Bogota, Colombia, is preparing to host this week the High-Level Forum between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and African countries, a meeting aimed at strengthening political, economic, and cultural cooperation between the two regions.
Colombia’s vice president, Francia Marquez, officially presented the forum and highlighted that this event marks a key step toward consolidating ties between Latin America and Africa.
The forum, which will take place from March 18 to 21, will bring together delegations from numerous African and Latin American countries, as well as representatives from multilateral organizations and the business sector.
Marquez explained that the forum aims to create spaces for ongoing dialogue and agreements on trade, investment, food security, and technological cooperation, while also promoting historical and cultural recognition between the two continents.
Colombia to host the CELAC–Africa forum this week in Bogota
In her remarks to the press, Marquez emphasized that the forum seeks to strengthen cooperation between regions facing similar structural challenges, such as inequality, climate change, and the need to diversify their economies.
She explained that the meeting intends to promote agreements that expand trade, academic exchange, and technological cooperation among the participating countries.
The forum will also include a political and symbolic component. One of the sessions will focus on discussions about historical reparations and the memory of colonialism and slavery, topics present in the Colombian vice president’s international discourse. The agenda also includes panels on food security, energy transition, culture, and academic mobility between the two continents.
Delegations from at least 19 African countries are expected to participate, including Angola, Egypt, Senegal, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Colombian authorities consider the meeting could become a starting point for a more structured relationship between Latin America and Africa, two regions that have historically maintained limited ties despite sharing historical and cultural experiences.
For her part, Foreign Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio explained that the goal is to strengthen the biregional link and complement the formal CELAC–African Union dialogue. “This forum seeks to strengthen South-South cooperation between two regions representing more than 2 billion people … and create conditions for a future summit we can hold,” she noted.
América Latina, el Caribe y África comparten historias, potencialidades y desafíos que nos unen como pueblos y naciones.🌎
Bogotá será el epicentro del Foro de Alto Nivel #CELACÁFRICA2026, un encuentro histórico para fortalecer vínculos y proyectar un futuro sostenible. pic.twitter.com/hJWJNwyE4n
— Vicepresidencia Colombia (@ViceColombia) March 10, 2026
Francia Marquez’s African diplomacy
Since assuming the vice presidency, Marquez has promoted a diplomatic strategy aimed at reinforcing Colombia’s relations with Africa. In recent years, she has undertaken several official missions to the continent, visiting countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, where she has sought to open new spaces for political and economic cooperation.
These trips have included meetings with governments, development banks, and African investment funds, as well as with port authorities and regional organizations. The goal has been to expand commercial opportunities for Colombian companies and promote joint investment projects.
On one of her most recent missions, the vice president held meetings with financial institutions and logistics operators to facilitate Colombian entrepreneurs’ access to new African markets.
The diplomatic outreach also carries symbolic importance for Marquez, who has advocated for rebuilding historical ties between Africa and Latin America.
In various speeches, she has stated that the Atlantic routes, marked for centuries by the slave trade, must now become routes of cooperation, development, and mutual recognition between the societies of both continents.
Trade is still small but growing
Although political relations between Colombia and Africa have gained visibility in recent years, commercial exchange between the two regions remains relatively limited. Africa represents only a small fraction of Colombia’s foreign trade, although business volumes have shown a growing trend over the past decade.
According to international trade studies, in 2022, Colombia’s exports to Africa totaled approximately US$907 million, while African exports to Colombia amounted to around US$255 million. That same year, Colombia recorded a trade surplus of about US$652 million in its relationship with the African continent.
Colombian products reaching African markets include mineral fuels, coal, coffee, sugar, and various industrial goods such as tools and machinery. Conversely, Colombia imports fertilizers, seafood, textiles, and some manufactured goods from Africa.
Colombian authorities believe this trade still has considerable growth potential. Currently, around 145 Colombian companies export to different African markets, a number the government hopes to increase through trade agreements, business missions, and the opening of new logistical routes across the Atlantic.
In this context, the CELAC–Africa forum represents an opportunity to boost a relationship that has so far been marginal economically but that many governments consider strategic for diversifying markets and strengthening cooperation among Global South countries.
For Colombia, which seeks to expand its international presence beyond traditional partners, the meeting also represents a diplomatic effort to position itself as a bridge between Latin America and the African continent.