Is the CEMAC Commission on the Verge of Financial Collapse?
It is reasonable to say that the CEMAC Commission is on the verge of financial collapse, and this is not an exaggeration. This is the result of a long-standing structural problem, now clearly visible.
Member states’ community contributions are irregular, incomplete, or even nonexistent.
Some countries have accumulated several years of arrears. Payments arrive late, sometimes after strong political pressure. The result: unstable and unpredictable cash flow.
A regional institution cannot function sustainably like this. This financial crisis has very concrete effects: delays in staff salaries and bonuses, frozen or slowed community projects, excessive dependence on external funding, and weakened credibility with technical and financial partners. In short, the Commission is merely surviving rather than governing.
CEMAC was supposed to be an engine of change: free movement, a common market, and harmonization of economic policies. But without financial resources, decisions remain on paper, summits produce little real effect; each state acts primarily according to its national interests.
Integration is political in rhetoric, but weak in practice.
Lacking substantial resources of its own, the Commission turns to external partners; loses some of its strategic autonomy; and sees its priorities sometimes dictated from the outside. This is a paradox: an organization meant to strengthen regional sovereignty becomes financially dependent.
The crisis is not only financial, but it is also political: Member states accept community decisions as long as they cost nothing. There are almost no effective sanctions against those who fail to pay. The Commission lacks the power to enforce compliance with the rules. Without strong political will, no financial mechanism will hold.
In short, the CEMAC Commission is in serious financial difficulty. This situation directly threatens sub-regional integration. The problem is less about money than the actual commitment of the member states.
If nothing changes, CEMAC risks remaining a formal institution, but one without momentum, far from its stated ambitions.
