 Thank you for your kind invitation to participate in this Public Education Activity-themed Caricom Africa Musings to mark Africa Caricom Day. The first Africa Caricom Summit took place virtually on 7 September 2021 under the theme Unity Across Continents and Oceans – Opportunities for Deepening Integration. This first-ever African-Caribbean Summit was celebrated as a path to stronger economic and social ties between the two global communities. The fact that the two international communities agreed to establish a permanent forum where issues affecting both sides may be discussed was groundbreaking and I congratulate both regions. It augurs well for the solidification of structures through which policies could be developed and implemented. There have been many dialogues between the Caribbean and Africa which have materialised because of natural historic affinity and commonality. These engagements have taken place firstly at the level of conversations on enslavement, decolonisation and the consolidation of independence and secondly at the level of integration, alliance building and the strengthening of the bonds between Africa and the African diaspora. Most recently they have concentrated on development, capacity building and common futures. The historical parallels between the two regions provide the basis for cooperation but the opportunity for contemporary linkages provide the basis for these potential prospects. Let us make these more consistent and less tentative. When I think of Africa Caracom Day, I am energised by the prospect that at last we can reconnect at the level of the people. The years of trauma that has separated us means that we are now being given the opportunity to re-establish the bonds that make us one people. While many are excited about the economic prospects which are essential for both regions repositioning themselves globally, I am excited about the prospect of our conversations about commonalities and our civilisations. For too long we have been distant because we have brought into the propaganda that we are different. Let us reacquaint ourselves with each other. Let our people be active in our reintegration. Let us move boldly together. So let us establish the embassies, set up the banks and negotiate the trade and investment protocols. Let us modernise our countries through renewable energy, digital technology and artificial intelligence. Let us collaborate on global issues like restructuring the global financial systems, debt financing, climate change and vulnerability. But let us move swiftly towards enhancing transportation, collaborating on the creative industries. Let us tell our own stories through the joint CARACOM AU, electronic mass media platform. And let us remove visa restrictions so that we can welcome each other to our homes. Let us bring a new people-centred sustainable consciousness to this new enterprise.