African, Caribbean leaders begin Forum in Grenada; Amina Mohammed, Obasanjo, Osinbajo, CARICOM leaders expected

The 4th Annual Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2025), holding in St George’s, Grenada, kicks off today, Monday, July 28, 2025 with prominent African and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) political and business leaders attending.

Among those expected to grace the historic occasion are Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group, H. E Amina J. Mohammed, former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Prime Minister of Grenada, Honourable Dickon Amiss Thomas Mitchell and President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah.

Prime Minister Mitchell and President Oramah will deliver keynote addresses at the Forum, which ends on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, and has as its theme: “Resilience and Transformation: Enhancing Africa-Caribbean Economic Cooperation in an Era of Global Uncertainty.”

Also expected  are business moguls, Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Group, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC,  Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of Guyana, and Prime Ministers of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Dominica, Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Hon. Gaston A. Browne, and Hon. Roosevelt Skerritt, respectively.

Other leaders expected at the Forum being organized by Afreximbank and the Government of Grenada are Hon. Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwa, Prime Minister of Tanzania, representing H.E Samia Suluhu, President of Tanzania;  Mr. Prudence Sebahizi, Minister of Trade & Industry, Republic of Rwanda, representing President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Hon. Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister, St. Lucia.

The Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister, The Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis is also expected, as are Mr. Guibolo Fanga Mathieu, Minister of Trade and Industry, Republic of Chad, Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, Amb. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson, African Union (AU), Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett, Secretary General of CARICOM Secretariat, Mrs. Zain Asher, Anchor, CNN and Ms. Fifi Peters, Senior Anchor, CNBC.

Asher and Peters will anchor the two Panels, the ‘Presidential Panel’ on “New World Order as an Opportunity for Strengthening Africa-Caribbean Trade, Investment, and Cultural Relations,” and the Panel on “Trailblazers in Africa-Caribbean Trade and Investment,” respectively.

Dr. George Elombi, Executive Vice President – Corporate Governance and Legal Services, Afreximbank (who is also the Incoming President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank) will also be at the program that would feature a Cultural Presentation by the host country titled “From Roots to Rise: The Spirit of Global Africa” as well as exhibitions, signing of deals and networking opportunities.

St. George’s, the capital city of Grenada is already agog for the event with banners and other evidence of the program that is intended “to promote trade, investment, and cultural linkages between Africa and the Caribbean by providing a platform to share trade, investment, and market information with the public and private sector, including investors, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Africans in the diaspora” as well as “support a shared vision of prosperity and pursue a unified ‘Global Africa.'”