Jamaica Gradually Strengthening Ties with Countries in Africa

Jamaica has been gradually strengthening diplomatic ties with countries across the African continent.

Last year, Jamaica and the Republic of Tunisia, a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, established diplomatic relations (September 26), with the signing of a Joint Communique by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith and her Tunisian counterpart, Mohamed Ali Nafti.

“Since I became Minister, we have been steadily entering into new diplomatic relations with countries on the African continent,” Mrs. Johnson Smith said.

The Minister was speaking at a recent Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank, held at the Television Department in Kingston, where she spoke of activities for Diplomatic Week 2025.

The Week is being observed from March 10 to 14, under the theme ‘Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development’.

Senator Johnson Smith said that the Republic of Tunisia is one of the most diverse economies on the continent of Africa.

She noted that the country has “an incredibly sophisticated history and experience in tourism”.

“We have not only identified this as a potential opportunity for strategic cooperation and the exchange of best practices but also as part of our broader foreign policy to engage more with countries within Africa and broaden our formal engagement,” the Minister said.

“While engaging in the multilateral arena allows for shared values and similar voting patterns in a world that has become more and more complicated, we think that formalising our relations is very important,” she added.

In September 2022, Jamaica formalised diplomatic relations with Liberia after Minister Johnson Smith signed a Joint Communique with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, His Excellency Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah Sr.

The Minister noted that the former First Lady of Liberia, Her Excellency Ambassador Clar Marie Weah is Jamaican.

“So, we have been looking at the landscape, consciously and through the Cabinet process, making sure that we enter diplomatic relations that will help deepen our engagement, multilaterally and bilaterally,” she added.