Maiden AfriCaribbean Trade And Investment Forum Kicks Off In Barbados With Bawumia In Attendance

Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, would represent Ghana at the maiden edition of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The forum runs from Thursday, September 1st 2022 till Saturday, September 3rd.

It will be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC) in Barbados on the theme: “One People, One Destiny. Uniting and Reimagining Our Future”.

The event is being held under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Barbados and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

The main goal of the investment forum is to provide a platform for developing strategic partnerships between the business communities in Africa and the CARICOM Region to foster bilateral cooperation and engagement in trade, investment, technology transfer, innovation, tourism, culture and other services.

It will also be used as a vehicle to actively promote trade and investment opportunities among people of Africa and the Caribbean, as well as the wider diaspora, which will contribute to implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and to the Caribbean trade development agenda.

Bawumia left Ghana on Monday, 29th August to attend the forum.

Aside Ghana’s Vice President, other speakers at the forum includes Barbados’ Prime Minister Hon. Mia Amor Mottley; President Chandrikapersad Santokhi of Suriname, Chairman of CARICOM; and Hon. Amadou Hott, Minister of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation, Republic of Senegal.

They will be joined by a stellar cast of high-level speakers, including H.E. Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman,  Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank); H.E. Albert Muchanga, African Union Commissioner, Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining; H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA Secretariat; H.E. Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa; H.E. Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett, Secretary General, CARICOM Secretariat; and H.E. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, International Trade Centre.