Omanghana
President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to champion a new trade partnership linking Africa and the Caribbean as part of his wider agenda for economic integration across the Atlantic.
Speaking during his state visit to Kingston, Jamaica, President Mahama said he would promote the initiative when Ghana assumes the rotating chairmanship of the African Union in 2027. Ghana has already received the backing of ECOWAS countries for the continental leadership position.
The proposal seeks to establish an arrangement through which African and Caribbean countries could trade with fewer tariffs and other restrictions. If successfully negotiated, it would give Caribbean businesses greater access to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which connects a potential market of about 1.4 billion people with a combined gross domestic product estimated at more than $3 trillion.
President Mahama said closer commercial relations would transform the historic and cultural connection between Africa and the Caribbean into a more productive economic partnership. He argued that both regions could create jobs, expand export markets and reduce their dependence on traditional trading partners by strengthening direct trade with each other.
The initiative would require negotiations between the African Union, the AfCFTA institutions and the Caribbean Community because the existing free trade agreement was created for African Union member states. Any Caribbean participation would therefore likely require a separate protocol, reciprocal trade agreement or expanded Africa CARICOM framework.
Another major component of the proposal is the development of more efficient payment arrangements. President Mahama wants African and Caribbean businesses to settle transactions in their respective local currencies, reducing their dependence on the US dollar and lowering foreign-exchange costs.
Africa already operates the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, which supports cross-border payments in local currencies. Extending or connecting such infrastructure to Caribbean financial systems could make it easier for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to complete transactions.
During a joint media engagement with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, President Mahama acknowledged that weak transport connections remain one of the greatest barriers to Africa–Caribbean trade. Limited direct flights and shipping routes make the movement of passengers and goods expensive, slow and commercially unattractive.
He therefore called for substantial investment in maritime transport, direct air services, port infrastructure and cargo logistics. Without dependable transport networks, he warned, tariff reductions alone would not produce the desired growth in trade.
Common product standards and certification requirements would also be necessary to ensure that goods approved in one market could be sold more easily in another. Work under the AfCFTA has already begun addressing standards and regulatory requirements for products such as pharmaceuticals, processed foods, steel and electrical equipment.
President Mahama’s proposal forms part of Ghana’s broader campaign for deeper cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean in trade, investment, tourism, education, healthcare, labour mobility and cultural exchange.
Although establishing an intercontinental free-trade framework would be a long-term undertaking, the initiative could mark an important shift from symbolic solidarity toward measurable economic cooperation between the two regions.
Source: Omanghana
