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A project aimed at boosting trade between the Caribbean and the African continent is getting underway.
Pamela Corker Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre, said the initiative was expected to “enhance trade and investment” between the two regions.
“Together, we will work to develop five priority value chains that have great potential for inclusive and sustainable economic transformation, led by small businesses in both regions, while addressing food security and other risks we face. However, these projects have also taught us that value chain development and small business competitiveness can only take us so far,” she noted.
She said there are still many areas that are untapped.
“For example, the past decade alone shows that the share of African exports going to the Caribbean has been decreasing, not increasing. Today, Africa’s share of exports going to the Caribbean is less than 0.1%, and the Caribbean’s share of exports going to the African continent is less than 3%”, Ms. Cork-Hamilton noted.
“Looking at the share, we can also see that despite the abundance of products in both regions, exports are still too concentrated in a few sectors with low value-added, such as unprocessed chemicals and minerals. This is despite the huge potential for exports in machinery, electricity, plastics, rubber, processed food and mineral products.”
She spoke at the opening of the African Export-Import Bank’s annual conference in the Bahamas on Wednesday.
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