Afreximbank, in collaboration with African leaders, has implemented a number of structural reforms to facilitate trade between Africa and the Caribbean. Investment in infrastructure, manufacturing, capacity building and tackling natural disasters such as climate change and flooding are some of the areas of focus to enhance Africa-Caribbean trade. In addition, around 144 standards have been established for pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles.
To strengthen trade between Africa and the Caribbean, Afreximbank, in collaboration with African leaders, has implemented a number of structural reforms to achieve this objective. A 2 billion U.S dollar pipeline has been put in place to link Africa and the Caribbean and facilitate intra-regional investment. In addition to supporting the African continental free trade area (AfCFTA) secretariat in terms of funding, Afreximbank provides human resources to strengthen its negotiating capacity.
“We are pursuing initiatives that will enable Africans to trade amongst themselves. If you take infrastructure, for example, we are working on border posts. We recently completed the Zimborda post between Zimbabwe and South Africa. We are working on rail. We are working on rail in Ghana. But we are also working on standards that will enable Africans to trade better amounts themselves”.
Denys Denya, Senior Executive Vice-president of Afreximbank – Zimbabwe
Although African exports to the Caribbean represent less than 0.1%, several Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between Afreximbank and Caribbean Export to facilitate trade and investment, knowledge, capacity building and technical collaboration between Africa and the Caribbean. Afreximbank has also harmonized around 144 standards for pharmaceutical products and motor vehicles.
“There are countries in the Caribbean where we have discovered oil and gas. You need to find resources to build the infrastructure, to move those products to the market and to exploit them. You need resources for that. On the continent it’s no different. We face climate-induced catastrophes, especially in the southern part of the continent, in the east part of the continent, and we need to find resources to deal with that. Africa suffers deficits in terms of energy. That’s why we are promoting and financing refineries such as the Dangote that was highlighted.
Denys Denya, Senior Executive Vice-president of Afreximbank – Zimbabwe
According to the International Trade Center, Africa and the Caribbean hold enormous potential, with trade in goods and services projected to reach USD 1.8 billion annually by 2028.
