Ghana Proposes Caribbean Inclusion in Africa’s Free Trade Zone

Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama said Monday he will push to extend Africa’s continental free trade area to the Caribbean when he assumes the African Union chairmanship next year – a move that could give Jamaican exporters duty-free access to a market of 1.4 billion people and roughly US$3 trillion in combined GDP.

Speaking alongside Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness during a state visit, Mahama proposed folding Caribbean nations into the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the world’s largest free trade bloc by membership since its 2021 launch.

Mahama also pledged to fast-track Ghana’s parliamentary approval of a bilateral air services agreement, paving the way for direct flights between Accra and Montego Bay. Holness called the flights one of the visit’s most concrete deliverables, saying they could unlock tourism and investment from Africa’s growing middle class.

Both leaders also flagged plans to link Jamaica’s Port of Kingston with West African logistics hubs, aiming to streamline trade routes across the Atlantic.