ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Antigua and Barbuda is on Monday marking Africa-Caricom Day 2026 with Prime Minister Gaston Browne calling for a new era of practical cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean, urging both regions to transform their shared history and ancestry into stronger economic, diplomatic, cultural and developmental partnerships.

In his message to mark the occasion being commemorated by the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Committee (ABRSC), as well as the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the African Union (AU), and the African diaspora, Prime Minister Browne said the observance must represent more than a celebration of historical ties.

“The relationship between Africa and the Caribbean must be more than a historical connection. It must become a strategic partnership for the future,” he said, noting that the observance represents a declaration of the shared identity, interests and responsibility of African and Caribbean peoples to future generations.

Prime Minister Browne, reflecting on the common experiences of slavery, colonialism, exploitation and exclusion endured by African and Caribbean peoples, pointed to the resilience and creativity that emerged from that painful history, calling for solidarity to be converted into meaningful cooperation in trade, investment, technology, education, tourism, transportation, culture and people-to-people exchanges.

Browne identified improved connectivity as essential to building the relationship envisioned between the two regions, pointing to the partnership involving Air Peace and LIAT Air as an example of what can be achieved when both regions take deliberate steps to overcome the geographical distance separating their peoples.

“Our people must be able to travel, conduct business, exchange ideas, invest and build relationships with greater ease,” Browne said, highlighting also Antigua and Barbuda’s engagement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as an important avenue for expanding access to capital, increasing trade and investment, supporting entrepreneurship and creating economic opportunities.

However, the prime minister stressed that the relationship cannot be viewed solely in economic terms, stating that, “Africa is not simply a market for the Caribbean, and the Caribbean is not simply a market for Africa. We are family.”

Both Browne and the ABRSC placed reparatory justice at the centre of the Africa-Caricom relationship, with the head of government saying reparatory justice is not about reversing history, but about confronting its continuing consequences and addressing inequalities created by slavery and colonialism.

He reaffirmed Antigua and Barbuda’s commitment to Caricom’s reparations agenda and pointed to the Third Caricom Regional Conference on Reparations, scheduled for Bridgetown, Barbados, from September 17–19, 2026, as another opportunity to advance the movement.

Browne renewed his call for the establishment of a Caricom-Africa Joint Commission, which would provide a permanent institutional mechanism for advancing the common interests of the two regions.

He also called for greater cooperation in mass media, information sharing, education and public diplomacy, arguing that Africans and Caribbean people must be given greater opportunities to learn about and understand each other.

The prime minister identified four areas for renewed action: reparatory justice; expanded trade and investment; stronger air, maritime and digital connectivity; and greater cultural and educational cooperation. He encouraged schools, universities, cultural institutions, media organisations and community groups to become active bridges between Africa and the Caribbean.

Browne supported the call by the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Committee for governments, regional institutions, civil society organisations and citizens across Africa and the Caribbean to deepen cooperation and ensure that ancestral bonds are transformed into greater economic opportunity, cultural renewal, reparatory justice and collective advancement.

“Let us build bridges across the Atlantic. Let us strengthen the bonds between our peoples. Let us turn our shared history into shared opportunity,” Browne added.