YAOUNDE, Dec. 16 – President Paul Biya of Cameroon warned on Monday that the Central African subregion faces “disastrous consequences” unless urgent action is taken to address the sharp decline in net external reserves among member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
Speaking at a summit in Yaoundé, Biya said the financial instability threatens the shared monetary system of Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo, who share a central bank and a common currency.
“Our net external reserves have deteriorated considerably. This situation is preoccupying and calls for urgent action to reverse this trend,” Biya said in his opening remarks. He warned that without intervention, experts predict severe repercussions for the region’s economies.
The economic bloc has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic shocks, which have left member states with dwindling foreign exchange reserves to cover import bills and repay debts. Declining oil production in five of the countries, coupled with civil conflicts in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, has further exacerbated the crisis. Gabon’s significant debt load and the Republic of Congo’s recent loan default add to the region’s challenges.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), represented at the summit alongside the World Bank, has repeatedly called for decisive and coordinated action to address fiscal and external imbalances. In a June report, the IMF cautioned that stagnation in economic policy could destabilize the bloc’s financial system.
![Rwanda President Paul Kagame,left , Angola President Joao Lourenco, centre, and DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, right, pose for a photograph in Luanda [Jorge Nsimba/AFP]](https://theafricadailypost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/rwanda-angola-drc-150x150.jpg)
