On September 7, the Government and people of Saint Kitts and Nevis proudly join our brothers and sisters across the Caribbean, Africa and the wider Global African Diaspora in commemorating the fifth anniversary of CARICOM–Africa Day.

Five years ago, on September 7, 2021, the inaugural Africa–CARICOM Summit brought our regions together in a historic virtual gathering and established this day as an enduring symbol of unity, solidarity and shared purpose. Since then, the relationship between Africa and the Caribbean has continued to evolve—from one grounded principally in common ancestry and historical experience into an increasingly strategic partnership spanning trade, investment, diplomacy, health, education, culture, climate resilience and sustainable development.

Yet the story connecting our regions began long before 2021.

The Atlantic Ocean that separates our shores carries the memory of a painful history. The Transatlantic Slave Trade violently uprooted millions of Africans from their homes and sought to sever language, culture, identity and family. Yet, despite that unimaginable rupture, the determination of African people to survive, preserve their heritage and build new lives could not be extinguished.

Across the Caribbean today, Africa lives in our rhythms, our food, our spirituality, our languages, our traditions, our resilience and our understanding of who we are.

We therefore commemorate CARICOM–Africa Day not only by reflecting on where we have come from, but by asking what we will build together.

For Saint Kitts and Nevis, the answer is clear: the historical bridge between Africa and the Caribbean must now become a bridge of opportunity.

That conviction was powerfully articulated by Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew at the Second Africa–CARICOM Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on September 7, 2025. Addressing African and Caribbean leaders, Prime Minister Drew called for the painful legacy of the Atlantic Slave Trade to be transformed into an “Atlantic Bridge, a bridge of hope, a bridge of advancement.”

He called for an action-oriented relationship encompassing trade, investment, health, education, climate action, global financial reform, transportation, cultural exchange and reparatory justice.

Saint Kitts and Nevis has been working to give practical meaning to that vision.

Deepening Bilateral Relations with Ghana

Our relationship with the Republic of Ghana has developed significantly. During Prime Minister Drew’s Official State Visit to Ghana earlier this year, the two governments formalised a mechanism for structured political consultations and expanded cooperation across economic, commercial, scientific, technical and cultural fields.

The two countries also removed visa requirements for ordinary passport holders travelling between Saint Kitts and Nevis and Ghana, eliminating one of the most immediate barriers to stronger people-to-people, business, tourism and educational engagement.

The partnership is also delivering tangible benefits to citizens. A bilateral labour agreement with Ghana has facilitated the recruitment of medical professionals to strengthen healthcare delivery in Saint Kitts and Nevis, including the recent arrival of 47 trained Ghanaian nurses, who are now contributing to healthcare services across the Federation.

At the same time, engagement between the Ministry of Education of Saint Kitts and Nevis and the University of Ghana is creating opportunities for expanded academic, research, cultural and youth cooperation.

These are more than diplomatic milestones. They represent Africans and Caribbean people, once separated by history, now learning from one another, working alongside one another and contributing together to our shared development.

Building Economic and Commercial Connections

Our economic engagement with Africa is also expanding.

Through its partnership with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Saint Kitts and Nevis has supported efforts to strengthen financial and commercial links between Africa and the Caribbean.

The Federation was selected to host the fifth AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, reflecting our determination to provide a platform where African and Caribbean governments, businesses, investors and entrepreneurs can connect, exchange ideas and develop new opportunities.

Although the 2026 Forum was subsequently deferred because of prevailing public-health circumstances, Saint Kitts and Nevis remains firmly committed to its objectives and to deepening the economic relationship between our two regions.

The Federation has also embraced the need for greater connectivity with Africa and continues to position itself internationally as a strategic gateway where African enterprise, Caribbean opportunity and global capital can intersect.

This vision reflects an important reality: political solidarity must increasingly be matched by commercial relationships, investment flows, knowledge transfer, mobility and stronger connections among our people.

Standing Together on Global Challenges

Saint Kitts and Nevis remains equally united with Africa on the great moral and developmental questions of our time.

Our regions continue to confront the consequences of historical exploitation, an inequitable international financial architecture and a climate crisis to which we have contributed comparatively little, yet whose consequences we experience disproportionately.

We therefore have every reason to speak with a stronger and more unified voice on reparatory justice, climate justice, debt sustainability, sustainable development and reform of global institutions.

During Saint Kitts and Nevis’ Chairmanship of CARICOM earlier this year, Prime Minister Drew reaffirmed the Community’s commitment to advancing the reparations agenda and ensuring that reparatory justice remains a central element of the Caribbean’s engagement with the international community.

This work complements the growing partnership between CARICOM and Africa in advancing justice for Africans and people of African descent.

From Historical Connection to Shared Future

This is the meaning of CARICOM–Africa Day in 2026.

Five years after Africa and CARICOM formally committed themselves to walking this path together, Saint Kitts and Nevis remains convinced that the strength of this relationship must be measured not only by the warmth of our declarations, but by the movement of our people, the growth of our trade, the exchange of knowledge, the strength of our institutions and the opportunities we create for generations to come.

We are a small Federation, but we understand perhaps better than most that greatness has never been determined solely by geography or population. It is determined by courage, imagination, solidarity and the willingness to act.

Our African heritage is inseparable from our Kittitian and Nevisian identity. Our commitment to Africa is therefore not simply a matter of foreign policy. It is a reconnection with family—and an investment in a shared future.

On this fifth anniversary of CARICOM–Africa Day, Saint Kitts and Nevis recommits itself to helping transform an ocean that once represented forced separation into an Atlantic Bridge of partnership, prosperity and possibility.

From Africa to the Caribbean and throughout the Global African Diaspora, may we continue to reconnect our people, combine our strengths, defend our common interests and build together the future our ancestors were denied—but always deserved.

Happy CARICOM–Africa Day.