-calls for urgent action, says technological capability of both nations needs boost

TRADE opportunities between Caribbean and African states are tremendous, but leaders must first examine existing trade barriers to further foster stronger collaborative ties.

This is according to Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, who on Saturday told hundreds of African leaders at the African Prosperity Dialogues in Ghana that there are vast, untapped opportunities that can help to stimulate advanced trade between the two regions. But as of now, trade between the two continents are not ideal.

In fact, according to 2020 statistics, less than 0.1 per cent of Africa’s exports are destined for Caribbean countries. Exports from Africa to the Caribbean have been trending downwards since 2015.

“Trade between Africa and the Caribbean is highly concentrated around primary minerals; more than 40 per cent of the Caribbean exports to Africa are chemicals. These are things we need to fix. The opportunities are there for massive increases in the trade between Africa and the Caribbean,” President Ali said.

The Guyanese Head of State, who is also the current Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), suggested that leaders examine the existing trade barriers.

“We have to fix the issues of transport and logistics, we have to fix the rules between ourselves that will help to stimulate trade and advance trade between our countries. There are tremendous opportunities,” he said.

President Ali noted that while the Caribbean’s population might seem small, there is a massive market for trade.

For example he said: “Aquaculture, the size of the aquaculture market in the US [United States] alone is $4 billion annually and Guyana is among the most competitive country when it comes to aquaculture and the production of fish products for the United States market. What we can give is access to [a] market over 400 million people in which we have trade arrangement and trade agreement.”

He added: “You have the know-how, you have the technology, we gave the land, [and] we have the competitive advantage.” He then asked: “what if we merge?”

He noted that leaders now have to embrace new opportunities and look at the traditional areas.

Last November Guyana hosted the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum where the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) signalled its intention to support the Caribbean in its efforts to enhance its transport infrastructure.

Afreximbank’s President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Benedict Oramah, had said that the bank has already approved US$1.5 billion in funding to enable member states of CARICOM to ratify the Partnership Agreement with Afreximbank, enabling states to tap into the bank’s various financial instruments.

The financing institution at that time had begun the process of establishing its first regional headquarters in Barbados, where the first AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum was held in 2022.

Afreximbank is also in the process of developing the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre in Barbados and once fully established, regional trade between African and Caribbean nations is expected to grow exponentially.

With this major initiative already on the cards, President Ali reiterated that there is still massive opportunities that could be explored.

DIGITIZATION, AI, TECHNOLOGY

Turning his attention to technology, President Ali noted that there is also a need for the regions to advance their technological capabilities.

“I want to recommend that we seriously examine the issue of technology, AI, digitisation and robotics. These are going to be the challenges of the future …we cannot speak about prosperity if we do not start addressing these issues now.”

He noted that both the Caribbean and African regions have always been behind.

“We are always playing the catch-up game: when they went ahead with industrialisation, we catching up to become competitive …now the world is heading apace with digitisation and AI,” he said, before adding:
“Unless we confront these challenges now, unless we are able to build the structures and institutions that allow us to confront these challenges, now, we will continue to play the catch-up game.”

The African Prosperity Dialogues is a three-day conference. It concluded Saturday and was centred on the necessity of putting up specific recommendations that will enable Africans to achieve prosperity on the continent.

The event highlighted the special opportunity that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers Africa and the people to break free from the widespread perceptions of poverty, unemployment, and underdevelopment with which the continent is so often associated.

It is organised in close collaboration with the AFCFTA Secretariat, which is based in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

Dr. Ali was also bestowed with the Global Africa Leadership Award while in Ghana for his strong and transformational leadership since assuming the presidential office in 2020.