Hylton wants Gov’t to clear air on Jamaica’s non-participation in recent Caricom/Africa Exim Bank agreement
Opposition Spokesperson on Industry, Investment and Global Logistics, Anthony Hylton, is calling on the Government to break its silence on Jamaica’s non-participation in the historic agreement between Caricom and the Africa Exim Bank.
Under the agreement, US$1.5 billion will be accessible to member states of Caricom who had signed and ratified a Partnership Agreement with the African Export and Import Bank at the Africa Caribbean Trade and Invest Forum.
That forum was held in Barbados last September.
Hylton, in a recent statement, said he was concerned at the government’s lack of information about the outcome of the forum and Jamaica’s representation to what was billed as a high-level ministerial forum.
“The recent announcement by the Board of the Afreximbank is truly momentous in so far as it demonstrates a renewed and tangible commitment on the part of the member countries to meaningfully engage with Caricom countries (including Jamaica) to overcome centuries-old impediments to trade and investments between the countries of Africa and Caricom, considered by the African Union (AU) to be the Sixth Region of Africa, the diaspora,” said Hylton.
“For Jamaica not to be fully involved in the process at the highest level, and with a clear position on its participation in this historical development is befuddling to a generation of Pan-Africanists who view the opportunity to trade with, and invest in Africa and vice versa, as underwriting the long-term future of both Africa and the Caribbean,” Hylton added.
He is urging the government to break what he described as its “deafening silence” on a very critical development in Africa-Caricomaffairs.
He is also inquiring as to the role of the Caribbean Development Bank in collaborating with the Afreximbank to facilitate its successful entrance and operation in the Caricom Single Market and Economy.
Hylton is imploring the Jamaican Government to indicate a timeline for Jamaica’s accession to the partnership agreement, or to explain the reason(s) for its apparent reluctance to do so.
