, innovation, tourism, transport, culture and other services.

Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, told participants at the opening that there had been tremendous progress in accelerating the membership of CARICOM nations in Afreximbank and that signature of a participant agreement would enable Afreximbank to operate in the CARICOM region and deliver concretely on the new vision.

“Once these arrangements are concluded and visible, we will also open an office here in the Caribbean. And if we do agree, the Bank will work with governments of the CARICOM to set up a Caribbean Exim Bank as an Afreximbank subsidiary or affiliate,” he said, adding that Afreximbank “envisages committing an investment of US$700 million in the Caribbean as soon as a regional office is opened.”

“We stand at the cusp of history to open a well of opportunities for Africa and the Caribbean and to leverage our individual and collective strengths towards the attainment of our shared prosperity,” Professor Oramah said. “The vision is clear. However, we must therefore be focused while recognising that there are so many hurdles to cross.”

He reminded the audience of the atrocities of the trans-Atlantic slave trade which saw many Africans enslaved and forcibly transported to the Americas and the Caribbean and highlighted the close links and shared history and identity of the African and Caribbean people.

Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank

“We will want to leave here with actionable proposals on how to open air and sea links between the Caribbean and Africa. We would like to leave here with concrete plans to open banking and payment rails, to see joint ventures for industrial projects, to deepen our commercial collaboration in the creative and commercial space, to collectively protect our intellectual properties to share knowledge and invest in climate adaption projects. We must be proud that this is a reunion arising out of a felt need, underpinned by a solid economic, cultural, historical rationale,” added Professor Oramah.

President Benedict Oramah added “We keep our promises, we didn’t travel all these thousands of kilometers to come and make a show. We came here for a purpose. Coming here is an investment towards that and the way we work, you have to realize the benefits of that investment …concrete results coming out to the commitment we make here.”  President Oramah promised those present that in the next few months the everyone will see “actual things on the ground”.