Heads of State of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa are deliberating on recovery mechanisms for the sub region during a close door session at the Unity Palace in Yaounde.
The in camera meeting follows the opening ceremony of the extraordinary conference of CEMAC leaders which was marked by two speeches from President Paul Biya the host and President Fautin Archange Touadera, Current CEMAC President.
In his welcome speech President Paul Biya reminded attendees that three years ago CEMAC leaders met by videoconference for a similar Summit, to enable their economies to recover from the harmful effects of the covid-19 pandemic.
The saluted the positive outcomes from that meeting which are reflected in the economic, finance and Industrial sectors.
He said the achievements were made at the cost of many sacrifices.
He however indicated that CEMAC states are facing many challenges that require effective response to meet the expectations of the populations.
President Paul Biya urged his peers to do the necessary to avoid disastrous consequences both for individual countries and the sub-region.
He expressed optimism that necessary and urgent decisions to get economies back on track, in order to protect a possible economic and financial crisis will be taken during the conference of CEMAC leaders.
“In this particular context, we must show more solidarity, more commitment and determination to face this situation. We have the means.” President Paul Biya said.
He added that, “Let us therefore seize the opportunity of this meeting to adopt concrete measures to revive our economies and ensure the stability of our public finances.
Let us reaffirm our desire to implement the decisions that will be taken during our work.”
The Cameroonian leader also invited development partners to weigh in and assist the sub-region.
On his part, the Current CEMAC President, Fautin Archange Touadera outlined the economic outlook of the sub region, indicating that inflation reached 5.4% in 2023 with growth at 2.3% lower than the 3.3% in 2023.
He however expressed optimism that growth could reach 3.0 in 2025. He also called for solidarity amongst member countries.
At the close of the meeting, CEMAC leaders are expected a make public a final release that outlines major decisions reached during this Monday’s extraordinary conference.
