Even as representatives of state and private sector agencies in the Caribbean and Africa were assembling in Barbados last week to seek to create a ‘road map’ for the cementing of closer business ties between the two regions, the International Trade Centre (ITC), a joint agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was launching a new report that says that there exists US$1 billion in export potential between the Caribbean and Africa.
The gathering in Barbados would almost certainly have been enthused by the news that the ITC and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) had extended their already existing five-year partnership which seeks, among other things, to help tackle the challenge of trade barriers and build business capacity in both Africa and the Caribbean. The development would likely have enhanced the prospects for the longer-term success of the objectives of the recent Barbados forum.
The ITC report identifies agri foods, healthcare, tourism, fertilizers, and automobiles, as being among those commodities that can play a key role in broadening the base of Caribbean/Africa trading relations.
The Afreximbank is being promoted as a “pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade, deploying structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade.” For its part, one of the key responsibilities of the ITC is to provide support for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries seeking to enhance their competitiveness on the global market.
Reports emanating from the signing of the new MoU between the ITC and the Afreximbank say that the deal seeks to accelerate trade and economic development for Africa by utilising the route of new markets in the Caribbean. The agreement reportedly focusses on trade and market intelligence and the creative economy as well as “green solutions” for better trade and investment exchanges in the two regions, geared at small businesses.
However, the report says that if the potential for trade between the Caribbean and Africa is to secure meaningful traction, stronger relationships between African and Caribbean traders must be created while both sides must be prepared to remove hindrances to trade that include high tariff and non-tariff barriers and the acceleration of “the goods trade” between them, which is currently negligible and focussed only in a handful of areas that include primary minerals and chemicals.
The Report asserts that given “the right support,” Africa could boost its annual exports of merchandise to the Caribbean by US$171 million by 2026, a 54 per cent increase over 2020 levels. Likewise, the Caribbean could expand goods exports to Africa by US$80 million or 29 per cent and its exports of services such as travel and transport even more.
The ITC-Afreximbank partnership builds on the joint attempt to spur the competitiveness of small businesses in Africa and help them benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The agreement is expected to promote increased investment in African businesses and cross-regional business opportunities, develop the creative and cultural industries, and ensure access to accurate information about export markets.
The partnership also seeks to expand its joint training programme – How to Export with the AFCFTA and establish a Business Council between Africa and the Caribbean.
ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton was quoted as saying that “a trade boost between Africa and the Caribbean is possible. It needs,” she says, “an ecosystem to give credible data on market opportunities, support to exporting firms and guidance for governments.”
