The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), a pan-African multilateral financial institution, has opened its maiden Caribbean Community (CARICOM) office in Barbados with the aim of expanding Africa-Caribbean trade and investment relations.
In December 2022, the Afreximbank board approved US$1.5 billion in funding to enable member states of the Caribbean Community that had ratified the partnership agreement with Afreximbank to tap in to the bank’s financial instruments.
As of July 2023, 11 out of the 15 CARICOM member states had signed the partnership with Afreximbank.
The financing will be targeted at supporting critical economic sectors aimed at boosting the development of trade-enabling infrastructure, as well as enhancing trade and investments between Africa and the CARICOM member states, while providing support to small and medium-sized enterprises.
The bank has also committed to increase the credit limit to US$3 billion.
Benefits
The Afreximbank CARICOM Office will support the implementation of the partnership agreement between Afreximbank and CARICOM member states aimed at expanding trade between the two regions.
This move cements Afreximbank’s efforts to promote and develop trade between Africa and the Caribbean, in line with its Diaspora Strategy and the African Union’s designation of the African diaspora as Africa’s sixth region.
Speaking at the event, Benedict Oramah, the president and chairman of the board of Afreximbank, said that the establishment of the Afreximbank CARICOM office remains critical to facilitating operations of the bank in the Caribbean Community.
He said it will bring Afreximbank’s products and initiatives closer to the business community and ensure that the bank rapidly ramps up operations to promote stronger relations with the governments in the region towards the pursuit of mutually identified priorities.
“With the launch of the CARICOM office, we can look forward to a smooth implementation of trade and access to finance initiatives, broader business origination across the CARICOM member states and more impactful results from our partnership.
“We also look forward to Afreximbank subsidiaries finding homes in the CARICOM, especially the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), PAPSS and AfrexInsure. Over time, CARICOM and African financial systems will become better integrated for the benefit of our people,” Professor Oramah said.
For her part, the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, said that Africa has been a loyal friend to the Caribbean, referring to the assistance Africa offered the Caribben through the African Medical Supplies Platform at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She recalled how Africa opened its doors to the Caribbean Community and facilitated access to equipment, therapeutics and, ultimately, vaccines, with the payment mechanism facilitated through Afreximbank.
Proud moment
Mottley also hailed the establishment of the Afreximbank CARICOM office, noting that this new office is the culmination of promises made by the bank during the first AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, held in Barbados in 2022.
“This is not just a proud moment historically, but it is also a move that makes sense that will benefit our regional private sector and our regional state-owned corporations who need access to a more empathetic, reasonable bank and one willing to take risks that would allow our people to move and grow to the next level,” she stated.
Present at the event were Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Phillip Pierre, the prime minister of St Lucia, Dickon Mitchell, the prime minister of Grenada, Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria and chairman of the Intra-African Trade Advisory Council, as well as other dignitaries from Africa and the Caribbean community.
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