Caribbean News
CARICOM Ready to Deepen Investment And Trade With Africa
By Melissa Rollock
Barbados GIS
Africa accounted for only two per cent of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) total trade in 2018, prior to the disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, trade between the two regions has been negatively impacted.
However, Secretary General of CARICOM, Dr. Carla Barnett, believes the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, which got underway today at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, is an important first step in expanding and deepening trade relations between the African continent and CARICOM.
The Secretary General pointed out during the opening ceremony that the potential to do business with Africa was “tremendous”, noting that the market represented by the African continental free trade arrangement was set to reach US $6.7 trillion in value by 2035.
She further stated that in order to grow trade and investment flows between the Caribbean Community and Africa, the infrastructure such as air and maritime distribution and transportation channels, needed to be strengthened and streamlined.
“We need to move to establish a multilateral air services agreement between African countries and the Community. Using this forum, and other mechanisms such as our mutual membership in the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States, we can continue to promote and forge business to business contacts through networks of private sector organisations and business development support organisations such as our Caribbean Export, which is our regional trade and investment promotion agency. We at CARICOM look forward to concluding the memorandum of
understanding between the Secretariats of CARICOM and the African Union to strengthen collaboration to support this process,” Dr. Barnett stated.
To illustrate the need for greater relations in trade, she explained that in 2018, CARICOM exports to the rest of the world stood at US $18.6 billion with total exports to Africa at only US $815 million. CARICOM exports to Africa represented 4.4 per cent of its exports. In that same year, CARICOM imports from the world totalled US $33 billion, with imports from Africa at US $603 million. Africa accounted for approximately only two per cent of the Caribbean Community’s total trade.
Currently, the top exports to Africa include anhydrous ammonia, alumina, oil drilling tubing materials, sauces and condiments and frozen orange juice concentrate. The main markets are Morocco, Ghana and South Africa. The top 10 imports from Africa include liquified natural gas, vehicles, barium sulphate, bitumen and coriander, with the main sources being Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco.
Citing the benefits which the Community offered to investors, she said the region was a strong performer in the services sectors such as travel, tourism and financial services. Additionally, Dr. Barnett said they were working to transform the agriculture and industrial sectors.
“Our 25 by 2025 agricultural initiative (reducing the region’s food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025) already is gaining momentum. We are promoting investment in agriculture, including two excellent agri-investment expos that have been held so far. And we are backing this up with decisive actions to address trade barriers and promote productivity across the region. Work has started on an industrial policy that will complement the positive steps already underway in agriculture,” she shared.
The Secretary General said CARICOM also offered investors “a gateway to partner markets”, pointing out that its preferential trade agreements with several Latin American and Caribbean neighbours “and others” provided significant market access opportunities. She noted that these markets represented a combined US $11 trillion in imports of goods and services.
Dr. Barnette said that with the African continental free trade area and the CSME presenting solid platforms for trade and economic cooperation, she expected the “first” AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum to be a success.
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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