GEORGETOWN, Guyana – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, says there has been progress in trade and investment between Africa and the 15-member regional integration grouping following the commitment given by the leaders during their first CARICOM-Africa summit in 2021.
Dr. Carla Barnett (Photo courtesy of CARICOM)In a virtual address to the annual Global Africa People-to-People Forum 2023 held over the last weekend, Barnett described the inaugural summit in 2001 as a “landmark occasion” allowing both regions to engage on matters of mutual interest and determine the direction for deeper cooperation.
She said that the summit was held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which vaccine hoarding by high-income countries “threatened our ability to effectively curtail the effects of the virus on our public health system”
But she told the Forum that was held under the theme “ Building on visionary initiatives: Reflections on the inaugural CARICOM-Africa Summit.,” that “today, we are particularly proud of the collaboration between Rwanda and two CARICOM member states – Barbados and Guyana – on a pharmaceutical production program to help ensure adequate supplies of critical pharmaceuticals for both our regions”.
Barnett said that at the first summit, Africa and CARICOM also examined matters such as trade and investment promotion, development finance, climate change, mass media and forging increased people-to-people contact.
“CARICOM and Africa have made progress in trade and investment relations with strong support from Afreximbank. A formal partnership has been established, and the Caribbean headquarters is scheduled to be opened in Barbados in a few weeks’ time,” Barnett said.
She said this will allow CARICOM countries to access financing for trade promotion in a range of sectors.
“The possibility of utilising the Pan-African payment and settlement system as a method of intra-regional payments within the Caribbean is also being explored,” she said, adding that as a a follow-up to the summit’s discussions on strengthening trade and investment, “we welcomed last year’s First Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum, convened in Barbados under the theme “One People. One Destiny. Uniting and Reimagining Our Future”.
Barnett said that the region is looking forward to the second Forum to be held in Guyana in October this year under the theme “Creating A Shared Prosperous Future”.
She reminded that the 2021 summit mandated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the CARICOM and the African Union Secretariats to allow for ongoing technical dialogue.
“We expect that signing ceremony to take place in short order, setting the foundation for other commitments to be pursued,” she said noting that President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, had attended the recently held CARICOM summit in Trinidad and Tobago a sa special guest.
Barnett said that the cooperation between the two regions in the international sphere also remains robust.
“CARICOM continues to collaborate with African states in the context of the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States, the Commonwealth and the United Nations. In the past, we strongly supported and were present in the anti-apartheid struggle with African states to establish a Permanent Memorial at the UN for Victims of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
“CARICOM continues to observe the International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024, which recognizes the need to strengthen national, regional and international cooperation, and ensure full and equal participation by people of African descent in all aspects of society, as agreed under United Nations General Assembly Resolution 68/237,” she said, noting that of the 10 members of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, established in August 2021, two are from CARICOM member states, namely The Bahamas and Sr. Lucia.
“The reality, however, is that the decade is fast closing. We must take stock of what progress has been made, and crucially, work together to establish what more must be done and how they will be executed.”
She said with respect to the issue of reparations, the groundwork was laid long ago, iand during the historic first CARICOM-Africa summit, the leaders agreed to advance the claim for reparations within the processes of the United Nations at that time.
“We must continue our efforts in this manner, and we must also increase the awareness and significance of the reparatory justice agenda to our respective people,” she said, urging closer and more formal collaboration between the CARICOM Reparations Commission and relevant African Union structures.
Barnett said diplomatic representation to cement relations between states has increased, as several CARICOM member states have now established diplomatic representation in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, and South Africa.
“Similarly, some African Diplomatic Missions have been established within CARICOM member states. I encourage the continued appointment of such ambassadors or special envoys, to deepen outreach, and to identify and act on specific opportunities.
“It is evident that this partnership between CARICOM and Africa is making progress on some matters to which heads committed at the first CARICOM-Africa summit, but much more work needs to be done to establish concrete and consistent connections between the Community and Africa on several agreed areas”.
She said these include cooperation in mass media and information sharing between both regions; establishing a CARICOM-Africa Commission; increasing contact between the people of the two regions, “as direct engagement will enhance our appreciation for our history, our cultures and how we collaboratively chart our partnerships on matters that will redound to our benefit.
“All of this would be helped by convenient transportation links, which itself requires significant planning and investment,” she told the Forum.
