Brazzaville Opens New Chapter for CEMAC

The 11th Summit of CEMAC Heads of State ended in Brazzaville on an optimistic note.

Some critics may be wondering what the various leaders of the member countries of the Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC took back home after their 11th session in Brazzaville, Congo on July 25, 2012. As a supreme organ in the Sub-region, the Summit of Heads of State of CEMAC has the major task of giving the global guidelines that the Community must follow. Consequently, the sense of direction indicated in Brazzaville and qualified by all the Heads of State as determinant cannot be interpreted otherwise.

Reforms: The final communiqué of the Brazzaville Summit carried some underpinnings on the way forward. For instance, the Heads of State said henceforth no country will host an institution and provide the candidate to head such a structure. That means neither Cameroon that hosts the headquarters of BEAC or the Central African Republic that hosts the headquarters of the CEMAC Commission will ever provide the Governor of BEAC or the President of the Commission respectively. Thus, individual country achievements that have until now stifled debates within CEMAC might also find a suitable solution with the idea of post rotation whereby member countries will in an alphabetical order nominate candidates for various posts within the institutions of CEMAC for a five-year non renewable term.

Reacting to this aspect of the reforms that have gone operational within CEMAC as far as the occupation of posts is concerned, President Paul Biya told reporters that the decision not only gave room for the various countries to appoint experienced official at specific moments in the life of the organisation, but also helped in rendering CEMAC more dynamic and forward looking.

It must have been with the same spirit in mind that the 11th Session of CEMAC just indicated which countries can nominate candidates for which posts according to the new reorganisation of CEMAC. Consequently, Congo Brazzaville will have to provide the next candidate for the post of Executive President of the CEMAC Commission to take over from Antoine Ntsimi from Cameroon. To ensure that the new rules do not handicap the functioning of CEMAC institutions, the Heads of State pointed out that those who currently hold the various posts that need new hands as per the reforms will have to provide the transitional assistance for their successors. For example, Antoine Ntsimi will have to ensure a smooth transition between him and his successor chosen from the Republic of Congo.

Public opinion in Brazzaville holds that it will be Pierre Moussa, out gone President of the CEMAC Council of Ministers. Should the Congolese government confirm be Pierre Moussa's candidature, he will have to work with his predecessor, Antoine Ntsimi. The date for such nominations was however not stated.

Concerning Air CEMAC, a strategic partner was identified to be Air France and the company is expected to operate according to the dictates of the Yamoussoukro aviation policy while respecting the principle of business competition. Such an opening could also mean that Camair-Co will have no problems existing alongside Air CEMAC. Another mile stone in the initiative to implant Air CEMAC was the putting in place of a Board of Governors, the mobilisation of funds for the structure and the confirmation that Brazzaville will be the headquarter of the airline.

Free circulation: The introduction of a new airline within the sub-region is not only intended to ease movement but also to ensure that the corner stone of CEMAC which is the free movement of goods and peoples should be encouraged. Consequently, countries like Gabon and Equatorial Guinea that have been reticent to either imbibe the CEMAC passport or allow the free entry of CEMAC citizens into their territories may now have reason to relax those tight rules given that they have specific posts to which they can nominate candidates and have their voices heard within the sub-region. Thus, all member countries were urged to provide samples of their biometric passports.

PER Programme: All the reform efforts within CEMAC may only be useful if economic development initiatives undertaken are effective. It must have been in this line that the Heads of State had an in-depth look into the Regional Economic Programme of the sub-region known by its French acronym PER (programme économique régionale) which has been sub-divided into three phases with the intention of making CEMACC an emergent economy by 2025 through a harmonious development. The Brazzaville Summit insisted on the need for specialize organs of CEMAC to examine ways of generating funds from within the sub-region to finance its projects.

Governance: The managerial procedure introduced by the reforms may have the advantage of making those who handle high offices within its specialized structures to be careful given that those to take over are no longer going to be their compatriots, thereby making it difficult for any connivance towards fraud. President Paul Biya even went further by saying that such a measure enabled member states to bring in their know-how and combine experiences for a better sub-region.

It could therefore be said that by the time CEMAC Heads of State meet in Gabon, they will definitely have other parameter to evaluate their actions, especially with the attribution of FCFA one billion per country to help fight insecurity in the Central African Republic, the ADB recommendations on the management of the two stock markets in the sub-region, and the putting in place of new institutions created in Brazzaville. The institutions are ASSA-AC which is the Agency for Air Traffic Surveillance in Central Africa and CPAC, that is, the Inter-State Committee for Pesticides in Central Africa.