 It is a pleasure to be asked to speak on the second Caricom Africa Day. This project, Caricom Africa Musings, is a wonderful initiative that will improve upon the narrative of the Middle Passage as a journey that separated us to one that reunites us. The year of return, which began in Ghana in 2019, was the formal beginning of a journey back to the motherland, the place from which all human life stems. We in the Diaspora have recognized that throughout history, the progress of humankind has depended on how well we use the accumulated knowledge of the time to transform and advance our lives. In fact, many of the diaspora have been going home and making contributions too and learning from African countries for many, many years. So today as we celebrate Caricom Africa Day, I'd like to share three things from the continent that I believe we can benefit from. First, the spirit of Ubuntu. I am because you are. This speaks to our connectedness, our need for community spirit and dependence on cooperation and integration for our progress. Second, the spirit of Sankofa. Do not lose the benefits of looking back as you jump forward. It is beneficial to always look back and retrieve that which can be used effectively in charting our future. Third, in the spirit of Sankofa, there are a couple of Africa experiences in the financial and economic space that we can learn from. One is the African continental free trade area, which was established to fast track economic activity on the continent and position it to take a more prominent place in the global financial structure. It was accompanied by a strong drive for financial inclusion, including mobile technology and e-wallets to digitize economic activity in far-flung communities. With widened broadband access, citizens can trade across territories and the unbanked can step into the digital financial world. The other is the pan-African payment and settlement system, a single monetary market infrastructure that allows financial exchanges securely across the continent's borders. Uniquely, businesses can transact in local currency. Imagine how much easier that would make the lives of our entrepreneurs, as well as facilitating better management of our foreign reserves. Undoubtedly, the development agenda of our two regions is perfectly aligned. We must therefore harness those synergies and integrate them for the benefit of our peoples. The Caribbean Development Bank is a strong advocate of public education. And these musings create a platform for integrating and implementing our shared agenda that will see us stronger as a people and result in resilient prosperity for all. Happy Caricom Africa Day!