THE third edition of the Africaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) which will serve as a platform to strengthen trade between Africa and the Caribbean, is also expected to foster deals and collaborations for businesses in various sectors across the two regions.

This is according to Regional Chief Operations Officer at the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) CARICOM office, Okechukwu Ihejirika, who told the Guyana Chronicle in a recent interview that opportunities will be endless for the Guyanese and other Caribbean businesses that will be present at the forum.

This year’s forum will be held alongside the Afreximbank’s annual general meeting from June 12 to June 14 in The Bahamas and will feature Caribbean-focused business, trade and investment matters inclusive of securing investments, business opportunities and the potential of an Afri-Caribbean Free Trade agreement.

Ihejirika told this newspaper that specifically for the Guyanese private sector, attending the forum will serve as an opportunity to consolidate on the gains of last year’s ACTIF which was held in Guyana where several agreements were discussed and contacts made.

He went on to add that for those who missed the opportunity to take part in the forum last year and benefit from the deals, it is not too late to do. He added that participation will also serve as an opportunity to interact and gain technical knowledge in various areas that have been perfected in the African region.

“Apart from the huge networking and business potential that this brings, there is also a rich array of discussion topics that they can take advantage of to learn about trends, to learn about what is topical and to learn about what needs to be done in fostering the relationship between the two regions,” he added.

Further to this, he indicated that Guyana also has a lot to gain as there are plenty of similarities with what is happening currently in Guyana as compared to what has happened in a few African countries.
Against this backdrop, he said that in Guyana, during the second edition of the ACTIF, several deals were signed including with the bank, and a lot of contacts were made which he added is part of the reason for the hosting of the forum and the bank’s general meeting in the Caribbean this year.

“A lot of deals were signed physically, which included the bank, and a lot of contacts were also made…we are actually talking to a couple of those [businesses] who made first contact at the event who have now decided to forge business partnerships ahead through creating joint ventures together to enhance the specific area of interest,” said Ihejirika.

This, he iterated, is what the event is all about; bringing people together to find good investment opportunities across the African and the CARICOM region. He added that the initiative has yielded reasonable fruit.

He said: “This is the first time the Afreximbank’s [annual] meeting is being held in the Caribbean region so this is the first time we are seeing this number of people drawn from different regions of Africa coming into the Caribbean… They are coming for the purpose of doing business because they have interest in doing business in the Caribbean and they have interest [in seeing] how they can partner with parties in the Caribbean. They have interest [in seeing] what they also can learn from the Caribbean so this will be a huge opportunity for the Caribbean to take advantage of that.”

With this, he added that while the business community will be represented at this year’s forum, several heads of state are on board to participate and speak at the event.

“So, that is everybody who makes decisions from policymakers to those who are already on the ground and it makes sense that people take huge advantage of the possibility and the value that this brings to the table,” he added.

Against this backdrop, it was noted that persons interested in attending the forum set to kick off next week, can register at 2024.afreximbankevents.com.