CEMAC Heads of State in Yaounde
By Ahone Heidi Che
The extraordinary Conference of CEMAC Heads of State in Yaoundé hosted 16 Dec. 2024 by Cameroon’s President Biya has wrapped up. The CEMAC leaders at the end of the conference called for prudent budget, oil funds control, new agreements with the IMF for funding, and committed to regional solidarity and cooperation to address financial shocks.
The leaders all agreed on the perilous economic situation in 2025 awaiting the different CEMAC countries given the new IMF economic conditionality.
President Biya declared that a tough international climate had negatively impacted public finances, with recent data showing a serious drop in foreign assets, noting the situation required urgent action. Leaders pointed that forex reserves, which had improved from 2.3 months of imports in 2016 to 4.6 months in 2023, have witnessed a decline in 2024. This probably makes the need for an IMF injection of USD necessary.
The Conference called for measures by states and regional institutions to take measures to manage the sovereign risks of banks, and for states to pursue cautious debt taking, prioritising concessional loans.
Finally, it pleads with development partners to help states raise funds.
CEMAC Heads of State want to tread carefully with loans, budgets and foreign currency reserves. If measures fail to stem macroeconomic worries, a more difficult approach may become necessary to avoid an economic and financial crisis for Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Rep and Equatorial Guinea.
In attendance, aside from the Heads of State and Government or their representatives: International Monetary Fund, World Bank, African Development Bank and France.
The members express satisfaction at the end of the one day summit.
“We are fully satisfied because the objectives sought have been achieved and I believe that the best is yet to come in terms of sub-regional integration and economic growth,” notes the President of Central African Republic.
