Africa and the Caribbean are intensifying efforts to strengthen economic ties and unlock access to a combined $40 trillion market as stakeholders gear up for the 2026 edition of the Aquarian Consult Afro-Caribbean Investment Summit.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Chief of Staff at Aquarian Consult Ltd, Serumun Ubwa, said the forthcoming summit would build on measurable gains recorded during the 2025 edition while broadening collaboration across agriculture, healthcare, trade and investment.
Ubwa explained that the platform was established to give African enterprises a structured avenue to engage their Caribbean counterparts in dialogue designed to yield concrete partnerships and commercial outcomes.
She recalled that the inaugural 2025 summit, which featured Saint Kitts and Nevis as the focus country, marked a watershed in interregional engagement, attracting a high-level delegation led by the nation’s Prime Minister and senior officials. The gathering, she noted, resulted in multiple bilateral meetings and agreements between public institutions and private stakeholders.
Among the highlights, she described as historic the launch of the first direct flight from Nigeria to Saint Kitts and Nevis — the first direct air connection between Africa and the Caribbean state. Several memoranda of understanding and letters of intent were also executed in agriculture and cultural exchange, alongside a $40 million deep-water port agreement.
According to her, the outcomes demonstrated that the initiative had progressed beyond discussions to tangible results, citing product exhibitions by Nigerian firms in 2025 that reportedly sold out, while additional partnerships remain under negotiation.
Building on that momentum, organisers have expanded the 2026 programme to include two specialised high-level gatherings — the Afro-Caribbean Agriculture and Food Security Summit scheduled for March 23–24, and the Afro-Caribbean Health Summit slated for March 26 — in addition to the main investment summit fixed for March 25–28.
Ubwa stated that agriculture and healthcare emerged as priority sectors following bilateral engagements after the maiden edition, noting that the Caribbean’s heavy dependence on food imports presents a strategic opportunity for African producers to penetrate new export markets while helping to reduce food costs in the region.
She added that ministerial roundtables would focus on policy alignment to ease direct trade flows, while structured business-to-business and business-to-government matchmaking sessions are designed to accelerate cross-border deals and joint ventures.
The summit is projected to attract over 2,000 participants, including present and former heads of government, investment promotion agencies, multilateral institutions, sovereign wealth funds and private-sector leaders. An expanded Investor Deal Room is also expected to showcase opportunities across key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, tourism, creative industries, energy and digital technology.
Despite these prospects, trade between Africa and the Caribbean currently accounts for less than one per cent of total global trade volumes — a statistic organisers say highlights both the scale of the challenge and the vast potential for growth.
Ubwa stressed that sustained government participation will be crucial to maintaining momentum, noting that policy coordination remains essential for enabling private-sector expansion across borders. She described ACIS 2026 as more than a conference, calling it a strategic framework for building a transatlantic economic bridge capable of transforming shared historical ties into structured commerce, institutional investment flows and long-term partnerships.
