PM Terrance Drew voices for sustainability, bilateral cooperation while speaking at Abuja

St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew emphasized sustainable island state agenda as the model for St Kitts and Nevis, small island nations and African nations. Speaking at the Afri-Caribbean Summit in Abuja, he expressed delight in returning home and said that his government is guided by bold and transformative vision of sustainability. 

He added that the national mission of St Kitts and Nevis is to build a resilient, inclusive and self-reliant nation that thrives in the face of global challenges. PM Drew called climate change a serious threat and noted, “It is not a theoretical threat, hurricanes intensified, coastline depleted, however, we are not backing off, we are  positioning ourselves as leaders in innovation and sustainability.”  

PM Drew added that one of the steps included the investment in the geothermal energy they are actively moving their future where our electricity grid is powered primarily by clean renewable energy.  

“It is a model for small island nations and African nations as it is necessary or commitment to sustainability extend beyond energy,” added the prime minister.  

Agriculture Sector of St Kitts and Nevis 

PM Drew talked about agriculture sector and said that St Kitts and Nevis is also revamping its approach towards agriculture, food security but as a foundation of economic independence. 

“We are cultivating a new generation of farmers equipped with modern tools, climate resilient crops and a renewed sense of national pride.“ 
He asked for the partnership with Africa and added that Africa with their agri-intellect can be a critical partner in this journey, joint research, seed banks and technology partners between all region can revolutionize food production and distribution.  

CBI Programme 

PM added that for over four decades, St Kitts and Nevis has operated the oldest and most respected CBI Programme in the world, and they are transforming it into a development focus platform. Investments go directly into hospitals, schools, energy, technology and infrastructure.

St Kitts and Nevis’ transformative journey  

He added that St Kitts and Nevis became the mother colony of the whole of the Caribbean for Great Britain at that time. It was also the centre of French colonization in the Caribbean. One of the founding fathers of US Alexandar Hamilton was born on the island of St Kitts and Nevis.

The movement of decolonization started in 1935 before the second world in an uprising in St Kitts and Nevis that spread through all of Africa, the Caribbean and even Asia that forced the British to do a study. 

“We have always been a people who sought to be independent and free from oppression and today our link to the African continent in a next step in our journey.” 

He added, “As I stand on the Nigerian soil, I felt a surge of emotion that was difficult to articulate, it was a feeling of homecoming as our stories, cultures and ambitions are connected. Africa is not a distant relative to Caribbean, it is our mother and today we are returning with purpose, with vision and with unwavering belief.” 

Afri-Caribbean Summit 2025 

PM Drew noted that the summit is more than an assembly of minds, it is a declaration of intent. He said that today, they must chart towards sustained, strategic and structured collaboration, economic, cultural, political and spiritual.

Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew expressed pleasure and called Nigeria home. “It is my first trip that to what we term in the Caribbean as the motherland, that’s how we see Africa, we see ourselves as a part and parcel of this great continent.“

PM Drew said that 400 years ago, his fore parents left Africa on a very dire circumstances against their will to work for other people, to enrich them and to put them in a position where they would oppress not only these who they directly enslave but would oppress the very continent.  

“So today, I return not as an enslaved one but as a free child of Africa to reconnect and to say the world that we have come to recognize after many centuries of deceit and misrepresentation that we are one people indeed,“ said the prime minister.

Prime Minister Dr Drew arrived in Abuja on Monday for Afri-Caribbean Summit 2025. The summit is aimed at enhancing diplomatic, political and cultural ties between two regions. PM Drew will engage in several diplomatic talks and events to enhance strategic collaboration between Nigeria and St Kitts and Nevis.