Ali Bongo took over leadership from DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and will lead the organization for a one-year mandate…reports Asian Lite News
The 23rd ordinary summit of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) kicked off on Saturday in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, with 11 member states discussing issues of regional security and integration.
Established in October 1983 as a means of forming a more wide-spanning trade bloc for Central African countries, the ECCAS consists of 11 member states, namely Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Angola, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Sao Tome and Principe, Burundi, Rwanda, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba is the current chair of the ECCAS.
The conflict in the DRC is among the issues on the agenda of this meeting. Perfect Onanga-Anyanga, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General to the African Union, dwelled on the consequences of the conflicts in Sudan which impacts several member countries of the ECCAS.
Ali Bongo took over leadership from DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and will lead the organization for a one-year mandate. He is expected to work on ways to finance the organization and to preserve forests in the region.
Founded in 1983, the ECCAS’s headquarters are located in Gabon’s capital, Libreville. The organization acquired the status of Commission in December 2019 in order to implement its activities with greater efficiency in the face of the challenges of the region and thus meet the hopes of a very young population who sees the success of its future in regional integration.
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