The Fourth AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2025) concluded with over $300 million in investment and trade deals sealed.
This is also accompanied by a robust communiqué reaffirming Africa and the Caribbean’s commitment to strengthening collaboration.
This was disclosed in a statement published on Afreximbank’s website on Friday.
According to Afreximbank, a total of eight major deals and memoranda were announced over the course of the forum, spanning infrastructure, tourism, digital transformation, and trade finance.
These include:
In his closing statement, Grenada’s Prime Minister, Hon. Dickon Mitchell, reiterated the region’s resolve to institutionalise its collaboration with Africa:
“We have to be very deliberate about creating institutions that will, in fact, recreate the type of trade, investment, banking, and financial relationships that we want to build for ourselves. The reality is, what was created before was meant to entrap us.”
He also urged for unrestricted people-to-people movement between the regions:
“We are not here to prevent our people from moving. I see no valid reason for maintaining the visa systems… Biometrics allows us to move past that.”
From a financial and institutional standpoint, Dr. George Elombi, Executive Vice President of Afreximbank and incoming President, emphasised:
“The next phase is not about justifying our vision, it should be about conviction. Believing further in who we are, where we want to be, and acting decisively. Finance is the lifeline of trade. Once we integrate the payment systems and get them to see the Caribbean as the unique opportunity it is, the rest will follow.”
The official ACTIF2025 Communiqué welcomed the endorsement of the Global Africa Commission, by Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and other OECS states, and called for its formal adoption at the upcoming AU-CARICOM Summit in Addis Ababa in September.
The two-day event, co-hosted by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Government of Grenada, drew over 2,100 delegates from 80 countries, including 11 Heads of State and Government, senior government representatives, private sector leaders, and development partners.