In accordance with the decision of the Board of Directors approved at the 26th session of the Annual Meetings held in Moscow, Russia, from 20 to 22 June 2019, the African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank) will soon be setting up its Central Africa headquarters in Cameroon. This country is the engine of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) and concentrates more than 40% of the economic weight of the sub-region.
These include a choice of “reason” by the leaders of this bank, the “candidature” of Cameroon was recorded a little late, compared to countries such as Congo, Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo (DRC) which had long before, applied to host the subregional headquarters. This, according to financial analysts suggests that this office subregion will cover the entire Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).
Unless changed, the banner of this banking group will soon float in Douala, the economic metropolis of Cameroon, and more precisely in the Bonanjo administrative center. And for good reason, “the shareholders have already given their agreement. The rest is just a matter of formality “, support sources close to the file. A device that suggests that the office in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which previously overseen the activities of the bank in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa will focus exclusively on Africa from the West and that the Cameroon office will be turned to Central Africa.
Afreximbank’s arrival in Central Africa comes against a backdrop of slight growth in sub-regional economies, with CEMAC recording a growth rate of 2.8% in 2018, compared to -0.8% in 2017, while projections are 3% in 2019 and 3.8% in 2020.
An economic recovery that “requires us to remain vigilant against the risks and some of the weaknesses our states face,” said Daniel Ona Ondo, the president of the CEMAC Commission, recently.
