4th Annual Afri-Caribbean Trade & Investment Forum

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VIRTUAL REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, IMMEDIATE PAST VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE FOURTH ANNUAL AFRICARIBBEAN TRADE AND INVESTMENT FORUM IN ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA ON THE 28TH OF JULY, 2025

PROTOCOLS

Your Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, first, let me thank you, President Benedict Orama, GCON, for the kind invitation to make these remarks and to congratulate you on the remarkable success of the 32nd Annual General Meeting of the Bank in Abuja in June and your preferment to the rank of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is your vision and hard work that has made a real discussion of the prospects of Afro-Caribbean economic collaboration possible today. Well done, indeed.

It is for me a singular honour to join you all today at this pivotal forum, one that speaks not just to trade and investment, but to our shared destiny as peoples of the African and Caribbean regions. In an era that is marked by turbulence, from economic shocks to climate extremes, resilience and transformation are not mere buzzwords, they are imperatives.

Some may ask, perhaps quietly, why does Africa need the Caribbean? After all, the Caribbean, with a population of just over 45 million people, may seem modest compared to Africa’s 1.4 billion people. But the answer seems to me to be quite clear, size is not a measure of significance, strategy is.

The Caribbean is strategic; Africa and the Caribbean are natural partners, we are family, bound by history, culture, struggle and spirit. From Accra to Kingston,  Dakar to Port of Spain, our peoples share rhythms, share their arts and a resilient heritage forged in resistance and creativity.

This cultural kinship is not a sentimental relic,  it is a geopolitical asset, a platform for solidarity and cooperation in the global forum.  From the United Nations General Assembly to the World Trade Organisation and the many climate summits, our shared African ancestry positions the Caribbean as Africa’s sixth region,  a status that is now recognised by the African Union. This bond must now be activated, not just in the history books or music festivals, but in investment, in trade, in technology and policy innovation.

First is location; Geography too is destiny. The Caribbean lies at the heart of the Americas, within shipping reach of North, Central and South America.

For African firms, this makes the Caribbean a launchpad to US and Latin American markets, a transshipment hub for the Atlantic trade and a partner in creating logistics and digital corridors that shorten the distance between our continents. As the world fragments into protectionist blocks and supply chains recalibrate, proximity matters more than ever. The Caribbean can help Africa diversify, risk and reach new shores.

Also, the Caribbean today houses a financial and services powerhouse. Several Caribbean nations, the Baidas, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, punch above their weight in financial and professional services.  From offshore investment vehicles, to insurance, to arbitration and hospitality excellence,  the Caribbean can be a services ally for African enterprises and governments.

Indeed, Afroexim’s decision to establish a presence in Bridgetown is no coincidence, it is a sign that the Caribbean is more than a destination, it is an enabler of global trade  and finance.

Then there is our shared vulnerability, the climate crisis, presenting an opportunity for a shared voice. Caribbean states are among the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions. Rising seas, droughts, hurricanes and floods are no longer mere seasonal events, they are existential threats. But in this crisis lies a shared agenda, joint advocacy for climate  justice and loss and damage financing, shared investments in renewable energy, resilient infrastructure and blue economy projects, a common front in shaping and reshaping the global financial architecture, from SDR allocations and reallocations to multilateral lending terms.

Today, we can make the case that vulnerability is not a weakness, but a reason for priority in global resource allocation. And of course, there are also our natural synergies in culture, in tourism and the creative economy. We are two of the most culturally rich regions on the face of the earth.

The world dances to our drums, eats our food, reads our poets and flocks to our beaches. It is time to do more together, building joint tourism circuits, co-investing  in creative content, exporting African films to Caribbean cinemas and Caribbean music to African airwaves. Let us build Afro-Caribbean cultural industries that generate jobs, pride and shared prosperity.

Then there is diplomacy and a South-South voice. Though small in size, the Caribbean wields disproportionate diplomatic influence. As members of the Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States, G77 and the Commonwealth, Caribbean states often stand as vocal allies of Africa, championing reform of the global trading system, advocating debt relief, and pressing for equitable vaccine access during the pandemic. And they are effective. I visited Barbados for the first time this year. One of the places I wanted to visit was Bridgetown, its capital city.

Why? One of the boldest and most thoughtful initiatives to reimagine the global financial architecture in recent history is named after the city, the Bridgetown Initiative. I found Bridgetown an incredibly tiny place, so is Barbados. But through the Bridgetown Initiative, Prime Minister Mayor Motley has reshaped the terms of a global debate, reminding us that leadership is not about the size of your GDP or land area, it is the scale of your vision, courage and resilience.

So Africa has worthy partners in our Caribbean siblings. And this alliance of purpose must now extend into structured political and economic cooperation, including mutual visa waivers, double taxation treaties, and trade protocols that enable easier movement of goods, capital and people. We have in the Caribbean a market for African goods and talent.

The Caribbean imports much of what Africa produces; tea, cocoa, textiles, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers. Yet, African exports remain under 1% of Caribbean imports. The potential for growth is enormous.

Moreover, as Caribbean states face talent shortages in healthcare, education, and technology, African professionals can more intentionally help fill those gaps, bringing not just skills, but kinship. So let us be clear, the Caribbean is not peripheral, it is pivotal. It is a cultural cousin whose diaspora opens doors worldwide.

It’s a gateway to new markets, a services and finance partner, a climate ally, a shared voice in shaping a more just world order. So at this forum, let us move from rhetoric to results, from history to the highways of commerce, from diplomacy to digital integration, from shared pain to shared purpose.

In this age of fragmentation, the African-Caribbean bond is not just symbolic, it is strategic. It’s not just cultural, it is commercial. It’s not just historical, it is the future. Let us build it, boldly and together.

Thank you very much for listening.