LAST WEEK there was a historical gathering comprising African leaders, bankers and business executives and their Caribbean counterparts in The Bahamas to map strategies on how the two regions can combine forces to confront global challenges headlined by nationalism and de-globalisation. Afreximbank’s annual meetings and the third AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) came 16 years after the African Union designated the diaspora as Africa’s sixth region. It was also historic in the sense that Afreximbank annual meetings were held in the Caribbean for the first in an event touted as a reunion of all Africans in the context of Global Africa, a gathering tipped to shape the course of the two regions' shared vision and aspirations. The call for a united Global Africa comes in the wake of geo-political tensions and associated geo-economic shifts, the rise in neo-protectionism underpinned by trade and technology wars as countries jostle for economic dominance has put a severe dent on multilateralism, according to Denys Denya, Afreximbank’s senior executive vice-president. These recurring global shocks continue to undermine the developmental aspirations of most developing nations, while at the same time the impact of climate change and extreme weather conditions are threatening to erode any economic gains achieved by developing nations. Most developing countries have been at the receiving end of global challenges and are left at the mercy of creditors whose terms of lending appear to perpetuate a cycle of borrowing which impedes macro-economic management and socio-economic development. All these setbacks should galvanise Global Africa...
Global Africa: Time for action is now
Posted on: June 21, 2024
Posted on: June 21, 2024