Caribbean leaders attending high level meeting in Nigeria

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will from Wednesday join their African counterparts for a three-day meeting of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) focusing on advancing trade, investment, and innovation across the continent,

The 32nd Annual Meetings (AAM2025) of the Egypt-based financial institution is expected to bring together an influential coalition of leaders including top business executives and academics.

Former Jamaica prime minister, PJ Patterson is among the influential figures who are scheduled to speak at the events as well as Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and Dr. Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

Africa’s foremost business innovation leaders such as Aliko Dangote, president and chief executive officer of Dangote Group and Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, as well as Professor Ghulam Mufti of King’s College in London, will also participate .

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his predecessor Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Ambassador Albert Muchanga, the African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, Industry Mining, are also expected to attend the event,.

They will be joined by ministers, central bank governors, investors, and industry leaders from Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond for the AAM2025 that will be held under the theme “Building the Future on Decades of Resilience”.

Afreximbank president and chairman of the board of directors, Professor Benedict Oramah, said that AAM 2025 comes at a pivotal time for Africa, “as the continent confronts global uncertainties, it is doing so with renewed resolve”

Oramah said that following the 31st AAM in The Bahamas last year, the meetings here “are about catalysing practical action, building stronger institutions to strengthen trade integration and unlocking the full potential of African innovation” thanking Tinubu for his support.

“AAM2025 is expected to deliver strong economic benefits, both in the short and long term. The main anticipated impacts include the trade and investment mobilisation, policy and institutional advancement and strengthening South-South cooperation and trade flows,” according to a statement issued by the bank.

It said that AAM2025 is also expected to facilitate significant trade and investment deals, including memoranda of understanding and public-private partnerships. The meetings are expected to catalyse billions of dollars in funding over the next five to 10 years for key strategic sectors.

“By bringing together heads of state, ministers, leaders of trade institutions, policymakers and the private sector, the meetings will advance regional dialogue on several priorities: implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area, enhancing cross-border payment systems to speed up regional transactions, strengthening Africa–Caribbean (CARICOM) economic ties through expanded trade, tourism, and joint ventures, and ensuring private sector participation in policy reforms. ”

The bank said that these discussions aim to reduce business costs, improve trade infrastructure, and deepen regional economic integration with the organisers anticipating that the event is expected to be attended by thousands of participants and media from more than It said that this year’s meetings will also mark the launch of several new initiatives.

Afreximbank is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.

At the end of December 2024, Afreximbank’s total assets and contingencies stood at over US$40.1 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$7.2 billion.

Source-CMC