CAIRO, Egypt (CMC) — The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Wednesday announced that it is donating more than US$500,000 to aid disaster relief and rebuilding efforts across Caribbean countries hard hit by the passage of Hurricane Beryl in July.

Hurricane Beryl severely devastated the Grenadian islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique as well as several islands in St Vincent and the Grenadines, including Union Island and Mayreau. It also impacted Jamaica.

St Lucia and Barbados were also affected to a lesser extent by the passage of the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

The Pan-African multilateral financial institution, which is mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade, said that its acting chief operating officer at its Caribbean Office, Okechukwu Ihejirika, delivered a letter of solidarity to the prime ministers of four Caribbean countries on behalf of the Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor Benedict Oramah.

In the letter, Professor Oramah, noted that the impacted countries are part of the 11 Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries that are participating in Afreximbank under a partnership treaty entered by, and between Afreximbank and Caricom.

He added that it was important for the bank “to stand with them at this difficult time”.

“The news of the hurricane’s impact has deeply saddened us, and our thoughts are with everyone affected by that devastating event. However, the strength and resilience of Caribbean people is well-known; we have no doubt that these qualities will shine through during this difficult period,” said President Oramah.

Besides delivering on its trade and development mandate, the bank also takes proactive steps to help countries deal with global climate and health emergencies, given the rising frequency and intensity of climate and health disasters in Africa and the Caribbean.