Integration Trump Card

It was certainly not an unambitious idea to institute the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) on March 16, 1994 in Ndjamena, Chad. This sub regional organisation that groups the Central African Monetary Union responsible for monetary convergence of member States and the Central Africa Economic Union which has as mission to harmonise regulations of member States in order to enhance trade and facilitate the convergence of economic policies has to say the least produced very mitigating results. The Central Africa Bureau of the Economic Commission for Africa has not been fully at ease with the prevailing situation. In one of its write-ups published in its website, the organisation recognises the fact that programmes and projects earmarked in the treaty creating CEMAC have witnessed contrasting evolutions and results that are disturbingly below expectation.
Some of the major programmes put in place for the sub region include: the establishment of a free trade zone and Customs Union, free movement of people and goods, development and interconnection of transport and energy infrastructure, increase in agricultural productivity and production, and optimum management of water resources. Several other projects were hatched and agreed upon such as Air CEMAC and CEMAC Passport but have so far remained in the bud. This state of affairs has kept no Member State indifferent but many continue to bask in rhetoric with nothing concretely taking place on the ground. By virtue of its strategic position in the African continent, its diverse natural resources, favourable ecosystem, it remains disturbing to observe that the Central Africa sub regio...