CEMAC and ECCAS yesterday signed an accord to facilitate the disbursement of the fund by the European Commission.
The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), two major economic blocks in the Central African Sub-region have signed a protocol agreement to facilitate the disbursement of some 150 million euros ( about FCFA 98,393,550,000) to speed up socio-economic development in the sub-region. The money is in line with a European Union sponsored programme in Central Africa code-named, “Indicative Regional Programme /10th EDF for Central Africa”. The Chairman of the CEMAC Commission, Antoine Ntsimi, signed for his organisation while for ECCAS; it was signed by its Secretary General, Louis Sylvain Ngoma. The programme is fruit of a tripartite agreement on a regional strategic document and regional indicative programme signed on September 30, 2009 in Brussels between CEMAC, ECCAS and the European Union Commission.Speaking to the press after the signing ceremony, Antoine Ntsimi said the agreement was a mechanism to enable the disbursement of this facility contained in the Brussels agreement. “Even though the grant is signed the procedures under the European commission can be at times complex or they can even be protracted. So this convention was basically to put in place a system which would actually enable the disbursement of the Funds”, he said. The funds, he added, are designed to alleviate poverty and also to foster economic development and peace. “We are talking here of a total of 150 million Euros which goes from 2009 – 2013. Besides fighting against poverty and underdevelopment, this fund also seeks to foster regional integration”, the CEMAC Commission Chairman, stressed.
The programme is in conformity with the Cotonou Accord which is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP countries). The Cotonou Agreement is aimed at reducing and eventually eradicating poverty while contributing to sustainable development and to the gradual integration of ACP countries into the world economy.
