Latest news with #Grenada
Zawya
8 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
A Living Legacy: Flamboyant Tree Planted in Grenada to Honour Outgoing Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah
On the second day of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2025), a symbolic tree-planting ceremony was held in Grenada to honour Professor Benedict Oramah, outgoing President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) ( for his enduring contributions to Africa-Caribbean relations. The Flamboyant tree, native to Madagascar but widely rooted across the Caribbean, was chosen for its beauty and symbolic resonance. Known for its brilliant red blooms, it is seen as a representation of vitality, peace, and the promise of growth, which echoes the very principles that have defined Oramah's leadership. Grenada's Prime Minister, Hon. Dickon Mitchell led the tribute, praising Oramah's transformational impact across the region. 'This symbolic but substantive planting of a Flamboyant tree, a tree which originates from Madagascar but has found its way to the Caribbean and adorns the landscape wherever you go, and when it blooms its beautiful red flowers inspire beauty, tranquility, and peace in all of us, is reflective of the significant role that you have played in ensuring that Global Africa can rise, can blossom, can bloom and can stand as a testament and a legacy for future generations,' Prime Minister Mitchell said. In response, President Oramah expressed his deep gratitude to Grenada and the wider Caribbean community: 'As an agricultural economist, I know the value of a plant. In the food life cycle, it is the plant that stands as an anchor. As I join the Honourable Prime Minister in planting this tree, I am reminded that I have found a very deep anchor in Grenada and the CARICOM.' Reflecting on the symbolism, he continued: 'A person who plants a tree must tend the tree, a person who plants a tree must come and harvest the tree, a person who plants the tree must always make sure that the tree lasts and lasts… That is why I regard this as that anchor that will bring me here and keep me here.' 'Africa is the cradle of civilisation. Africa has given the world life, and to use this tree planting to honour me means that you value the work we are doing to give life to people. I would like to reassure you that I will do whatever I can, until I'm not able to do anything, to keep us marching on-- something I believe we are all committed to.' The tree planting took place as ACTIF2025 enters its second day, bringing together high-level government officials, business leaders, and civil society from Africa and the Caribbean to deepen economic and cultural integration under the theme: 'Resilience and Transformation: Enhancing Africa-Caribbean Economic Cooperation in an Era of Global Uncertainty.' Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afreximbank. Media Contact: Vincent Musumba Communications and Events Manager (Media Relations) Email: press@ Follow us on: X: Facebook: LinkedIn: Instagram: About Afreximbank: African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade. For over 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa's trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank has set up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2024, Afreximbank's total assets and contingencies stood at over US$40.1 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$7.2 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody's (Baa2), China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd (CCXI) (AAA), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB-). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its equity impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, "the Group"). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Fortune Hotel series 2 line-up includes ex-police officer and poker player
From a retired police officer to a poker player, ITV casts different people to take on the challenge The Fortune Hotel is opening its doors for a second series, with holidaymakers checking into the resort in the Caribbean. From a retired police officer to a poker player, ITV casts people of all ages who are from different parts of the country and coming from a variety of backgrounds. There are partners, best friends, parents and children, many different combinations of people competing for the prize money. Not unlike BBC's The Traitors, The Fortune Hotel has been a success and will return to the rival channel over the summer. "You can't trust anyone at The Fortune Hotel" is the seductive tagline for the TV show. Stephen Mangan fronts the reality series that has the glamorous backdrop of a five-star resort in the Caribbean, Silversands Grenada at Grand Anse. Host Mangan revealed his top three celebrity guest choices would be Alan Carr, George Washington and Muhammad Ali. Mother and son duo Jo-Anne and Will were the winners of the cash last series. They chose to give the runners up £5,000 commiserations money! Contestants are competing for an envy-inducing £250,000 prize fund. The cast have been