Pointing skywards: Caribbean-Africa relations are on the rise – INTERVIEW

Pan Africanism, business opportunities in Africa and common political alignment with the continent are top of mind for the grouping of Caribbean states known as the Caribbean Community or CARICOM.

This after Barbados opened diplomatic missions in Kenya and Ghana, according to Donna Michelle Forde, Assistant-Secretary General, Foreign and Community Relations of the Caribbean Community Secretariat. She explained the significance to bird story agency’s Patrick Nelle

By Patrick Nelle, bird story agency

When Barbados opened a diplomatic mission in Kenya in June, at the behest of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the event was portrayed as evidence of a blossoming relationship between the Caribbean Community members and Africa.

Kenya and Barbados signed bilateral agreements, with similar agreements between CARICOM and other African states on the cards and the first-ever AfriCaribbean Investment and Trade Forum (ACTIF2022) was held n Barbados in early September.

CARICOM, which advances economic integration and a coordinated foreign policy among Caribbean states, includes as members Jamaïca, Haïti, Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Belize among others.

Strengthened Africa-CARICOM ties offer alignment on common interests like climate change responses, while the  “blue economy” is seen as a common enabler of economic prosperity, job creation and food security.

To find out more about this recent flurry of activity, I spoke with  Ambassador Donna Michelle Forde is Assistant-Secretary General, Foreign and Community Relations, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, after ACTIF2022.

The interview has been edited for length.

Question:
What is driving CARICOM and Africa to strengthen ties and why now?

Answer:
Ties between Africa and the Caribbean, predate the independence era. The Pan-Africa Movement united African and Caribbean activists in their belief in the shared values, and interests of Africa and its Diaspora.

There has always been the thinking among CARICOM and, I believe, African intellectuals, that these shared values and interests ought to be unified in a more purposeful way. The efforts of Jamaica’s Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Trinidad and Tobago’s CLR James and George Padmore are historical records. George Padmore was instrumental in the 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress and he also served as a mentor of Ghana’s first post-Independence leader Kwame Nkrumah. Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, the father of Kenya’s independence, were leading proponents of Pan-Africanism. With the release from the colonial yoke of colonialism, the historic fathers of independence also exchanged visits.

CARICOM nationals also supported the transition process of the newly independent African nations. I can think of Barbadian intellectuals George Lamming and Kamau Brathwaite who on their graduation from British universities headed to newly independent African nations to contribute to the nation-building process.

The early days of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) played a role in bridging the geographical gap. CARICOM leaders were strong allies in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. CARICOM’s activism on the international stage in the anti-apartheid struggle further united CARICOM and Africa

Africans warmly welcomed Jamaica’s reggae icon Bob Marley and Guyana’s Walter Rodney of Guyana and still recognize their contribution to the struggle. There is also the Rastafarian movement, particularly in Eastern Africa, and the influence of calypso and reggae in the African movement. This is clearly a case of the culture coming full circle. But it is also a testament to the strong cultural exchanges between Africa and the Caribbean.

In more recent times, CARICOM member states have been building efforts at investment and business and technical cooperation links – for example, in oil and gas. And at the institutional level, over the years, CARICOM Secretariat has had various interactions with counterparts from various African regional groupings.

But yes – there has been an intensification of engagements largely occasioned by the recognition that it is time to take the logical next steps and build the institutional frameworks to formalize our engagements. Prime Ministers Mottley and Rowley made recent visits to the African continent and the Presidents of Ghana and Kenya have also visited the region.

We are natural allies. We are family. And our leaders are aggressively strengthening and diversifying relationships by giving new life to historical and familial ties.

Question:
What mutual benefits could be expected from extended cooperation between CARICOM and African countries?

Answer:
The CARICOM Member States and African countries engage bilaterally, and within multilateral frameworks of the Bretton Woods Institutions, the UN, the Commonwealth, and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). These frameworks have tended to be the primary vehicles for engagement.

You would have witnessed what could be perceived as increased diplomatic engagement between individual African and the CARICOM member states. But for a long time now there has been a CARICOM diplomatic presence on the African continent. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago have Diplomatic Missions in Nigeria and South Africa. And at one time, Jamaica also had a Diplomatic Mission in Ethiopia, and Trinidad and Tobago had one in Uganda.

