Central African Republic (CAR) President Faustin Archange Touadera, who currently chairs the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, emphasized CEMAC's resilience, crediting its ability to withstand significant economic shocks over the past decade.
"[CEMAC] has been resilient to the large fluctuations in raw material prices, unprecedented security and health crises, the devastating effects of climate change and funding shortages," President Touadera emphasized.
Touadera cited a positive economic growth rate of 2.7% in the bloc in 2024 (compared to -1.1% in 2016), attributed to the implementation of over 60% of agreed reforms.
The CAR leader stressed the importance of maintaining economic and budgetary balances, supporting the central bank's monetary policy to strengthen the external position and reduce inflation towards regional convergence criteria.
Meanwhile, Cameroonian President Paul Biya highlighted a significant decline in net external assets, urging member states to take "urgent action" to prevent disastrous consequences.
"If nothing is done... we could face disastrous consequences both for our countries and for our sub-region," Biya said, calling on member states to take "concrete steps."
In addition to Cameroon and CAR leaders, representatives of the IMF and AfDB, as well as the presidents of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, attended the summit, while Chad and the Republic of Congo sent their finance ministers and prime ministers, respectively.