kept a secret in the lead up to the show airing, until now. The Fortune Hotel was filmed in secret at the end of last year, in October/November. The Fortune Hotel line-up Marilyn and Maxine Jobs: Mental health practitioner and Tech Strategist Ages: 46 and 41 Marilyn and Maxine headed into The Fortune Hotel as best friends. They are better known as Maz and Max. Summing herself up in a few words, Maz said: "I'm a deep thinker, I can be sassy but I'm loyal!" Max said of herself: "I'm definitely an adventurous girly in every sense of life! Since COVID I try to never say no to anything so I've been travelling - I'm 34 countries down now and cracking on! I'm also really compassionate, I always try to be there for all the people be there for all the people I love." Chelsey and Briony Jobs: Cleaning business owners/ content creators Ages 34 and 33 Chelsey and Briony, from Wigan, are also best friends who took on the extraordinary challenge. "We felt like we were having an early mid-life crisis, we were working and being mums so we wanted an adventure and something different," Chelsey said. Briony also said: "I watched the first series and absolutely loved it! We wanted to enter it as it's an adventure with your best friend in a lovely sunny destination. Yes please!" Watch The Fortune Hotel series 2 trailer Atholl and John Jobs: Retired police officer and waiter Ages: 58 and 30 As a retired police officer, the dad plans to hunt down the brief case with the £250,000 with his son. They travelled a long way to the Caribbean from the Scottish borders; the father and son think they have the skills to go far in the competition. Atholl said: "A lot of people are drawn to me, I'm quite a friendly person. My dad can deal with who the liars are as he's a retired police officer so has done a lot with body language. Even when I was growing up, I could never lie! From being his son, I'm a great judge of character. If I have an inkling on something, I'm never normally wrong. I also remember details well, my memory is really good." John said: "It's the ability to listen to people and gather information. Body language does tell you a lot." Jake and Mike Jobs: Construction Worker and Energy Surveyor Ages: 29 and 33 Like Chelsey and Briony they too are from Wigan. However, they were the only brothers in the competition. The siblings joked they would love to spend the £250k winnings on Las Vegas. More seriously though, they reveal why they took part. Mike said: "We didn't watch the first series but as soon as I saw there was a holiday in the Caribbean and quarter of a million pounds to be won, I was like let's do it! It was a no brainer." Jake agreed: "A holiday in the Caribbean, who wouldn't?" Allan and Jacob Jobs: Events and aviation staffer / cabin crew Ages: 38 and 33 The couple, from Aberdeen and Huddersfield, have already gone through a major life change since filming last year; they have moved to London. They have been together 10 years and hinted if they won the £250k, perhaps it's time they got married. Allan said: "The [Fortune Hotel is the] most memorable thing we've done in our lives! To be chucked out of a plane, on to a boat with 20 other strangers all trying to fight for a suitcase, was just the most bizarre thing that we've ever done. To do it as a couple, it was the most remarkable thing we've done together!" Jacob agreed: "It was just amazing, everyone was so nice, we had the best time. It just took over our lives, leading up to it and filming it, it was incredible." Gurks and Guv Jobs: Commercial Manager/ Poker Player and Energy Salesman Ages: 28 and 35 Despite the seven year age gap, Gurks and Guv are good friends. One of them working as a poker player was always going to come in handy. Guv said: "We both have telepathy with one another, we just give each other a look. We know [who to trust and who to be wary of]!" Gurks added: "It's all about asking people a question and seeing how they respond, you can see what's genuine and who was playing a game." James and Yasmine Jobs: Teaching assistant and carpet fitter Ages: 45 and 23 The dad and daughter from Huddersfield competed on the ITV show. As a teaching assistant and a carpet fitter, they brought their individual skills to the game. James and Yasmine revealed the heartwarming reason they decided to take part in the show. The dad said: "To experience something I'd never do in my everyday life. My son, James got diagnosed when he was 19 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and we wanted to give something like this a go. When I got through he told me: "Do it, just do it! What an amazing zin thing."James is in remission and was going back to uni so Yasmine came. She wasn't complaining when she was on the beach with a cocktail! Yasmine agreed: "We wanted to show people after you hear the word cancer, life can carry on." Nella and Tope Jobs: Senior Financial Accountant and Finance Business Partner Ages: 31 and 34 The couple immersed themselves in The Fortune Hotel game. Both having jobs in finance, it's expected they'll have a similar method. In a fairly new relationship, they don't mind admitting