Applause for progress, new commitments for the future as 4th ACTIF opens in Grenada

By Kurt Campbell

kurt@newsroom.gy

The fourth AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) opened in Grenada on Monday with regional leaders applauding the early fruits of Africa-Caribbean cooperation while making bold new commitments to deepen trade, build shared financial infrastructure and unlock long-promised economic linkages.

What was once seen as a symbolic aspiration is now steadily taking institutional form. ACTIF2025, themed “Resilience and Transformation: Enhancing Africa-Caribbean Economic Cooperation in an Era of Global Uncertainty,” opened to a packed room of over 1,800 delegates and showcased how efforts launched just three years ago have begun to deliver.

From the establishment of Afreximbank’s Caribbean Office in Barbados to billions already deployed in the region, leaders pointed to visible progress but agreed that much more must be done.

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada in his keynote, praised ACTIF as the platform that “moved us from promise to planning and now to delivery.”

Among the most tangible outcomes of past forums are: the US$3 billion Afreximbank commitment to CARICOM (Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica directly benefiting); a US$25 million facility to Barbados for a national stadium.

It also includes a US$30 million loan to Grenada for hotel expansion; and the upcoming Caribbean Payment and Settlement System (CPSS)—a PAPSS-inspired platform that will allow local currency trade between both regions

welcomed these developments as “foundational,” but stressed the urgency of activating intra-regional trade corridors, improving shipping and air links and removing legal and financial bottlenecks.

“We must deliberately open the door to greater trade. That means breaking down bureaucratic silos and building a shared institutional architecture,” she said.

ACTIF2025 will also see the finalisation of a new Africa-CARICOM cooperation framework, including a joint MoU on trade facilitation, logistics, and investment promotion; a roadmap toward a Free Trade Agreement discussion and capacity building for CARICOM’s own Eximbank, with Afreximbank support.

Prof. Benedict Oramah, outgoing President of Afreximbank, called on leaders to avoid “half-measures,” warning that without structure, ambition will remain unrealised.

“We need more than sentiment—we need systems,” he said, calling for a standing Africa-CARICOM Secretariat and joint project pipelines with delivery targets.

He reaffirmed Afreximbank’s long-term financial commitment and signalled openness to co-financing strategic industries, including agro-processing, tourism, renewable energy, and digital payments.

While the tone was celebratory, the takeaway was that ACTIF has matured from its early days of political alignment to a serious vehicle for delivery.

Over the next two days, delegates will engage in deal-making sessions, explore trade exhibitions and refine sector-specific projects.

“Let’s not retreat into conference-room comfort,” PM Mitchell warned. “Let’s get to work.”