Africa, Caribbean and Pacific launch Business Forum

African countries have launched the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States ( OACPS) Business Forum to strengthen dialogue between governments and the private sector. Launched last month, through the OACPS Secretariat technical support, the forum will enable political leaders to engage with the private sector in a constructive manner via an open and inclusive publicprivate sector dialogue, said Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary- General of OACPS. “OACPS leaders have always recognized the crucial socioeconomic role played by our private sector, and in particular our micro, small and medium sized enterprises, in fostering the sustainable development of our countries by providing decent jobs, creating wealth, generating government revenue and driving foreign exchange,” said Chikoti. The forum comes less than two months after coming into force of the Revised Georgetown Agreement, which is the Constitutive Act of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.

According to private sector from across all OACPS regions, the Business Forum is one of the five ‘ subsidiary and consultative organs’ anticipated under the Georgetown Agreement. The agreement intends to promote dialogue and collaboration between OACPS governments, regional integration institutions and the private sector at national, regional and continental levels within and between the six OACPS regions.

In addition, the agreement is also expected to contribute to the formulation and implementation of private sector development policies and promoting knowledge sharing and information dissemination on private sector development issues, including the exchange of best practices between and within the six OACPS regions. Commenting on the initiative, Interim Chairperson of the OACPS Business Forum and CEO of the Botswana Exporters and Manufacturers Association ( BEMA), Mmantlha Sankoloba commended the efforts of the OACPS on ensuring the involvement of the OACPS private sector. “I believe a platform such as this one, basically affords us all a chance to learn from each other’s best practices and lead thoughts on how to overcome pertinent hurdles. I value experiences from other countries, getting to explore the practices each and every one of us has in place at their respective institutions,” said Sankoloba.