Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya will tomorrow Wednesday August 18 chair an extraordinary summit of Heads of State of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa via video conferencing from the Unity Palace.
The information is contained in a release signed by the Minister, Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo this Tuesday August 17.
As the current chair of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, President Paul Biya who was out of the country for a “brief stay” with the First Lady, Chantal Biya Monday August 16 hurried home ahead of tomorrow’s summit.
According to the programme, the summit will begin at exactly 2pm with the opening speech by President Paul Biya, then will follow a virtual photo shoots session and finally the summit proper that will take place indoors.
According to the President of the CEMAC Commission, Daniel Ondo, deliberations will centre on the “report on the evolution of the macroeconomic situation in the CEMAC zone in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and analysis of recovery measures".
The summit will hold in a context marked by the worrying security issues in the sub region, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), the end of the first generation of programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the negotiations and conclusions of a second phase of economic and financial programs between Bretton Woods and CEMAC countries within the framework of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Credit Mechanism (ECM), and above all the health crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effects.
The pandemic led to a global economic recession of 3.3% which has particularly affected the CEMAC zone, with a community growth rate of minus 1.7% in 2020 compared to 2.5% in 2019.
This implies that despite a projected growth rate of 1.7% in 2021 and inflationary pressures of 2.7%, a sign of an expected economic recovery, the socio-economic situation is not very bright for Central Africa, especially since this oil-based economy, which accounts for more than 80% of the sources of income for most countries, is subject to a depreciation of prices on the international market.
According to Cameroon’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousman Mey, who is also the current chair of Ministers of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, such a situation requires "more vigilance and efficiency in the management of the community's public finances".
Stevyne K.
