The leaders of the six countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) will meet on August 18, 2021 in Yaoundé for an extraordinary summit convened by Cameroonian Head of State Paul Biya, its current president. The information was made official on August 10, 2021 in Douala during the extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Economic Union (UEAC). Beyond the other subjects of common interest which will be the subject of careful examination, the said meeting will be mainly devoted to the “report on the evolution of the macroeconomic situation in the CEMAC zone in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and analysis of remedial measures ”indicated the President of the CEMAC Commission, Daniel Ona Ondo.
The Conference of Heads of State is being held in a particular context, marked in particular by worrying security issues in the sub-region, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF), the deadline for the first generation of programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), negotiations and conclusions of a second phase of economic and financial programs between Brettons Woods and the CEMAC countries within the framework of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Credit Mechanism (ECM) and especially the health crisis linked to the coronavirus, the devastating effects of which have deconstructed the production tool.
A pandemic which led to a global economic recession of 3.3% and of which the CEMAC zone is particularly affected, with a community growth rate of -1.7% in 2020 against 2.5% in 2019. This means that Despite growth projected at 1.7% in 2021 and inflationary pressures at 2.7%, a sign of an expected economic recovery, the socioeconomic situation is not very bright for Central Africa, especially since this economy is backed by the oil, which represents more than 80% of the sources of income for most countries, is subject to a depreciation of prices on the international market. A difficult situation which requires “more vigilance and efficiency in the management of the public finances of the community” according to the Cameroonian Minister of Economy, Planning and Territorial Development, Alamine Ousman Mey, also president turning point of UEAC.
The next summit of heads of state, the first to be held face-to-face since the outbreak of the pandemic, constitutes a decisive phase for the future of CEMAC, both in the perspective of post-COVID economic recovery and on the community integration where the implementation of certain decisions is still expected due to blockages maintained by States, without forgetting the appointments in sub-regional institutions to provide an adequate response to the lapse of mandates.
