“Trade Must Go Up”: Prime Minister Drew Calls for Africa-Caribbean Economic Renaissance

Algiers, Algeria, September 4, 2025 (PMO) — Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, delivered a powerful intervention at the opening presidential panel of the Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers, today, September 4th, urging leaders to transform the painful history of the transatlantic slave trade into a “Trans-Atlantic bridge of hope” that connects Africa and the Caribbean through trade, investment, and shared development.

The high-level panel, chaired by His Excellency Abdelmadjid Tebboune, President of Algeria, convened Heads of State, African Union officials, and global partners under the theme of establishing Africa as an economic powerhouse through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Representing the Caribbean as part of the African Union’s sixth region, Prime Minister Drew emphasized the unique and historic role of the Caribbean in Pan-Africanism and outlined areas of opportunity for deepened Africa-Caribbean partnerships.

“Hundreds of years ago, there was trade between Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe,” Prime Minister Drew recalled. “That trade was premised on what we call the triangular Atlantic slave trade… However, we believe that that can be a different history today, because it was trade for others to benefit at our demise. We are saying today that instead of looking at that event that harmed us, that we can see hope today and establish what we can call the Trans-Atlantic bridge of hope, where we reconnect the Caribbean and Africa through trade for all of our benefits.”

The Prime Minister noted that while Africa-Caribbean trade currently represents “roughly 1% or less,” this figure represents not weakness but potential. “When I look at a small number like that, I see hope; it is a silver line. There’s only one place that trade can go. It cannot go down anymore. It is an opportunity to go up.”

Highlighting ongoing initiatives, Dr. Drew used the opportunity to reference growing educational, cultural, and economic linkages. “Since establishing this new relationship with Africa, we are now benefiting from the Open University of Tanzania. We are establishing a deeper relationship with vocational studies in Kenya. We are now seeking to establish greater relationships in Ghana. And this, of course, I would say, is the beginning and not the end.”

He further identified priority areas for expanded cooperation, including emerging technology, agriculture, renewable energy, tourism, health care, sports, and the creative industries. He noted, for instance, that geothermal collaboration with countries like Kenya holds immense promise and that new direct air links could revolutionize tourism flows between Africa and the Caribbean.

The Prime Minister also situated his remarks in the historic Pan-African struggle, recalling figures such as Bob Marley, Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, and Kwame Nkrumah, and reaffirming the Caribbean’s longstanding role in the global movement for liberation and unity.

“…I want to bring a message from the Caribbean,” Dr. Drew declared. “That we are much integrated, and we are much interested in bringing a greater relationship with Africa as the continent and its sixth region. This will help us to create opportunities for our people and to rewrite a history, but a history not written by them, but a history written by us, for us, by us, for our own interest.”

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