There is an air of expectation that the September 1-3 Africa/Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) will have the effect of having two regions of the world possessed of strong historical and cultural links continue to inch their way, collectively, towards unprecedented levels of commercial and trading ties in the period ahead.
ACTIF, which will be staged in Barbados, will be viewed as the latest testing ground on which to determine whether or not recent high-profile contact between the two regions has begun to build a sufficiently strong foundation for the genuine strengthening of trade and economic ties.
A common interest in the oil and gas sector has witnessed a flurry of high-level exchange visits between senior government officials from Guyana and Ghana. These have afforded opportunity for more expansive exchanges on broadening relations into areas that go beyond oil and gas and next month’s ACTIF event in Bridgetown ought to provide some indication as to whether this objective can be realized. Barbados, meanwhile, earlier this year, undertook an exploratory shipment of local products to Ghana which, presumably, is intended to be a precursor to establishing more robust trading links with the West African country.
With countries in both South America and Africa seeking, simultaneously, to make incremental transformative economic breakthroughs through their respective oil and gas sectors there has been, in recent times, a flurry of high-level official visits between Guyana and Ghana, particularly.
What is being described as “the inextricable link between the two regions,” the Caribbean and Africa, has been prominently reported in the media here in the Caribbean recently. Reporting has include references to opportunities for trade and investment collaboration between The Caribbean and Africa including the role that Africa can play as a huge potential new market for non-oil goods and services from the region.
Recent bilateral exchanges between the Caribbean and Africa have also focused on, among other things, establishing a regime of direct flights between the Caribbean and Africa.
