KINGSTON – Jamaica- Former Jamaican Prime Minister and statesman in residence at the PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy, PJ Patterson, says the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) Board has approved financing for a groundbreaking AI hub.

He made the announcement at the Institute’s second annual symposium held at the University of the West Indies’ regional headquarters at Mona, Kingston, where leaders gathered under the theme “Educational Transformation in Africa and the Caribbean.”

This initiative is geared towards revolutionising the region’s position in global educational, technological, and geopolitical spheres.

“None but the least enlightened can fail to see education as the key to human development,” Patterson declared, emphasising that education serves as the critical engine driving sustainable growth and global trade transformation.

The initiative emerged largely in response to a challenge laid down by Professor Benedict Okechukwu Oramah, the Nigerian economist who serves as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, at last year’s Afreximbank Annual Meeting in Nassau. Since then, the Institute, alongside two of its distinguished scholars, has worked tirelessly to develop this pioneering artificial intelligence project. Their dedication has now borne fruit with the board’s approval to finance the AI hub’s development.

The centre will serve as a nexus for research, digital learning, and innovation, positioning African and Caribbean peoples not merely as participants in the global technological revolution, but as architects of its future.

With financial documentation nearing completion and partnership agreements in their final stages, the hub promises to equip the next generation with tools essential for navigating and shaping the global technological landscape.

The Institute’s vision extends beyond the AI hub, encompassing partnerships across the diaspora to address educational resource gaps, champion policies that centre African identity in learning, and create platforms for meaningful academic exchange Patterson said.

He emphasised that the “survival of our heritage and the ascendancy of our people in the modern world hinge upon education—education rooted in truth, authenticity, and the undeniable contribution of African civilization throughout the ages to global progress”.

“For far too long, has the history of Africa been misrepresented; its intellectual and cultural contributions diminished or erased,” he declared. “Today, we intend to set the record straight. The very foundations of human knowledge—mathematics, medicine, architecture, philosophy—all bear the indelible imprint of African ingenuity,” he added.

While acknowledging that education was crucial for personal success, Patterson emphasised its broader role as the cornerstone of national development and global influence.

He clarified that the Institute’s mission complements rather than competes with existing educational institutions. “It is not the aim or intent of the Institute to usurp the role or trespass on the functions of ministries, universities, faculties, or professionals in the realm of education; but if we are to truly liberate our people, we must first unshackle the mind,” he said.

Patterson further articulated a vision that extends beyond mere recognition of past achievements.

The path forward, he insisted, demands commitment to building institutions that reflect African and Caribbean values, ensuring that all children across Africa, the Caribbean, and the wider Diaspora see themselves in the history they are taught, understand their worth in the present, and are prepared to shape the future with confidence.