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ANALYSIS | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa’s multilateral lender, African Export-Import Bank, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) to formalise collaboration between the two institutions and provide a platform for exploring joint activities to support trade and investment flows between Africa and the Caribbean, and other collaborations.
According to the terms of the MoU, signed on June 14, 2024, at the 31st Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2024) and the 3rd AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF), held in Nassau, The Bahamas, Afreximbank and CEDA will collaborate in capacity building and technical collaboration, knowledge sharing and information exchange, and trade and investment promotion and facilitation. The MoU is expected to result in increased trade and investment between Africa and the Caribbean, thereby encouraging mutual economic growth and development.
Signing the MoU on behalf of Afreximbank was Oluranti Doherty, Director, Export Development who represented Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade & Export Development Bank, while Leo Naut, Deputy Executive Director and Officer-in-Charge of CEDA, signed for his organisation.
Awani said the signing was part of Afreximbank’s efforts to see the concretisation of the African Union’s vision in designating the African Diaspora as the sixth region of the continent.
She highlighted Afreximbank’s significant progress in the Caribbean, including the inclusion of CARICOM member states in the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) program. She noted that 11 Caribbean Community member countries have joined the Bank as participating states, with the rest expected to join soon.
Noteworthy achievements also encompass the hosting of three annual AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forums, the opening of an Afreximbank Regional Office in Barbados and the disbursement of financing facilities to St. Lucia for climate adaptation projects, and Barbados for the development of sports infrastructure.
Awani attributed the success of those activities, in part, to the support received from key institutions in the Caribbean region and expressed confidence that the strategic partnership with CEDA would lead to a substantial increase in trade and other levels of economic cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean.
AAM2024, which was combined with the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2024), took place in The Bahamas from 12 – 15 June 2024.
