Nairobi — Marshaling collective action to combat climate change has been listed as a key agenda at the inaugural CARICOM-Africa Summit set to begin on Tuesday, September 7.
The virtual meeting bringing together Heads of State and Government from the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) and the African Union (AU) will also deliberate trade and investment between the two regions.
“Participants at the event will include Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community and the African Union, Chairs of CARICOM and the African Union Commission, and the Africa Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Secretaries-General of CARICOM and the Organisation of the African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the President of Caribbean Development Bank (CDB),” Kenya’s Foreign Office noted in a statement.
President Uhuru Kenyatta will chair the session which was initially slated for 2020 but the coronavirus crisis triggered its cancellation.
The summit themed ‘Unity Across Continents and Oceans: Opportunities for Deepening Integration,’ will also seek to harness CARICOM-Africa partnership with the AU recently acceding to a request to onboard the Caribbean region on the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) for the acquisition of COVID-19 vaccines.
The move allowed CARICOM to benefit from the AU’s bulk purchasing framework.
“It is anticipated that the deliberations will institutionalize CARICOM-African Union collaboration. It is also expected that there will be agreement to host the Summits of the CARICOM-African Heads of State and Government bi- annually,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Caribbean region recently intensified diplomatic relations with African States with a series of State visits to Kenya, Namibia and South Africa by the Prime Ministers of Barbados and Jamaica.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Jamaica’s Andrew Holness made visits to Kenya in 2019 with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowle visiting Ghana in 2020.
President Kenyatta made similar visit to Barbados and Jamaica in 2019. Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo also visited Barbados in 2019.
During her visit to Kenya in December 2019, Mottley opened the Caribbean Community Diplomatic Office at Two Rivers Complex on Limuru Road during an event graced by late industrialist Dr Chris Kirubi and then Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma.
Mottley said she found the occasion to be very emotional, given the blood, sweat and tears several persons had expended to restore Caribbean-Africa after “centuries of exploitation.”
“Our region and Africa have been separated, not just by the Atlantic Ocean, but by centuries of division and exploitation,” she told those who attended the ceremony.
“We as a region are adamant that we will not allow this separation to continue any further. When we claim our Atlantic destiny, we are conscious that we are coming home; we are conscious that we are igniting the bonds that may have been sparked by our predecessors in North Atlantic capitals but borne out of common values and a common battle.”
Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who also doubles up as the CARICOM Chairperson announced recently that the Mission will be operationalized soon.