Abuja, Nigeria, June 25, 2025 (PMO)—Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, the Honourable Dr. Terrance M. Drew, delivered the keynote address at the opening of the 32nd Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Abuja, Nigeria today, June 25th, issuing a powerful call for deeper integration between Africa and the Caribbean, underpinned by strategic collaboration, mutual investment, and a shared vision for global economic empowerment.
Speaking to a distinguished audience of heads of state, government officials, private sector leaders, and regional development partners, Prime Minister Drew hailed Afreximbank for its decades of bold leadership and its expanding footprint in the Caribbean region. He praised the Bank’s transformative role in facilitating not just trade and finance, but “a new kind of bridge, built not of wood and steel, but of people, of partnership, of purpose.”
Dr. Drew, who is attending the meeting as a high-level guest of the Bank, reflected on the historic ties between Africa and the Caribbean but urged that those ties must now be translated into tangible systems and institutions. “Resilience brought us this far,” he declared, “but it is reinvention that will carry us forward. The work of reconnecting Africa and the Caribbean is no longer about symbolism, it’s about systems. It’s about reshaping the machinery of cooperation so it no longer echoes only our history, but actively builds our future.”
The Prime Minister commended Afreximbank and its President, Professor Benedict Oramah, for advancing that vision with clarity and courage. Under Professor Oramah’s stewardship, the Bank has moved beyond continental borders to embrace the Caribbean as kin, launching initiatives such as the historic $1.5 billion Caribbean-Africa Trade and Investment Programme (CATIP), the opening of a regional office in Barbados, and the annual AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF), which has already mobilised over US $6 billion in deals.
“Saint Kitts and Nevis was proud to be the first country in the Caribbean to sign an MoU with Afreximbank. We believed in the Bank’s vision. That decision has become one of the most impactful and future-facing we have made in recent years, not just for our nation, but for the entire CARICOM region,” Dr. Drew shared.
Positioning Africa and the Caribbean as a united economic and cultural bloc with vast potential, the Prime Minister underscored the Caribbean’s eagerness for partnership, noting, “We seek access, respect, and a seat at the table. And we offer in return our creativity, resilience, market potential, and strategic location.”
As St. Kitts and Nevis forges ahead with its Sustainable Island State Agenda, focused on green innovation, energy transition, healthcare modernization, and food security, Prime Minister Drew affirmed that institutions like Afreximbank are critical partners in building a new developmental paradigm.
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