ST. GEORGES, Grenada, CMC – The Government of Grenada will be enacting a law that will nationalize as legal the Agreement for the Establishment of a Partnership Between Member States of the Caribbean Community and the African Export-Import Bank (“the Agreement”) in Grenada and provide for its implementation.
The Bill is set for debate and approval by Members of the Lower House during its sitting on May 23.
During a news conference in early April, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said his cabinet had decided that Grenada would join Afreximbank for the island to seek more concessionary financing to drive economic growth and development from non-traditional sources.
At the first Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF) held in Bridgetown, Barbados, in September 2022, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) signed a partnership agreement with Afreximbank.
This Partnership Agreement consolidates the Bank’s efforts to promote and develop South-South trade, specifically trade between Africa and the Caribbean, in line with its Diaspora Strategy.
The Agreement also provides for facilitating and carrying on banking operations, borrowing funds, and providing support to payment arrangements aimed at expanding the international trade of African States and members of CARICOM.
On April 23, the Bank announced via a news release that its Board of Directors has approved the opening of the Bank’s CARICOM Office to be established in Barbados.
“Afreximbank CARICOM Office will support the implementation of the Partnership Agreement, entered into by, and between, Afreximbank and CARICOM Member States aimed at expanding Africa-Caribbean trade and investment relations,” the Bank said in a news release.
Following the signing of the Partnership Agreement, the Bank announced that US$1.5 billion in credit limit was approved by the Board of Directors of Afreximbank to support eligible CARICOM States, with a commitment to increase this to US$3 billion.
“The financing will be targeted at supporting economic sectors identified as core to boosting the region’s prosperity, particularly the development of trade-enabling infrastructure, as well as boosting trade and investments between Africa and the CARICOM Member States while providing support to Small and Medium Enterprises,” said the release.
“The establishment of the Afreximbank CARICOM Office is critical to facilitating operations of the Bank in the Caribbean Community. It will bring Afreximbank’s products and initiatives closer to the business community and ensure that the Bank rapidly ramps-up operations to promote stronger relations with the Governments in the region towards the pursuit of mutually identified priorities,” the release added.
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