I will bet my bottom rand that many people in our beloved Mzansi know next to nothing about Barbados, perhaps except those who are into pop, R&B, reggae, dubstep, hip hop or electric dance music, who should be aware that this is where Rihana hails from.

I will be good enough to fill the uninitiated in on this small Caribbean island nation, which is just 34 km long and 23 km wide, covering 432 km2. That’s about two-thirds the size of the Tshwane metropole. Colonised by the British in the seventeenth century, it gained independence in 1966 and is now a constitutional democracy within the Commonwealth. Its 300 000-odd citizens enjoy one of the Eastern Caribbean’s highest per capita incomes.

Historically, the country’s economy was heavily dependent on sugar cane cultivation and related activities. However, in recent times, it has diversified into light manufacturing and tourism, among others.

Efforts to boost tourism have been particularly robust, and Africa, to which more than 90% of Barbadians can trace their ancestry, has been one of the tourist source regions in the cross hairs. When, in May, Barbados decided to drop tourist visa requirements for 30 countries across multiple regions, it made it a point to include eight African nations: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Morocco, Rwanda and Senegal. Scores of these countries’ citizens already visit the island, not only as tourists but also for business purposes.

“We recognise that Africa is a continent of 54 countries, many of [which] are showing growth rates of 5%, 6% and even 7% in the case of Rwanda; it is time for us to look more closely at that continent,” said Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Jerome Walcott. While we are at it, there seems to be confusion among some about whether there are 54 or 55 countries in Africa. Well, it depends on who you speak to. If it is the suits at the United Nations, who do not recognise the Saharawi Republic, then 54 is correct. But the African Union insists that the Saharawi Republic is a country in its own right and should therefore be included in the tally. For the uninitiated, the Saharawi Republic, more popularly known as Western Sahara, has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. But I digress.

Following the visa scrapping announcement, the Barbados government’s push to strengthen ties with African countries went into overdrive. In under two months, it played host to two African heads of State, Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, in June, and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, earlier this month.

Like Ghana and Kenya, Barbados is English speaking. But that was not the reason their Presidents were invited over. A Cabinet Minister explained the Caribbean country’s cosying up to the African countries following a reception held in Kenyatta’s honour: “Ghana is one of the fastest-growing countries on the African continent and certainly in West Africa it is the one that is leading the way.

“In East Africa, the Republic of Kenya is responsible for half the gross domestic product and is really making tremendous strides in terms of ease of doing business. Kenya has moved from 170-something to 61 in [terms of] ease of doing business [and that’s] because they have gone boots on the ground in a range of business reforms.”

Barbados wants to emulate Ghana and Kenya and has set itself the target of breaking into the world’s top 50 countries in terms of ease of doing business.

Besides wooing tourists from the African countries, Barbados also intends seeking collaboration on maritime matters, the blue economy and logistics and transport, among others.

But why did the Barbadians pass over Mzansi, choosing to forge closer ties with Kenya and Ghana instead? They have had diplomatic ties with Kenya since 2014 and now I hear they are moving to establish a diplomatic mission in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, before year-end. One would have thought that South Africa would be a firm favourite, as it is the most developed country on the continent. We used to be Africa’s largest economy; we lost that crown to Nigeria a few years back. Now we are no longer even one of the go-to countries when a tiny Caribbean country goes about searching for partnerships on the continent.