African and Caribbean nations press ahead with new partnership

An Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Financing Facility could be on the cards, according to President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Benedict Oramah.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Oramah said that it was agreed in principle that the African Export-Import Bank will put in place an initial amount of US$250 million in the facility.

“We will put that facility in place. We know that if they (banks and companies) want to do business among themselves, there is financing to support it. We believe that is the first hurdle we must cross. And so, we are going to go back and get our board to…look at it and consider it as quickly as possible.”

The president said he had “excellent” meetings with the private sector, and expected Afreximbank to be the bridge to link businesses in the Caribbean and Africa.

He added that there was a lot of interest in getting started because the businesses were seeing the opportunity and urgency of forging ahead.

“We just finished meetings with the business people and we had meetings with the banking community here yesterday. So everybody is in a hurry to get things moving. There is already some business going on; we need to capitalize on them so that we can give impetus to this.”

He added that there is a need to promote tourism between Africa and the Caribbean in a direct manner, so it’s not that Africans come to the Caribbean in a roundabout way.

“We have to create direct relations that promote this. We have to find ways of also creating opportunities for investment for African businesses who want to invest in the Caribbean, and also for Caribbean businesses who want to invest in Africa”, he stated.

Oramah expressed the view that Africa and the Caribbean must begin with the low-hanging fruits and then work towards the more difficult areas.

He suggested that air and shipping links must be opened and logistics facilities developed. He pointed out Africa was working to diversify its economy and would also work to assist in varying that of the Caribbean region.

He said his visit to Barbados was to ensure there was improvement in trade and investment opportunities.

“We cannot continue the old way because the old way has not worked for us. We have to find new ways, and finding new ways must be founded in our roots…that bind us together as brothers and sisters,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, the president said student exchanges would be promoted.

“Afreximbank will be taking some Caribbean students on internships every year. We are also discussing how to attach some young entrepreneurs from the Caribbean to big African corporations and vice versa,” he disclosed. -(CMC)