Preparations are underway for Guyana to host the second AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF23) that will see an anticipated 1,500 foreign delegates from over 100 countries later this month and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is assuring that Georgetown will be ready.
“Preparations are ongoing. We had one recce [reconnaissance] team and are expecting another. We were going to use the Marriott Hotel but that changed to the Arthur Chung Convention Centre because it is larger and allows for the breakout sessions… but we will be ready,” Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Elisabeth Harper who spearheads the event for MoFA, told the Sunday Stabroek.
A collaboration between African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Government of Guyana (GoG), the trade and investment forum will be held from October 30 to 31st and will also see in attendance, some 22 Heads of Government or their representatives.
Under the theme “Creating a Shared Prosperous Future”, Afreximbank says that the conference will focus on consolidating commercial collaboration between the Caribbean region and Africa, for increased inter-regional trade and investment; building on the successes of the inaugural edition that was held in Barbados last year.
When Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugh Todd had announced the hosting, he had said that, “Guyana looks forward to hosting the second AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum. We are keen to actively harness the potential of our economic relations as we build on the historic ties between Africa and the Caribbean.”
And for his part, President of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah had said that gauging by the success of the inaugural event held in Barbados, he believed that in Guyana there would be significant growth and opportunities between the African countries and those in the region.
The inaugural event welcomed over 1,267 delegates from 108 countries, including participants from 50 African countries, 13 Caribbean countries, and regions as far away as Oceania, a communique following the event had stated.
“Going by the impressive gains we have recorded in less than one year since ACTIF2022, we have every reason to look forward to a further deepening of commercial relationships between Africa and the Caribbean when we meet in Georgetown, Guyana. We are exceedingly grateful to the Government of Guyana for agreeing to host this important bridge-building Forum,” the Afreximbank president said.
The AfriCaribbean Trade and Invest-ment Forum was introduced in 2022 to enhance the growth of trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean, including promoting airlinks, tourism, technology transfer, financial stability, food security, industrialisation and cultural ties.
“There has been growing commercial cooperation between Africa and CARICOM supported by Afreximbank. Eleven CARICOM member countries are now participating States in the Bank and the Bank’s Board approved a limit of USD3 billion for Caribbean economies to enhance trade and investment opportunities between the two regions,” the bank says.
When the Stabroek News had interviewed the Afreximbank President in Ghana last June, he had said that with a regional branch to be opened in Barbados in July, the bank was looking forward to host the trade and investment forum in Guyana, even as he had underscored the importance of a US$1.5 million envelope it had opened to CARICOM.
“Eleven CARICOM States have so far joined the membership of the Bank through signatures of the Partnership Treaty. In a few weeks, we will formally launch the operations of the Bank’s Carib-bean Office in Bridgetown, Barbados. We are connecting African businesses with opportunities in the Caribbean and Caribbean businesses with opportunities in Africa,” Oramah stated.
“…Afreximbank has approved an amount of 1.5 billion US dollars to support CARICOM with plans to double that in the near future. We do these not because it is merely a nice thing to do but because a united Africa and the Caribbean represent a more potent force that can confront the exigencies of now and the challenges of tomorrow,” he added.
And when he had visited Guyana last year, Dr Oramah said that President Ali took him on a helicopter ride to give him a view of the fertile lands and potential for agriculture and other development opportunities this country has.
“We flew along the road that led all the way to Northern Brazil and I stopped at one of the rivers… Guyana is an agriculturist’s paradise. It has large expanses of green land, fertile lands, water and extension from the Amazon,” he expressed. “Then you have Suriname, almost the same thing. It doesn’t necessarily mean that every country must be producing what they eat, or consume. In the context of CARICOM, in the context of a Common Market, one part of a country or some countries can produce and supply others as part of the value chain. And some processing can be done elsewhere… and so on and so forth. So I believe in CARICOM there should be no food issues because you have enough conditions; land, water etc., to be able to produce and you have that fresh water to do the agriculture,” he added.
