By Shamar Meusa in Nassau, Bahamas
WITH talks ongoing to increase trade and partnerships between Africa and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it has been said that a multifaceted approach is necessary to move towards establishing an AfriCaribbean Free Trade Agreement.
This formed part of the discussions on the second day of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s Annual Meeting, which is being held alongside the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum at the Baha Mar Convention Centre in Nassau, Bahamas.
During a plenary session held on Thursday themed, “Towards an AfriCaribbean Free Trade Agreement: The pathway to self-determination”, both CARICOM and African leaders discussed what it takes to move towards the realisation of this.
According to Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Albert Ramdin, the challenge in these free trade agreements is the willingness, from the political level, which is then hindered by obstacles at the technical level.
“There must be a political will to remove obstacles to trade [and] trade barriers… It’s not an easy task; we have to translate that political will into that technical resolve-oriented, resolution-oriented approach,” Ramdin said.
To push towards making free trade a reality, he added that there must also be a connection between the people and further connecting Africa and the Caribbean, even as he noted that there are barely any direct connections as it relates to travel between the two regions.
If this is to be looked into and increased, the foreign minister opined that this will make trade and investment flows easier.
Sharing a similar sentiment was Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite, who indicated that a comprehensive approach, including all sides, is required.
She noted that there are multiple stakeholders involved, including the private sector, civil society and government, and as such, the roles of each of these entities must be defined clearly.
Further to this, she said that the partnership should address issues like the lack of direct trading routes, and the flow of goods.
“There is no direct flight; there are visa restrictions. We don’t have direct trading routes, however, this is what the partnership is supposed to be doing, opening up the trading routes, developing market access so that there’s free flow of goods either is through the sea, so we build seaports, airports, roads network infrastructure, digital infrastructure for communication to happen. All of those infrastructure has to be developed,” the Nigerian Minister said.
Against this backdrop, Uzoka-Anite highlighted that while there are several trade policies across the two regions, these need to be harmonised so as to ensure that they align to foster the integration and trade between Africa and the Caribbean Community.
Meanwhile, Director-General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Dr. Didacus Jules, who was also on the panel, stated that when looking at the opportunities, the current value of trade between CARICOM countries and Africa stands at approximately US$1.5 billion.
Giving background, he indicated that total exports from CARICOM countries amount to approximately US$18.8 billion and Africa’s share only represents 4.4 per cent of that.
“Just in terms of the opportunity to change the geopolitical and economic nexus, there are huge opportunities there,” he expressed.
Dr Jules too expressed that beyond the political will and from the interventions taken there is still a great deal of work that needs to be done to put in place the architecture and machinery that will ultimately make an Afri-Caribbean Free Trade Agreement work smoothly.