the show could have been make or break for them. Nella said: "It would've been make or break for us in our relationship! We'd only been together for two and a half years when we applied for the show. If we didn't work well together it could have been make or break! But luckily enough for us, the show made our relationship stronger. I was like wow-he's wow- he's actually right sometimes!" Tope hailed the experience as "mesmerising, enlightening and adventurous". Sue and Jeremy Jobs: Tech broker and Residential Property Management Ages: 59 and 23 Last year's winners were a mother and son duo. This year, Sue and Jeremy were the only mother and son in the competition and they were convinced they could win. Jeremy said: "I'm very driven, competitive and I'm quite a strategic person. I like to think I'm quite convincing and deceiving." Sue said: "I think I'm very good at reading people, but it was more difficult and complicated than anyone will ever realise. It tested my brain power, it really did! When you're there everyone is playing a game!" Fred and Min Jobs: Retired Ages: 60 and 59 Life partners Fred and Min, from Blackpool, decided to try out something different with The Fortune Hotel. Of course, with £250k up for grabs, they said they were in it to win it. "No amount of money could buy that experience," Min added. "It was just amazing." Fred said: "[The Fortune Hotel] Probably was the best experience we've had to date. Can we go again please?" The life partners had a plan. "Bluff them, blag them and fake it til you make it! It was our last hurrah!" Fred said. Martina and Briony Jobs: Office Manager and Declutter Ages: 68 and 32 Mother and daughter duo Martina and Briony from Brighton, were determined to win the £250,000 brief case. Martina said: "At my age, people would think you couldn't do something like this, I wanted to prove them wrong. Briony rang me and said do you fancy going to the Caribbean for a holiday? holiday? And I said yes!" Briony doesn't shy away from admitting she wanted to win to use the money for fertility treatment and a new car too. Is Fortune Hotel like The Traitors? How does it work? Like The Traitors, The Fortune Hotel is a cat and mouse game that is based on deception and lies. Set at a luxury resort, The Fortune Hotel's pairs are given a briefcase. The contents are entirely secret, except to those in possession of the case. All of the briefcases are empty except two: one containing the £250,000 jackpot and the other containing an early check out card. They swap cases in a bid to steal the prize money and swerve the check out early card. One pair always ends up going home, until we have the winners. Some curveballs are in store for the contestants taking part in the second series, as ITV has confirmed that it will feature "new vital Day Trip challenges filled with devious surprises, updated Room Service games that now take place around the hotel and sneaky surprises that will make keeping hold of that coveted case containing the £250,000 even harder". Host Mangan said: "I am absolutely thrilled to have returned to the sunshine to check in a new set of unsuspecting guests to The Fortune Hotel. The stakes are higher, the games are bigger, and the twists are even more unexpected. I can't wait for viewers to witness all the drama, the laughter, and jeopardy of the high-stakes competition this time around. It's going to be quite the ride!" Is The Fortune Hotel a real hotel? And yes, the reality series is filmed at a real hotel in the Caribbean. Silversands Grenada at Grand Anse is the stage for The Fortune Hotel. It is a gorgeous beach hotel on one of the Caribbean's most southern islands. Of filming there, Mangan previously said: "We took over the entire resort and I got to have a very nice suite without having to pay for it. The presidential suite, which was bigger than my house, it took me four minutes to walk from one side of the living room to the other, it was that big. "I had a balcony that looked over the ocean which was west facing so every night we got a view of the sunset and sunsets in the Caribbean are incredible." The Fortune Hotel is set to return to ITVX over the summer.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Caribbean seeks stronger Africa trade as traditional routes waver
By Sarah Morland (Reuters) -Caribbean nations are looking to "decisively" broaden opportunities for trade with Africa, the secretary-general of its regional bloc said on Monday, in view of looming uncertainty with its more traditional trade partners. