As global trade buckles under rising tariffs and geopolitical turbulence, African and Caribbean nations are being forced to reckon with an unsettling reality: economic dependence is a vulnerability, not a strategy.
The latest wave of U.S. tariffs, rooted in Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine, has jolted supply chains and prompted uncomfortable reflection among countries long plugged into Western commercial circuits.
And yet, even amid this disruption, Africa and the Caribbean remain glaringly disconnected from each other, a paradox made more troubling by their intertwined histories.
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This lack of trade isn’t a matter of distance or demand. It’s the residue of systems that were never meant to serve them, systems designed to loop goods through London, Paris, or Miami before they ever reach regional neighbors.
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In a recent episode of The BreakDown podcast, host Sandra Babu-Boateng posed a simple but urgent question: What’s really stopping Africa and the Caribbean from direct trade? Her insights challenge both regions to rethink their assumptions and rewrite the rules. Watch the full discussion below and subscribe to PanaGenius TV for more.
Right now, the numbers are almost laughably low: under 0.1% of African exports go to the Caribbean, and only 1.4% of Caribbean exports reach Africa. That’s not just underperformance — it’s strategic neglect.
The reasons are no mystery. The absence of direct transport routes, trade agreements, and shared digital platforms makes even the smallest deal impractical.
“Connected by blood, but not by business,” Babu-Boateng says — a line that captures the heartbreak and the opportunity in one breath.
Goods traveling between Accra and Kingston are often forced to detour through European ports, a colonial echo that adds cost, time, and dependency to every shipment.
This isn’t inefficiency, it’s architecture. It’s logistics designed by history to serve someone else’s bottom line.
And it leaves both regions locked in a cycle: without infrastructure, trade is too expensive; because trade is rare, infrastructure never arrives.
Tariffs as high as 28% pile on, while entrepreneurs flounder in the dark, unable to locate potential partners, buyers, or suppliers across the ocean.
There are no regional directories. No shared databases. No tools to connect what should already be connected.
But if this disconnection is by design, it can also be dismantled and replaced.
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According to the International Trade Centre, trade between the two regions could surge to $1.8 billion annually by 2028 if even a handful of barriers were addressed.
From small-batch fashion and renewable energy tech to processed foods and digital media, entire industries stand to benefit — not from aid, but from access.
This corridor wouldn’t just create new markets; it would cushion both regions from the economic whiplash of Western political shifts.
“It’s about sovereignty,” Babu-Boateng insists. “It’s about choosing ourselves first.”
But sovereignty doesn’t come from sentiment. It comes from structure, from actionable moves like a comprehensive AU–CARICOM trade agreement to reduce tariffs and harmonize regulations.
Even one direct shipping route — say, from Ghana’s Tema Port to Trinidad’s Port of Spain — could slash costs and signal serious intent.
Shared trade expos, digital directories, and business matchmaking tools could close the information gap that strangles so much potential.
An Africa-Caribbean investment fund, co-owned and co-managed, could unlock capital for logistics, warehousing, and light manufacturing — turning intention into infrastructure.
Yet none of these steps will matter without a clear political signal: we are ready to trade with each other, on our own terms.
The goal isn’t just to move goods, it’s to redraw the map.
This is about stepping out of inherited patterns and into self-defined prosperity.
The promise isn’t just economic; it’s narrative. It’s the chance to become the storytellers of their own development arc.
“In a world where one election in Washington can tank your economy,” Babu-Boateng reminds us, “the boldest thing we can do is turn to each other.”
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