An architect of the ACP - Profile of Sir Shridath Ramphal

Sir Shridath Ramphal is one of the architects of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. From 1975-1990, he was Secretary General of the Commonwealth. He continues to work on environmental, governmental and other developmental challenges and is a fervent advocate of Caribbean integration.

Considered to be the Caribbean’s leading former statesperson, his career extends across continents. He returned to his native, then British Guiana, in 1953 after completing legal training in the United Kingdom. In 1965, he was invited by Forbes Burnham, the Prime Minister, to become Attorney General and drafted the new constitution of Guyana, as the nation was known on gaining independence in 1966. Awarded a knighthood in 1970, two years later he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and was instrumental in shaping a non-aligned policy for the country. He is revered for his skilful diplomacy in assembling 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific states to embark on negotiations on a wide-ranging aid and trade agreement with the former European Economic Community (EEC) of nine countries. Individual ACP states signed the Georgetown Agreement in Guyana in 1975 to form the ACP Group and subsequently sealed the accord with the EU known as the Lome I Convention (1975-1980).

Strong ACP bonds

Sir Shridath explained that negotiations on Lome I were the first occasion where countries of the South had negotiated a comprehensive and innovative regime of economic relations with the developed world. It included special trade preferences - including sugar, bananas and rice - for ACP states. “It was a new salutary experience for Europe; it was a new and reassuring experience for the ACP States,” said the former foreign minister who was a key ACP negotiator in Lome I talks. In a recent interview with the Courier at the beginning of 2011, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Guyana’s incumbent foreign minister, said that Sir Shridath had made her very conscious of the enduring strong bonds between ACP states. “The original aim of the Georgetown Agreement was always to make its remit broader than just relations with Europe,” she told us. Recent geopolitical shifts and the current uncertainty hanging over future relations between the ACP and EU after the expiry of the Cotonou Convention (2008-2013) have widened the ACP’s outlook. Pursuing the vision of Sir Shridath and the architects of the ACP, the group is currently seeking to forge partnerships with other nations and entities including China, Brazil and India.  

However, the lack of political will among Caribbean leaders to advance integration within their own region preoccupies Sir Sridath. Referring to a new study of the Institute of International Relations of the University of West Indies, he stressed to an audience in Jamaica in July 2011 that Caribbean issues required regional solutions. “Climate change, transnational crime, the decline of regional industries, food security, governance challenges, international diplomacy and so on are problems which can only be effectively addressed by co-ordinated regional responses,” read the study.

On a global front, Sir Shridath continues to work on weighty development issues, such as international migration, through the Ramphal Centre, the London-based intellectual hub on policy issues that he set up in 2008. It provides analysis and aims to generate ideas to assist Member States of the 54 Commonwealth countries and other nations with their policy-making.

Found out more about the Ramphal Centre: wwwramphalcentre.org