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Stronger trade ties with Africa would signal a key economic shift in a region relies heavily on trade with the U.S., Canada and Europe, in a period of growing protectionism. In April, Washington imposed a baseline 10% tariff on nearly all its trade partners. It has been levying its power to influence domestic Caribbean policies on issues such as Cuban medical services and citizen-by-investment programs. KEY QUOTE "We must decisively open the door to greater trade between our regions," Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Carla Barnett said at the opening of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Grenada. "CARICOM trade with the Continent must grow beyond the current levels of less than 3% of our overall trade, particularly with the uncertainty that currently looms over trade with traditional partners." BY THE NUMBERS The U.S. is CARICOM's largest trading partner, according to latest data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). The U.S. bought a quarter of the bloc's $38.8 billion in exports shipped throughout 2023, according to OEC data, and sold 39% the $43.4 billion worth of goods imported into the region. CONTEXT Caribbean nations remain particularly vulnerable to global economic shocks such as inflation and pandemics, due to their reliance on tourism, imported food and fuel, and their exposure to climate-related disasters. Barnett said the region has already collaborated with Africa on so-far unsuccessful campaigns for slavery reparations from former colonizers and for compensation from rich nations for climate change, which disproportionately affects small island states. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Caribbean seeks stronger Africa trade as traditional routes waver
By Sarah Morland (Reuters) -Caribbean nations are looking to "decisively" broaden opportunities for trade with Africa, the secretary-general of its regional bloc said on Monday, in view of looming uncertainty with its more traditional trade partners. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Stronger trade ties with Africa would signal a key economic shift in a region relies heavily on trade with the U.S., Canada and Europe, in a period of growing protectionism. In April, Washington imposed a baseline 10% tariff on nearly all its trade partners. It has been levying its power to influence domestic Caribbean policies on issues such as Cuban medical services and citizen-by-investment programs. KEY QUOTE "We must decisively open the door to greater trade between our regions," Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Carla Barnett said at the opening of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Grenada. "CARICOM trade with the Continent must grow beyond the current levels of less than 3% of our overall trade, particularly with the uncertainty that currently looms over trade with traditional partners." BY THE NUMBERS The U.S. is CARICOM's largest trading partner, according to latest data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). The U.S. bought a quarter of the bloc's $38.8 billion in exports shipped throughout 2023, according to OEC data, and sold 39% the $43.4 billion worth of goods imported into the region. CONTEXT Caribbean nations remain particularly vulnerable to global economic shocks such as inflation and pandemics, due to their reliance on tourism, imported food and fuel, and their exposure to climate-related disasters. Barnett said the region has already collaborated with Africa on so-far unsuccessful campaigns for slavery reparations from former colonizers and for compensation from rich nations for climate change, which disproportionately affects small island states.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Caribbean seeks stronger Africa trade as traditional routes waver
July 28 (Reuters) - Caribbean nations are looking to "decisively" broaden opportunities for trade with Africa, the secretary-general of its regional bloc said on Monday, in view of looming uncertainty with its more traditional trade partners. Stronger trade ties with Africa would signal a key economic shift in a region relies heavily on trade with the U.S., Canada and Europe, in a period of growing protectionism. In April, Washington imposed a baseline 10% tariff on nearly all its trade partners. It has been levying its power to influence domestic Caribbean policies on issues such as Cuban medical services and citizen-by-investment programs. "We must decisively open the door to greater trade between our regions," Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Carla Barnett said at the opening of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Grenada. "CARICOM trade with the Continent must grow beyond the current levels of less than 3% of our overall trade, particularly with the uncertainty that currently looms over trade with traditional partners." The U.S. is CARICOM's largest trading partner, according to latest data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). The U.S. bought a quarter of the bloc's $38.8 billion in exports shipped throughout 2023, according to OEC data, and sold 39% the $43.4 billion worth of goods imported into the region. Caribbean nations remain particularly vulnerable to global economic shocks such as inflation and pandemics, due to their reliance on tourism, imported food and fuel, and their exposure to climate-related disasters. Barnett said the region has already collaborated with Africa on so-far unsuccessful campaigns for slavery reparations from former colonizers and for compensation from rich nations for climate change, which disproportionately affects small island states.
