One hundred years ago, Marcus Mosiah Garvey envisioned a bold future for people of African descent, a future anchored not only in pride and cultural awakening but in real, material self-determination.

Central to his vision was the development of a shipping line connecting Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. His Black Star Line was not simply a vessel for the back-to-Africa movement, it was also a practical economic strategy to stimulate trade, industry, and investment between black nations across the globe.

A century later, Garvey’s prophetic vision remains largely unrealised.

Despite political independence and the rise of African and Caribbean states as sovereign actors on the global stage, Jamaica has no direct maritime or air links with the African continent. This disconnect — economic, infrastructural, and political — stands as a stark contradiction to our historical legacy, our strategic interests, and our Pan-African aspirations.

It is time to change course.

We are calling on the Government of Jamaica to seize the opportunity presented by the next Caricom Heads of Government meeting, which Jamaica is slated to host, to initiate formal discussions towards a free trade agreement between Caricom and the African Union. Such a move would not only honour Garvey’s legacy but serve Jamaica’s national interests in the following concrete ways:

1) Trade expansion: Africa represents over 1.4 billion people, with a growing middle class, emerging industrial sectors, and abundant natural resources. Caricom states, including Jamaica, can benefit from increased exports in agro-products, manufactured goods, education, and services.

2) Investment opportunities: A trade and investment pact could create reciprocal openings for Jamaican companies in African markets and attract African investors to the Caribbean, especially in sectors like tourism, agribusiness, logistics, and renewable energy.

3) Transport and connectivity: A trade agreement must be accompanied by a strategy to develop direct shipping and air links between key Caribbean and African hubs. The current reliance on routing through Europe or the US is economically inefficient and symbolically regressive.

At the same time, Jamaica must reassess its role in the geopolitical chessboard of the Western Hemisphere. While we maintain cordial relations with traditional partners such as the United States, we must not be pawns to external powers whose strategic interests do not align with our own development goals.

Instead, Jamaica should assert regional leadership by pursuing a bilateral agreement with Haiti to facilitate the free movement of people between the two nations. This is not merely an act of solidarity, it is a strategic response to urgent domestic challenges.

Jamaican industries are already complaining of severe labour shortages, and our national fertility rate has dropped below replacement level. If we are serious about sustainable development, we must take action to enhance the labour supply, revitalise our productive sectors, and inject new energy into our shrinking workforce. A controlled migration framework with Haiti could help ease this demographic pressure while strengthening regional unity.

Garvey did not wait for ideal conditions. He acted boldly and demanded vision from his people and their leaders. Today, we face new, but no less serious, challenges — stagnant trade, demographic decline, labour shortages, and a fragile global order. To navigate these storms, we must build new bridges across the Atlantic and within our own region.

The time for bold, Pan-African economic diplomacy is now.

odamaxef@yahoo.com

O Dave Allen