Uhuru calls for cooperation as Kenya hosts first Africa-Caribbean Summit

•The summit is an initiative by Kenya to bring together African and Carribean Heads of State and Government to explore opportunities for deepening integration between the two regions.

•While presiding over the event, President Uhuru Kenyatta called for cooperation between the Heads of States in an effort to strengthen the cords of unity of the African people across the world.

Kenya on Tuesday hosted the first Africa-CARICOM Summit in an event that was held virtually.

The summit is an initiative by Kenya to bring together African and Carribean Heads of State and Government to explore opportunities for deepening integration between the two regions.

“Kenya is indeed grateful and feels honoured to host this inaugural Summit of what I believe, is the first of many such summits to follow in the future,” Uhuru said.

“Between the 16th and the 19th century, 10 -12 million enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas and the Caribbean. United by our heritage as one people of African descent, we meet today to start working together to confront the common challenges that face us, strengthen the historical and cultural ties that bind us, and build socio-economic and political linkages, that will promote shared prosperity and social progress for us all.”

Uhuru said the common historical experiences of slavery and colonialism inspired Africa’s founding fathers to form the Pan-African Movement in the 1900.

This movement was championed by the Africans in the diaspora, which established the foundations of arich and vibrant African-Caribbean relationship.

“Let us come together and seize the moment to harness the tremendous potential of this unique relationship into a powerful socio-economic, cultural, and political force,” Uhuru said.

He called upon the Heads to start working on achieving the blue economy which he said is possible due to the enormous resources in both Africa and the Caribbean regions.

“The African continent has 38 coastal and island states and a coastline of over 47,000 kilometers. And for all member states of the CARICOM, they enjoy access to approximately 1million square miles of the Caribbean Sea,” Uhuru said.