President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to advocate for the inclusion of Caribbean countries in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) when he assumes the African Union (AU) chairmanship. He described the move as a major step toward strengthening economic ties between Africa and the Caribbean.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness in Kingston on Monday, August 3, during his state visit to Jamaica, President Mahama said expanding the AfCFTA to include Caribbean nations would create new opportunities for trade, investment and economic cooperation across the Atlantic.
He acknowledged that increasing trade volumes between Africa and the Caribbean would require deliberate policy actions rather than quick fixes.
“With regards to trade, we don’t kid ourselves that you snap your finger and suddenly our trade volumes will go up. We need to work at it. And that’s why I said one way of working at it is one, to put in the infrastructure and the logistics. But the second is to expand the trade area,” he said.
President Mahama explained that the AfCFTA provides a platform for participating countries to harmonise standards, certify products and connect businesses to wider markets. He added that the African Union’s efforts to develop digital payment systems would further enhance trade by enabling transactions to be settled in local currencies, reducing reliance on foreign exchange.
“And that’s why I said as chair of the AU, I’m going to push for the inclusion of the Caribbean into the African Continental Free Trade Area,” he stated.
The President also highlighted the activation of the Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation between Ghana and Jamaica, saying it would serve as an institutional framework for monitoring progress in trade, investment and other areas of bilateral collaboration.
According to President Mahama, a stronger partnership between Africa and the Caribbean presents a significant opportunity to deepen South-South cooperation, unlock new markets and advance shared economic interests for both regions.
