Antigua and Barbuda PM Supports Afreximbank’s Call For Commission to Deliver Global Africa Initiative

ST.  GEORGE’S, Grenada– Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne,  Monday, supported a call for  the creation a commission that becomes fully responsible for delivering on the Africa-Caribbean and the broader Global Africa initiative.

President and chairman of the Board of Directors of Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Professor Benedict O. Oramah (Left) and Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda (CMC Photo)President and chairman of the Board of Directors of Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Professor Benedict O. Oramah, made the call at the opening of the two-day AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2025) taking place here.

“Such a commission should be sovereign, but still supported by Afreximbank, the CARICOM, and the African Union,” said Oramah, who pioneered Afreximbank’s expansion to the Caribbean during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the region was able to procure vaccines.

“This move will give more focus to the initiative, reduce the administrative burden on Afreximbank and create an environment for innovation,” he told the event, which was also attended by several Caribbean prime ministers, including the host head of government, Dickon Mitchell.

He said the proposed commission should advance the socio-cultural, creatives, economic, and trade agenda of the Global Africa initiative.

“It is such a commission that can more directly promote collaboration in education, science and technology, trade information, sports, other aspects of the creative industry, etc.,” Oramah said.

He said that in an era of declining development assistance flows to African and Caribbean countries, coupled with the exit of international banks, and the imperative to build the regions’ economies using resources and institutions from the two regions, Africa and the Caribbean must develop their institutions that are capable of financing their development.

Oramah said that to support the technological advancement of African and Caribbean people, Afreximbank is supporting the P.J. Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy at the University of the West Indies to establish an Africa-Caribbean hub dedicated to the pioneering development of generative artificial intelligence.

“This initiative is not merely about technology; it is about harnessing the untapped potential of our regions—our rich natural resources, our brilliant minds, and our burgeoning digital frameworks.

“For too long, Africa and the Caribbean have been sidelined in the global narrative of technological advancement, particularly in the realm of cutting-edge AI.”

Afreximbank has also committed to “forging an ecosystem that not only stimulates economic growth but also integrates our unique challenges and opportunities into the global technology landscape”.

In the area of the creatives, through the Creative Africa Nexus, the bank has made strategic investments in fashion, film, music, culinary arts, and storytelling, showcasing Caribbean talent on global stages.

In this regard, Afreximbank is working with Studio 327 to develop a US$24 million creative training and film production programme for OECS countries.

Oramah noted that last year, the bank sponsored a historic musical collaboration called One Drum, bringing together Olodum, of Brazil, Stephen Marley, of Jamaica, Flavour, of Nigeria, Maphoriza, and other legends, reinforcing the regions’ cultural ties.

Afreximbank also supported Caribbean designers and brands, such as The Cloth from Trinidad and Tobago, Margaux Wong from Guyana, and Keneea Linton and Yolvinta from Jamaica,  enabling their participation in prestigious international fashion shows, including fashion weeks in Paris, Portugal, and Tokyo.

Through the CANEX Book Factory being implemented in partnership with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adiche, Afreximbank have also championed an initiative to nurture Caribbean literary talents.

The inaugural creative writing workshop in August 2024 in Ghana, welcomed emerging writers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Kitts and Nevis, nurturing new voices in global storytelling.

Additionally, through CANEX Weekend, Afreximbank has provided Caribbean chefs like Chef Natasha De Bourg from Trinidad and Tobago and Chef Davisha Burrowes from Barbados with opportunities to present Afro-Caribbean cuisine at some of the world’s leading culinary showcases, Oramah said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Browne’s endorsement of the proposal came during a presidential panel of regional and African political and economic leaders that discussed  “New World Order as an Opportunity for Strengthening Africa-Caribbean Trade, Investment, and Cultural Relations”.

ACTIF2025, which is sponsored by Afreximbank and hosted by the Grenada government under the theme “Resilience and Transformation Enhancing Africa-Caribbean Economic Cooperation in an Era of Global Uncertainty”.

It follows similar forums first held in Barbados in 2022, and then in Guyana and the Bahamas each of the following year.

This year’s forum focuses on charting a unified Africa-Caribbean free trade area, strengthening the Africa-Caribbean Business Council, stimulating the creative economy; and, opening up the skies and ocean.

Browne told the panel that ACTIF “requires active action.

“And I want to make the point here that we can’t allow this initiative to die, cannot become a talk shop, and the proposal to establish a commission, I think it’s an excellent idea, and we should establish a commission as soon as possible, but the commission should not be limited to bureaucrats and technocrats.”

He said that Oramah’s proposed commission should have “some political involvement, political direction, to make sure that we can get quick action to achieve at least some of the low-hanging fruits, so that we can achieve this integration between Africa and the Caribbean”.

The Antiguan prime minister said Africa and the Caribbean know “exactly what the problems are.

“We know, for example, that we do not have the infrastructure to move people, to move goods, but I believe that we have the capacity so to do and I’m hoping that we can have a strong partnership between the public and private sectors in which we could utilize not only ideas, but also funding in order to create sustaining air and ceilings between Africa and the Caribbean.”

He said that ultimately, ACTIF will not be successful if Africa and the Caribbean are unable to move goods and people.

CARICOM and African leaders are slated to meet in Ethiopia on September 7 for the Africa–CARICOM Heads of Government Summit and Browne expressed hope that the African and CARICOM leaders can agree to establish the air and sea links between both regions.

“In fact, perhaps we could start a study from now to determine exactly how to position those air and sea links and the necessary investments,” Browne said.

“I believe that Afreximbank could provide some seed money for this initiative, but we need urgent action. And within CARICOM, we’ve been discussing getting our own vessels to establish our own sea links, but perhaps there could be a broader involvement involving Africa, in which we can move goods from Africa to the Caribbean, and that those very vessels could also move goods within the region. So we can increase inter-regional trade as well,” Browne said.

He said there are a lot of opportunities for both regions to exploit.

“And when you look at the geopolitical challenges today, we, obviously, now have to become architects of our own development. And instead of operating these extractive economies in which our natural resources are being extracted for the benefit of the global north, I believe that we have to invest more in our own development,” he said.