Africa
Idris Deby abandons Summit
President of Chad, Idris Deby
Chadian President Idriss Deby has left a Central African states summit in Cameroon prematurely to register his protest against some policies of the bloc.
Preliminary investigations indicated that President Deby was dissatisfied with the resolutions of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) in Yaoundé.
Africa Review reports that President Deby is also the chairman of the African Union.
Instead of agreeing on the devaluation of their common currency, the CFA Franc, the head of states, in a 21 point communique, resolved to carry out structural readjustment to bailout ailing economies of the region.
CEMAC brings together Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde attended the Friday session, despite her visit having not been announced previously.
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin also joined the meeting without prior announcement of his attendance
Paul Biya of Cameroon had earlier appealed to the people to come out en mass to welcome other leaders attending the summit.
The roads leading to the meeting grounds were decorated with the flags of the six CEMAC countries: Cameroon.
The countries are Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
Banners announcing the event and highlighting the importance of sub regional integration within the CEMAC zone were very visible along main junctions.
The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) is made up of six States: Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea.
With a total population of about 37 million, it covers a total surface of around 3 million square kilometres.
