Not “Business” As Usual!

The extraordinary Summit of Heads of State of the Central African Sub-region has come and gone and attention is now focused on the future.

History already records the success of the Yaounde conclave in terms of participation- All the six Heads of State personally attended alongside IMF Managing Director and French Minister of Economy and Finance. That a 21-point commitment sanctioned the Summit easily makes it unprecedented! The massive attendance depicted a renewed determination of the Chief Executives and partners to revive the sub-regional economies hampered by economic, financial and security hiccups. As good as the attendance and apparent in-depth discussions were; judging from the content of the final communiqué, one thing remains preoccupying. Implementation of the agreements!

It is true that the economic, financial and even security situations are not the same in all countries. Inasmuch as individual countries draw up contingency plans to journey out of the quagmires based on the gravity in their countries, joint measures as adopted in Yaounde, equally need urgent attention. The zeal and encouraging solidarity shown in attending the summit and drafting the way forward should accompany field implementation of the recommendations.

If history is anything to go by and obviously it should, the States would need to relinquish some of their sovereignties to eradicate a common enemy for their mutual benefits. They should move away from hitherto sometimes lukewarm handling of sub-regional issues. The notion of big or rich country doesn’t exist in real integration.  In fact, it shouldn’t be business as usual for the danger persists and continually gives nightmares to both the governments and the governed.

Sub-regional integration that many observers qualify as illusive till date absolutely needs fresh impetus. The free movement of goods and persons, for instance, can cushion the effects of the crises in one way or the other. With it, human and natural resources-rich countries can share with those not blessed as such. In a spirit of solidarity with mutual respect as irresistible driving force, sub-regional countries need frank partnership wherein countries massively produce and sell what they have to get what they need.

It doesn’t benefit sub-re...

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