Brazzaville Hosts Crucial CEMAC Economic Summit
Brazzaville hosted an extraordinary summit of CEMAC on Thursday, January 22, 2026, bringing together the six member states to review the region’s economic and financial trajectory. The meeting focused on rebuilding foreign exchange reserves, consolidating macroeconomic balances, and accelerating structural reforms.
Held under the presidency of President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, in his role as Chairperson of the CEMAC Conference of Heads of State, this meeting signaled a desire to strengthen coordination and ensure more predictable policy execution within the monetary union.
Global Volatility Puts Pressure on Emerging Currencies
The summit took place in a difficult international context, described by leaders as volatile: shifting financial markets, persistent geopolitical tensions, and higher global interest rates. For economies dependent on commodity cycles and external financing, these dynamics can quickly translate into pressure on currencies and reserves.
For the CEMAC zone — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Chad — the stated goal was twofold: preserve monetary stability around the CFA franc BEAC and protect a growth trajectory capable of withstanding external shocks.
Denis Sassou N’Guesso Calls for Discipline and Implementation
From the Kintélé International Conference Centre, Denis Sassou N’Guesso framed this moment as requiring a clear-eyed assessment and rigorous implementation. He emphasized that the region must move beyond statements and treat agreed-upon decisions as operational commitments.
“This summit offers us the opportunity to take a clear and responsible assessment of the implementation of decisions we made during our previous extraordinary sessions in 2016, 2021, and 2024,” he said, insisting that results must be measurable and regularly reviewed.
Macroeconomic Signals Improve, but Leaders Highlight Fragility
The heads of state noted a gradual improvement in several key indicators. Regional growth remains positive, supported by the recovery in extractive activity, public investment, and fiscal normalization measures adopted in several countries.
Inflation, after rising in the post-Covid period and facing global shocks, is described as declining, with a trend toward falling below the community threshold. Nevertheless, leaders stressed that these gains remain exposed to global uncertainties and national-level implementation risks.
Denis Sassou N’Guesso warned against premature confidence: “Our economies are showing positive growth and inflation is decreasing, with a trend toward falling below the community threshold. However, these developments remain fragile and must not be compromised by global uncertainties.”
Quarterly Monitoring of PREF-CEMAC Becomes Central Reform
A notable decision was the creation of a quarterly monitoring mechanism for the CEMAC Program of Economic and Financial Reforms, known as PREF-CEMAC. Leaders presented this measure as a practical improvement in community governance, designed to keep reforms on schedule and make them comparable across countries.
Under this plan, the technical secretariat receives an expanded mandate to review national progress each quarter, identify administrative bottlenecks, issue early warnings, and prepare reports addressed directly to the heads of state. The intention is to reduce the distance between decisions and their execution.
Officials characterized this mechanism as a break from stop-and-go reform cycles. By institutionalizing frequent assessment, the summit aimed to strengthen the region’s credibility with multilateral partners and long-term investors who closely monitor implementation capacity.
Repatriation of Export Revenue Targets BEAC Reserves
Leaders also agreed to strengthen enforcement of rules for repatriating export revenue, particularly from hydrocarbons, mining products, and other commodities. The stated goal is to channel more foreign currency through the regional system and strengthen the reserve position of the BEAC.
Within the summit’s framework, this measure serves three objectives: bolster foreign exchange reserves, inject liquidity into the regional banking system, and strengthen financial sovereignty. It was presented as a stability instrument aligned with the needs of a fixed exchange rate regime.
A Four-Pillar Plan Links Budgets, Transparency, Revenue, and Food
Beyond the monitoring and repatriation rules, the heads of state validated a broader plan organized around four policy pillars. The first is strengthening fiscal discipline, with a renewed focus on convergence criteria and IMF-supported programs where applicable.
The second pillar is financial transparency, including wider adoption of the Single Treasury Account and accelerating the digitalization of tax and customs administrations. Leaders presented this as a way to reduce leakage and increase the traceability of public funds.
The third pillar targets domestic revenue mobilization, focusing on improving tax administration performance and a firmer stance against tax evasion. The fourth pillar links sovereignty to food and economic resilience, promoting import substitution and the development of regional agricultural value chains.
Message to IMF and Partners: Support Commensurate with Ambition
Denis Sassou N’Guesso used his address to call for closer alignment between the region’s reform agenda and partner support. “I call for more effective engagement and support from international financial institutions and our bilateral partners, in support of our development efforts,” he said.
This call, as presented at the summit, targets institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank, as well as private investors, with the idea that policy credibility and external support should reinforce each other.
The Brazzaville Moment: Governance, Confidence, Continuity
The Brazzaville sequence reinforced the Republic of Congo’s role as a hub for economic diplomacy in Central Africa. For participants, the summit’s value lay less in new slogans than in the operational shift toward frequent monitoring and enforceable financial measures.
With the Congolese presidential election scheduled for March 15, 2026, the summit’s narrative links political continuity to macroeconomic stability. In diplomatic and financial circles, stability is presented as a prerequisite for sustainable growth.
The January 22 meeting is positioned as a turning point: from intentions to execution, from episodic reviews to quarterly scrutiny. In a fragmented global economy, the summit argued.