Central African states hold summit in Bangui

The six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) opened its summit on Sunday in Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, to discuss the troubled regional bank.

CEMAC leaders decided to end the Fort Lamy accord under which Gabon held the governorship of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).

They agreed that the post should be held on an alphabetical basis and named Lucas Abaga Nchama, a banker of Equatorial Guinea, to the post in replacement of Philibert Andzembe from Gabon.

Andzembe was forced to resign in September amid the scandal of embezzling 25 billion FCFA (50 million U. S. dollars) from BEAC's Paris office.

The summit equally agreed to institute judicial proceedings against the people involved in the case of embezzlement.

Gabon's Michael Adonde will head the Development Bank of Central African States to replace Anicet Georges Dologuele from Central African Republic. The latter was at the helm of the bank in the past eight years.

The leaders also discussed issues concerned with the Air CEMAC airline to be headquartered in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, the adoption of the regional economic program and a CEMAC passport to be introduced by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

At the CEMAC summit, Central African Republic's President Francois Bozize transferred the rotating presidency to his counterpart of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso.

A document of the meeting said the summit "marked our desire to bring into force a coherent communal development strategy and the wish to see better governance of our communal financial institutions."

Established by the N'Djamena Treaty on March 16, 1994, the organization officially began its activities in 1999, replacing the Economic and Customs Union of Central Africa which was created in 1964 after the Equatorial Customs Union.

CEMAC currently groups Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central Africa Republic and Chad, with a total population of more than 30 million.

Source: Xinhua