CEMAC Summit: Integration can't succeed without freedoms!.

Last Friday's CEMAC summit attended by all Heads of State of the sub-region in Yaounde, focused on regional integration. It was presided at by host, President Paul Biya, in a context marked by the disastrous consequences of successive and multiple crises, which have affected and continue to affect the economies of the sub-region.

On the economic front, the challenges include the sharp fall in oil prices from 2014 to 2016, which led to significant budgetary imbalances, the COVID-19 pandemic, which was accompanied by restrictive economic measures to reduce the effects and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The leaders of CEMAC love to blame the challenges on "exogenous" impact, but tend to shy away from their own endogenous crises, which include the controversial use of the CFA, which monetary policy is dictated by the French Treasury.

The sub-region is also notorious for hosting the longest-serving leaders in the world, with President Biya at the helm of state for 40 years; rivaling the record of the former president of Gabon, Omar Bongo, who clocked 40 years before his son took over after his demise. 

Equatorial Guinean leader is another sit-tight president in office for decades, to add to the list that makes the CEMAC zone often criticised as a blur on democracy, which gyrates on freedoms - freedom of association and assembly, freedom of press and expression, free elections etc.

If the regions had those liberties, particularly the freedom to vote without being influenced or intimidated and laws that guaranty transparent, free and credible elections, would any leader serve for over four decades? Will there be children succeeding their fathers as has been observed in CEMAC?

In Yaounde, the CEMAC leaders ignored the conflict in the North West and South West regions, which has had a disastrous impact on the economy of the country and by extension that of the sub-region, given that the population of Cameroon almost doubles that of some 66 million residents of the sub-region.

While the political logjam in Cameroon was sidelined, the leaders, however, examined the "internal" issue in Chad, congratulating their peer for the "quality of the conduct of the transition" programme and "encouraged him to continue the implementation of the process until its end".

General Mahamat Idriss Déby was propelled to power at the age of 37 by the army in April 2021, following the announcement of the death of his father, Field Marshal Idriss Déby Itno, who was killed in a war front by rebels. He had ruled the country with an authoritarian iron fist for 30 years.

His son, on taking over a position that was constitutionally reserved for the president of the National Assembly, immediately promised to hand over power to civilians through elections after an 18-month transition. However, he later postponed it for two years following a "national reconciliation" dialogue boycotted by the opposition and the most active rebels.

Another hotspot is the Central Africa Republic, CAR, which is confronted with endogenous crises that constitute an obstacle to its development and that of the sub-region.

President Biya, in his opening speech as Chairman of the summit, disclosed that the growth rate in the sub-region is expected to drop to 3.3% in 2023, as compared to 3.5% in 2022.

He was silent on the inflation rate, which experts put at 4.8%, which is beyond 3% commonly advertised by politicians and their economic advisers in the sub-region. In addition, economic and commercial exchanges within the region are struggling to exceed 2%.

President Biya, however, stressed that the poor economic performance can only be ameliorated through effective regional integration.

"Despite exogenous constraints...our common organisation remained focused on pursuing our integration objectives,” he said.

But it will be up to CEMAC leaders to set the course to “make CEMAC in 2025 an emerging integrated economic space, where security, solidarity, good governance and freedoms reign, at the service of human development".

How can that integration succeed even where the minimal freedom of movement remains embedded with constraints, restrictions and even torture? Have Cameroonians not been humiliated, tortured and deported several times from Equatorial Guinea?

CEMAC is mainly exporter of raw materials, which are mostly quoted in dollars. Since their FCFA is pegged to the euro, does a fall in the dollar against the euro not lead to loss of export earnings? How can CEMAC expect to achieve integration without the freedom to decide their monetary policy?

Under the leadership of President Biya for four years, CEMAC struggled to find satisfactory answers. Nonetheless, economic growth rate and that of inflation have made the performance scores public knowledge.

In handing over the chairmanship of the Conference of CEMAC Heads of State to the President of the Central African Republic, Prof Faustin-Archange Touadera, President Biya said he had "confidence in him and our willingness to work with him for the progress of our Community and in the interest of our brotherly peoples".

The Guardian Post hopes that "interest of the people" will be dictated by all freedoms on which real democracy, the nexus of development,