by Happy Africa Day! This day, celebrated in African countries and in several other countries around the world, commemorates the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity on 25 May 1963 (later superseded by the African Union). Today, we in the Caribbean join with our brothers and sisters of the 54 countries in Africa to celebrate this important day.
This year’s Africa Day theme is “Arts, Culture And Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”. Indeed, arts, culture and heritage can also be levers for building the Africa-Caribbean relationship that we want. Because of our common history and ancestry, the peoples of the Caribbean and Africa share many similarities in our music, culture, food and arts. A great example of this is the musical collaboration between two favourite artistes of mine Trinidadian Machel Montano and Nigerian Timaya a couple years ago. The arts provide fertile ground for deepening the bonds of friendship between our regions, promoting Africa-Caribbean trade, people-to-people exchange and other forms of engagement.
Afronomics Symposium on “Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations” – Deadline June 4
Of course, it would be remiss of me if I fail to mention the Call for Blogs for the upcoming Afronomics Blog Symposium on “Prospects for Deepening Africa-Caribbean Economic Relations” where we are encouraging blog submissions exploring aspects of the growing Africa-Caribbean relationship. Given the limited but promising trade and investment relationship between both regions, there is a dearth of scholarly analysis on the Africa-Caribbean economic relationship.
This Symposium aims to address this gap in international economic relations scholarship through considered analytical pieces exploring aspects of this understudied relationship. The deadline for the submission of blog contributions has been extended to Friday, June 4. For further information on the Call for Blogs and submission guidelines, please visit here.
