CEMAC: Special Summit

Biya on December 16th urged central African states to take "urgent action" to face the region's "concerning" economic climate, in his first public appearance since late October.The 91-year-old strongman, who has been in power for 42 years and is the world's oldest head of state, returned to Cameroon on October 21st after weeks of absence that fuelled speculation about his health."Our net external assets have declined significantly.This situation is concerning and calls for urgent action on our part to turn the tide," Biya said at a special session of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) in Cameroon's capital Yaounde."If nothing is done... we could face disastrous consequences both for our countries and for our sub-region," the leader said, calling on its members -Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congoto take "concrete steps".While reports of a possible devaluation of the regional CFA franc currency have recently emerged in the press, "no monetary adjustment is on the agenda" at the "extraordinary summit", according to a statement issued by the Cameroonian presidency late on December 16th.The presidents of CAR, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea attended the event, which also hosted International Monetary Fund (IMF) and African Development Bank (AfDB) representatives, while Chad sent its finance minister, Tahir Hamid and the Republic of the Congo its prime minister, Anatole Collinet Makosso.CAR President Faustin Archange Touadera, who presides over CEMAC, said the bloc had resisted internal and external 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," he said.Uniform monetary policy has allowed consolidation of economic growth which