The President of the Republic of Cameroon, His Excellency Paul BIYA, has joined forces with regional leaders to stabilise the economies of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC.

Six Heads of State of the Central African sub-region met in Yaounde on Friday 23 December 2016 in an extraordinary summit, convened by the Cameroonian Head of State.

21 resolutions were made at the end of the conclave. The most outstanding resolution was the outright refusal to devalue the currency, the Franc CFA.

In his opening remarks, the Head of State appealed for a quick response to resolve a looming economic crisis, caused by: a drop of oil prices, the rise of insecurity, and the political instability in the CAR. President Paul BIYA said an immediate and common solution must be made to avoid an adverse effect on the livelihood of the population.

President BIYA’s address led to the holding of an in-camera session with the following dignitaries: H.E. Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic (CAR); H.E. Idriss Deby Itno of Chad; H.E. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea; H.E. Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo; and H.E. Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon.

Equally in attendance were: the economic and finance ministers of the sub-region; the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde; the French Minister for the Economy and Finance, Michel Sapin; the President of the CEMAC Commission, Pierre Moussa; and the Governor of BEAC, Lucas Abaga Nchama.

The ministers presented a report of a meeting held yesterday in Yaounde, while Christine Lagarde and Michel Sapin outlined pathways to rapidly adjust the CEMAC economies with international partners.

 

Download the Head of State's speeches

- The opening speech (pdf)

- The closing speech (pdf)