Central Africa: Cemac facing the challenge of its integration

They had not met “in person” since the extraordinary summit convened by President Paul Biya in November 2019. The leaders of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (Cemac), which brings together Cameroon, the Central African Republic , the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad, sealed their reunion in Yaoundé, at the Palace of Unity, on March 17, for the 15th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State. The meeting, which took place almost behind closed doors, in the middle of an electrical security device, in an atmosphere of state of siege, was to make up for lost time. The mandates of the current president of the regional organization, the Cameroonian Paul Biya, of the president of the Commission, the Gabonese Daniel Ona Ondo, and of several commissioners had indeed expired since 2021.

A hushed debate had agitated the chancelleries and kept observers in suspense: should CEMAC stick to the rule – in force since 2010 – which provides for a rotation of positions according to alphabetical order or should it take into account what diplomats coyly referred to as “peculiar geostrategic data”? In other words, could Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, under fire from international criticism for allowing the Russian paramilitaries of the Wagner Group to establish themselves in his country, could he succeed Paul Biya without weakening the organization? The heads of state, meeting in conclave, decided by preferring not to derogate from community rules. President Touadéra, “FAT”, after intense lobbying, therefore inherits the rotating presidency of the organization.

In the corridors, the delighted faces of the Central African delegates left no doubt: this designation is akin to a diplomatic victory for Bangui, which will regain a major role within the organization. The community institutions that had been relocated to Malabo in 2013 for security reasons will be relocating to the Central African capital within a few months. On the eve of his departure for Yaoundé, “FAT” had also taken care to inaugurate, in the company of the outgoing President of the Commission, nine rehabilitated villas intended for CEMAC executives. “The CAR is on the way out of its isolation, notes a regular in the mysteries of diplomacy. Bangui re-established dialogue with Washington by participating in the last United States-Africa summit, and relations with Paris eased after Emmanuel Macron and Faustin-Archange Touadéra saw each other in Libreville on March 2, on the sidelines of the Congo River Basin Forest Forum”. Another factor that weighed in on the decision of Central African leaders was the fear of a “domino effect” on appointments to head other community bodies. The removal, even temporarily, of Bangui would have set a precedent and would have exacerbated national rivalries for the remaining positions. The very conservative Paul Biya did not want to open this Pandora’s box. And some decisions have even remained pending, such as the appointment of the successor to the Gabonese Daniel Ona Ondo, who should be Equatoguinean…

Caution also prevailed on the other divisive subject of the summit, the possible reform of the functioning of the CFA franc in the CEMAC zone. In November 2019, during their last face-to-face meeting, the Heads of State had mandated the Bank of Central African States (the BEAC, the issuing institute) and the CEMAC commission to conduct an “in-depth reflection on the conditions and the framework of a new monetary cooperation with France” and to propose “schemes of evolution”. According to the magazine Jeune Afrique, the confidential report submitted to the Heads of State envisaged several strong options: the closure of the operations account with the Banque de France, the repatriation of foreign exchange reserves with the BEAC, a possible withdrawal representatives of the French Treasury and a change in the denomination of the currency (abandonment of the CFA franc in favor of the MAC, an acronym for Central African currency). A kind of copy-paste of the monetary reform initiated by the UEMOA countries (the monetary zone of West Africa, which soon provides for the transition from the CFA to the eco). Daniel Ona Ondo, in an interview with RFI given the day before the summit, had even driven home the point, by suggesting that the CEMAC countries could do without the Banque de France if they so decided, the French guarantee of convertibility not having hardly ever played. The leaders of Central Africa preferred to kick into touch. The issue was not mentioned in the final communiqué. The monetary big bang will wait…

This pause, which does not speak its name, will undoubtedly upset the supporters of “African sovereignty”, vociferous despisers of the CFA franc which symbolizes, in their eyes, the perpetuation of a link with this France that they hate. She was welcomed with much more serenity in the spans of the summit. “This debate around the CFA is a debate without stake from an economic point of view, slips a treasurer from one of the countries of the zone. It is purely ideological. Things can be improved, but the results of the current functioning are far from being bad. Cemac achieved the best continental performance in terms of inflation, with 5% on average, a difference of 9 points compared to the average of sub-Saharan Africa. With growth of 2.9% in 2022, which will accelerate to 3.3%, the region is not doing so badly. The real challenges that should concern us are the weakness of our local production, the lack of infrastructure, which penalizes trade, and the low valuation of our natural resources. »

The Conference of Heads of State also paid tribute to the “regional champion” of reforms, Denis Sassou-Nguesso. The Congolese President piloted the PREF Cemac, the program of economic and financial reforms, an instrument set up urgently in 2019 to coordinate responses to crises, guarantee the structural transformation of economies and strengthen resilience. “This mechanism has greatly contributed to the resilience and recovery of the economies of the region, analyzes the Congolese head of state. It has made it possible to fight against imbalances while CEMAC was faced between 2020 and 2023 with a triple shock of unprecedented magnitude, with the Covid-19 crisis, the food crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine and the resurgence of inflation, he continues. Today, other crucial challenges await us in a world that is being recomposed very quickly. We must create the conditions for Zlecaf and effective free movement in the CEMAC space. Emphasis must be placed on integration through infrastructure”. The 11 priority integrator projects selected for the 2023-2028 period also give pride of place to road and rail corridors, including the famous road-rail bridge which should connect, by 2028, the capitals of the two Congos, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. . “Holding this 15th CEMAC summit is a strong political act,” concludes Congolese Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso. It is a commitment and it is the reaffirmation of the will of the heads of state to succeed in community integration and to accelerate the reforms…”