Members Showcase

The Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has once more pondered on some of the issues that need to be addressed in order to enhance its development. This year, on the occasion of the eighth edition of what has become known as CEMAC days, which stretched from March 10 through 16, reflections centred on the theme; “Natural Resources: Stakes and Challenges.”

Citizens of the six countries were urged to discuss how best to improve on the management of the resources of their various countries, handle issues related to transparency and good governance as well as the diversification of economic resources in the sub region.

It was certainly not by chance that authorities of CEMAC came up with a theme that relates to natural resources considering the enormous resources that exist in the sub region, but which unfortunately are poorly extracted and managed leaving the sub region one, if not, the least developed in the African continent.

Come to think of it, the six nations that make up CEMAC have not been able to translate decisions, some of them taken at very high level into practical implementation. The consequences have been quite telling with member countries spending all their time talking integration and living separation. It is not clear why this is happening but from every indication, there is an iota of self-centredness and an absence of “sub regional patriotism.”

The things that are holding back the development of the CEMAC sub region cannot be farfetched. Member States are characterised by institutional bad governance and resistant to putting up a harmonised attractive business climate. For a sub region like CEMAC with its rich natural resources to develop, there must be concerted action to boost trans-national infrastructure and structures that militate in favour of competiveness.

All this is happening at very disappointing pace especially when one observes that authorities have for years been talking about identifying and valorising the vast agro-industrial potentials in the sub region. The laxity with which reforms are being carried out have kept the sub region on one spot.  This couldn’t have been otherwise. Reforms such as those instituting a sub regional airline company (Air CEMAC), sub regional biometric passport, CEMAC intra-community trade and harmonisation of mining legislation among others have been moving at snail pace.

No one is against the celebration of CEMAC days, but it is important to question what in effect are we celebrating; failure in the implementation of reforms drawn up by the member countries themselves? CEMAC has for the past years been suffering from a clear lack of international competitiveness. Despite the fixed parity of the CFA franc (XAF) to the Euro (EUR), the trade surplus has never worked in its favour.

The European Union Commissioner in Charge of Trade states inter alia that the sub-region has the lowest trade intra-action in the African continent. Employment in exposed sectors continues to stagnate indicating that industries in the sub-region have failed to maintain their outstanding competitive performance. In most of its member countries, industrial wages are extremely low, a situation worsened by inflation subsequent to the depreciation of the CFA franc (XAF) in 1994. This state of affairs readily calls for regret.