Six of the 11 Heads of State attended the Central African Economic Community (ECCAS) Summit on 27 November in Libreville, Gabon. This first face-to-face meeting since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic was devoted to accelerating regional integration in this region, which is very rich in raw materials but which also happens to be less integrated and least developed on the continent.
as reported from Libreville, Yves-Laurent Goma
Around Gabon’s President Ali Bongo were Idriss Déby from Chad, Denis Sassou Nguesso from Congo, João Lourenço from Angola, Faustin Archange Touadéra from the Central African Republic and Évariste Ndayishimiye from Burundi, all of whom appreciated the reforms implemented to stimulate Central African Community. states. Following Ali Bongo, Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso must take over the institutional rotating presidency.
The latter has been completely renovated. Its priorities for the next five years are now the construction of intergovernmental roads, the realization of the common market and the free movement of people and goods. Security in the region is the second priority. Armed conflicts have delayed the development of states and blocked regional integration, the ECCAS Commission acknowledges.
In Libreville, for example, the Heads of State adopted a declaration on the security situation in the Central African Republic. “Let us repeat our call to the UN Security Council with a view to lifting the arms embargo on the UN. Central African Republic to provide this country with the resources needed for a review of its defense and security forces, said Pacôme Moubelet Boubeya, Gabonese Foreign Minister. Let us decide on the appointment of a mediator in the Central African crisis. ”
► Also to listen: ECCAS: Africa hopes to find $ 20 billion for its infrastructure
.