Barbados is the latest CARICOM country to establish a footprint on the continent having recently opened missions in Accra, Ghana and in Nairobi, Kenya, taking advantage of office space provided by the government of Kenya for the establishment of a CARICOM diplomatic office in Nairobi. And most, if not all of our countries, are supported by a wide network of honorary consuls representing individual CARICOM countries in various African nations or representing African interests in the CARICOM.

There is also discussion among the CARICOM leadership about sharing space in existing diplomatic missions to allow for cost savings. Such an approach would create openings for those CARICOM countries not presently represented on the African continent.

Question:
What are the areas of cooperation or what concrete projects are being conducted?

Answer:
The first CARICOM-Africa Summit, which took place on 7 September 2021, provided the opportunity for African and CARICOM leaders to collectively reaffirm their call for increased access to vaccine production within the African Continent and within the Caribbean.

They also called for joint advocacy for a waiver of specific articles of the TRIPS Agreement on Intellectual Rights Protection for the technologies needed as well as enhanced debt relief measures, concessional access to finance, an innovative approach to debt sustainability and broader fiscal space.

Our leaders were unanimous in their calls for increased trade and investment highlighting the potential for increased exchanges in health, tourism, sport, culture and education and enhanced people–to–people connections. Services, particularly cultural services, are a potential gateway for increasing awareness of business and investment opportunities on both Sides.

The media products of the Caribbean and of the African nations are a major part of these offerings. And with the supporting infrastructure can lead to significant exchanges. Exchanges of professional services on both sides can also lead to increased business opportunities. We are quite excited about the prospects that can emerge from the First AfriCaribbean Investment Conference held in Bridgetown, Barbados last week.

And CARICOM is especially anxious to see the entry into force of a Memorandum of Understanding with the AU and an accompanying Action Plan that will include concrete projects, timelines and budgets.

Some of the areas earmarked for collaboration include a Joint AU-CARICOM platform to facilitate the flow of information, news and collective artistic expressions. To institutionalize cooperation between African Nations, CARICOM and the Diaspora, 7 September has been designated as Africa-CARICOM Day.

Question:
Any obstacles on the road to building solid cooperation between the two regions?

Answer:
One obstacle is the absence of an institutional framework to follow up on the commitments made at the Summit. CARICOM’s Secretary General, Dr Carla Barnett, emphasized this in her opening remarks.

Out of the first Africa-CARICOM Summit, our leaders directed the AUC and CARICOM Secretariat to commence the process of institutionalizing the partnership and facilitating the adoption of the governance constitutive status at the second summit.

They also directed the Chairperson of the AU Commission and the CARICOM Secretary-General to conclude the MOU between the parties. The AU Commission has received CARICOM’s proposal and we expect the process will be complete in short order.

Direct transportation links have also been a hindrance. However, there have been several interesting initiatives broached at the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Conference last week, which are designed to address these challenges.

Question:
How do you assess (developments) one year after the maiden CARICOM Africa Leaders’ Summit?

Answer:
CARICOM is keen to advance the relationship and at all levels, there are active internal processes. We recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done.

There is a need for much more information exchange and engagement at the technical and official levels to better understand the institutional and functional frameworks on both sides to ensure the adequate and effective implementation of all the various mandates.

Question:
Could we expect air and sea connections linking the two regions?

Answer:
CARICOM and African leaders have committed to a Multilateral Air Services Agreement as well as to the conclusion of a Double Taxation Agreement and to review visa requirements.

There are also active discussions about regular weekly direct flights between Africa and individual CARICOM countries.

There have been charters with the CARICOM member states. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a charter flight operating between Jamaica and Nigeria.

In 2019 Barbados signed an Air Services Agreement with Ghana paving the way for direct flights between the two countries. Barbados and Ghana also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Air Services in April 2022. In this hemisphere, there are already direct flights between Africa and Brazil. That is a link upon which we can build.

Jamaica has also signed an MOU with Namibia and other agreements signed with Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. The intention is to target tourist markets in Africa and the Middle East. Barbados and Rwanda are also in talks for regular direct flights. There could be spin-off benefits to the rest of the region. I have seen news reports of plans for a new airline, Antigua Airways, which if all goes well, should be in operation by year-end.

There is every reason to be optimistic!

Thank you.

bird story agency



 

Editor

devage.co.zw