ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne Sunday called on African and Caribbean leaders ”to stand hand in hand, not as victims of history but as architects of the future,” urging them to summon the will so as to act together in reuniting “the Motherland and the Homeland in dignity”.
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne addressing second Africa-CARICOM summit (CMC Photo)Addressing the Second Africa-CARICOM Summit here, Prime Minister Browne recalled that in 2021, he was honored to co-Chair, alongside the former president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, the first Africa–CARICOM heads of government conference.
He said that gathering, held at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, “brought us together across oceans to reaffirm our shared identity and destiny.
“We agreed then that our regions must no longer stand apart but unite against the legacy of inequities and further design institutions that foster integration, resilience, and prosperity,” Browne said, adding that “this second Summit gives us the opportunity to turn these commitments into action”.
The summit is being held under the theme “Transcontinental Partnership in Pursuit of Reparatory Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.”
The Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said the summit aligns with the principles of the African Union-CARICOM memorandum of understanding on strengthening engagement and fostering linkages between CARICOM and Africa.
The Summit is expected to welcome the presidents of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and heads of the African and Caribbean development banks, as well as Afreximbank.
Representatives from the broader AU and UN systems, along with other strategic regional and global partners, including the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States; Permanent Forum of People of African Descent; civil society, and diaspora organisations, are also expected to attend.
Browne told the summit that the leaders must focus on reparations for the Atlantic slave trade, saying “this is not about race, creed, or division it is about justice.
“The wealth of the Global North was built on the backs of enslaved Africans and their descendants. Reparations must therefore be rooted in acknowledgment and apology, but extend beyond words to include investments in education, health, technology, climate resilience, and cultural renewal.
“Reparations are not a plea for pity. They are a demand for fairness, for correcting historic imbalances in finance, trade, and governance. They are the foundation of justice upon which we must build our future.”
He said even as “ we recognize these truths, we face a challenge greater than resources or skills; it is the challenge of political will.
“Too often, we have allowed hesitation to paralyze action. Too often, eloquence in speeches has not been matched by courage in deeds. Let this Summit be remembered as the moment we turned the tide when Africa and the Caribbean chose unity over fragmentation, action over inertia, and courage over complacency”.
He said that If reparations form the moral foundation, then the Africa–Caribbean partnership must be the practical vehicle.
He identified three critical areas for cooperation, namely trade and investment, youth education and connectivity between the countries.
“ Our combined markets represent 1.5 billion people, yet trade between us remains negligible. This cannot continue. Africa’s grains, textiles, fruits, and energy should flow into the Caribbean; while the Caribbean’s rum, sugar, spices, tourism, and creative products should find eager markets in Africa.
“Let us negotiate a preferential trade agreement and finally unleash our economic potential,” Browne said.
He said the greatest wealth of both Africa and the Caribbean is that of the young population and urged student exchanges, joint degree programmes, and shared research networks, which he said “can prepare us for the challenges of the future, from climate change to public health to technological innovation.
“An Africa–Caribbean academic network would allow our brightest minds to collaborate, innovate, and solve common problems together.”
The Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister said that without air and sea bridges, “our vision will remain little more than words.
“Connectivity is the glue that binds partnership into reality. Today, Africa has the strategic assets: Air Peace, Ghana Air and Ethiopian Airlines. The Caribbean has the will. Let us not delay further.
“Even one weekly flight can begin the process. If it requires subsidies from a coalition of our states, let us boldly make that investment. The cost of inaction is far higher than the price of a subsidized route. “
Browne said that the single flight will carry not only passengers but the promise of expanded trade, cultural exchange, tourism, and investment.
“It will link families divided by history and reconnect communities across the Atlantic. It will symbolize our determination to move beyond rhetoric to concrete action. If a coalition of states must subsidize it, let us do so.
“The symbolic and strategic value of that single flight will outweigh its costs. It will carry not just passengers, but possibilities for our collective advancement,” Browne told the summit, adding that “our ancestors endured bondage without choice.
“We, their descendants, now hold the power to choose. Will we remain complacent, waiting for validation from others? Or will we choose courage, charting our own destiny? Let us pledge here not only to speak of unity but to practice it; not only to dream of connectivity but to finance it; not only to demand reparations but to insist on them with one voice,” he said.
