Central African Economic Area

The objectives of the subject “Central African Economic Area” are the following:

1. To define the economic characteristics of the Central African Economic Area
2. To know the economic profile of the Central African Countries
3. To understand the influence of Christianity and the African Traditional Religions on the Central African Economic Area
4. To understand the economic integration process in the Central African Economic Area
5. To analyse the main businesspeople in Central Africa
6. To explore the economic relationships with the other economic areas
7. To analyse the main economic organisations related to the Central African Economic Area

Description: Central African Economic Area

The Central African Economic Area consists of eleven countries: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe.

1. French is the main language in Central Africa
2. Portuguese is spoken in Angola and São Tomé and Spanish in Equatorial Guinea
3. One should also take into account the hundreds of Central African languages
4. From the economic integration, Burundi and Rwanda also belongs to the East African Economic Area
5. Main religion in Central Africa: Christianity
6. 44% of the Chadian population is Muslim
7. The largest Central African economy is Angola
8. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon are also two important regional players
9. The largest ports in Central Africa are the Port of Duala, Port of Libreville, Port of Luanda and Lobito, Port of Pointe Noire, and Port of Malabo
10. Trans-African corridors across Central Africa: Lobito Corridor, Beira-Lobito Corridor, Northern Corridor, Tripoli-Windhoek Corridor, Central Corridor, North-South Corridor, N’Djamena-Djibouti Corridor, Trans-Sahelian Highway, and Lagos-Mombasa Corridor

Personalities and businesswomen of Central Africa: Théophile Obenga, Elikia M'Bokolo, Isabel dos Santos, and Amini Kajunju

There are three important economic integration processes in Central Africa:

1. Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Chad are members of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) (fully operational)
2. Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe are members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
3. Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda are members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and therefore of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Agreement
4. Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
5. Rwanda and Burundi are members of the East African Community (EAC)
6. Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are members of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA)

Other trade agreements and economic institutions in Central Africa.

1. Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda are part of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Region (CEPGL)
2. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda are members of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region
3. Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda are members of the Nile Basin Initiative
4. The Central African Republic and Chad are part of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
5. Cameroon and Chad are members of the Niger Basin Authority

Interactions of the Central African Economic Area with the other civilisations

Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Burundi, and the Central African Republic are beneficiaries of the Generalised System of Preferences (SPG) of the EU and the Africa-European Union Strategic Partnership of the European Union (EU).

All the Central African Countries are beneficiaries of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) (United States).

Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-TPS)

1. No country in Central Africa has signed the Framework Agreement + PRETAS (Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme) + Rules of origin
2. Chad and Gabon only have signed the Framework Agreement

All the Central African Countries are members of the African Development Bank, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), African Union (UA), and the Economic Commission for Africa (CEA).

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