Despite historical ties stretching back centuries, economic, social and cultural engagement between Africa and the Caribbean has remained remarkably limited. All that is set to change, however, as the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) accelerates its efforts to bridge the gap between the two regions as part of its "Global Africa" initiative.
Over the past few years the bank has sought to give meaning to the designation of the Caribbean as Africa's "Sixth Region," a concept embraced by the African Union to acknowledge the African diaspora as an integral part of the continent's future. Through financing, institutional partnerships and dedicated trade initiatives, the bank is working to transform the centuries-old connections between the two regions into active economic relationships.
Among the clearest examples of this strategy is its support for the expansion of the Silversands Resort in Grenada, part of a much broader effort to deepen trade, investment and people-to-people connections between Africa and the Caribbean. The bank views the Caribbean as a natural economic partner for Africa, linked by history and with enormous untapped commercial potential that it is determined to help unlock.
That view is widely held in the Caribbean, including by Dickson Mitchell, Grenada's prime minister: "We have historical and cultural affinity. It comes with enormous economic growth potential."
Originally published by African Business.