About the Afro-Caribbean Leadership Forum
More Than a Summit — A Permanent Platform for Change
The idea for the Afro-Caribbean Leadership Forum emerged from a clear observation: despite deep historical, cultural, and ancestral ties, Africa and the Caribbean have never had a dedicated, women-led international forum to advance their shared interests.
Africa-Caribbean relations have historically been driven by diaspora connections, cultural exchange, and occasional state-level diplomacy — but rarely by a structured, annual leadership platform designed to produce trade agreements, health partnerships, investment deals, and policy commitments simultaneously.
At the same time, the model of the First Ladies forum — pioneered by organisations like OAFLAD (the Organisation of African First Ladies for Development) — has demonstrated the extraordinary power of bringing together women who hold the highest levels of access, influence, and moral authority in their countries. First Ladies can convene governments, mobilise resources, and drive national agenda-setting in ways that few others can.
The ACLF was conceived to combine both insights: the structured, outcome-oriented international summit format with the transformative power of First Ladies as forum conveners and champions — and to extend that power across the Atlantic, linking Africa with the Caribbean for the first time in this way.
Our Mission
To create an annual, high-level platform that connects the women of Africa and the Caribbean — across government, business, health, and civil society — to advance economic empowerment, improve health outcomes, promote sustainable tourism, protect the environment, and build lasting partnerships between two of the world’s most dynamic regions.
Our Vision
A world in which every woman in Africa and the Caribbean has the opportunity to lead, to build, to heal, and to thrive — and in which the partnership between these two regions is one of the most powerful forces for global development.
Our Values
✦ Solidarity — We believe in the power of women supporting women, across every border. ✦ Action Over Words — Every session, every declaration, every partnership must produce real, measurable impact. ✦ Inclusion — We represent the full diversity of Africa and the Caribbean: all nations, all languages, all cultures. ✦ Sustainability — We build for the long term: economically, environmentally, and institutionally. ✦ Dignity — We uphold the dignity, authority, and leadership of every woman in this room.