Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)

Communauté économique des États de l’Afrique Centrale (CEEAC)

Member States

Founding members

Other members

Headquarters

Libreville, Gabon

Date of creation

18 October 1983

Objectives

ECCAS aims to develop capacities to maintain peace, security, and stability as essential prerequisites for economic and social development; to develop physical, economic, and monetary integration; to develop a culture of human integration and to establish an autonomous financing mechanism for ECCAS.

Timeline

1983 Creation of ECCAS
1992-1998 Period of “hibernation” due to financial difficulties, the conflict in the Great Lakes region, and other crises in  member states
1998 Reform process to revive ECCAS, notably by extending its competences in security
2008 Start of the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in Central Africa (MICOPAX)
2013 First ECOWAS/ECCAS joint summit (launch of the Yaoundé process)
2018 Joint summit ECOWAS/ECCAS on peace, security, stability, and the fight against terrorism and violent extremism

 Normative framework

1983 Treaty establishing the Economic Community of Central Africa States
1996 Non-Aggression Pact between Member States
1999 Signing by ECCAS of Protocol on Relations between the African Economic Community (AEC) and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs)
2000 Signing of protocol establishing the founding principles and organs of the Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa (COPAX) and a mutual assistance pact
2002 Adoption of the protocol on the establishment of a Network of Parliamentarians of Central Africa (REPAC) and the standing organs of the COPAX, including the Defence and Security Commission (CDC), Multinational Force of Central Africa (FOMAC), and the Early Warning Mechanism of Central Africa (MARAC)
2008 Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the Area of Peace and Security between the AU, RECs, and the Coordinating Mechanisms of the Regional Stand-by Brigades of Eastern and Northern Africa
2008 Signing of strategy to secure ECCAS states’ vital interest at sea
2011 Adoption of Central African Convention for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and all Parts and Components that can be used for their Manufacture, Repair and Assembly
2019 Adoption of the Revised Treaty

Activities

Political dialogue

Date Institutions Agreement
2008 African Union ECCAS liaison office
2008 European Union First meeting of EU-ECCAS troika
2018-2020 United Nations ECCAS liaison office
2018 The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC) and the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with ECCAS for the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention on Small Arms in Central Africa

Governance and development

Areas Date Activities
Election observation 2005

2011

 Creation of electoral unit at the ECCAS secretariat and deployment of election observation missions

Creation of regional training school for electoral officers
Disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration (DDR) From 2008 to 2013 Support for DDR under the leadership of MICOPAX in CAR
Security sector reform (SSR) 2009 Adoption of “Code of Conduct for Armed and Security Forces in Central Africa”

Peace and Security

Activity  Date Description
Multinational operation 1997-1998 Inter-African Mission

to Monitor the Bangui Accords [Mission interafricaine de surveillance des accords de Bangui, MISAB]
Multinational operation 2008-2013 MICOPAX was set up to replace the FOMUC, operated by the CEMAC in CAR and transformed first into the AU mission MISCA (December 2013- September 2014), followed by the still on-going UN mission (MINUSCA)
Central African Standby Force – FOMAC 2003-2014 Validation exercise to test the force’s capacities: ‘Biyongho’ in Gabon in 2003, ‘Sawa’ in Cameroon in 2006, ‘Barh-El-Gazel’ in Chad in 2007, and ‘Kwanza’ in Angola in 2010, ‘Loango 2014’ in DRC
Border management Since 2008 Contribution of ECCAS to the AU’s continental programme
Early warning 2007 Starting of the central African early warning mechanism (MARAC)
Early warning 2007 Creation of the first decentralised correspondents in Burundi, Cameroon, the CAR, Chad, and the DRC, followed by the other ECCAS member states in 2012
Early warning 2010 Training in data collection techniques and methodologies
Small arms and light weapons 2011

2018

 Launch of the small arms and light weapons programme

Launch of a joint project for the implementation of the Kinshasa Convention on Small Arms in Central Africa
Maritime issues 2009 Creation of the Regional Coordination Centre for Maritime Security in Central Africa (CRESMAC in French)
Maritime issues 2013 Starting activities in the Yaoundé process with the objective to strengthen the surveillance and intervention capacities, to improve coordination between the countries of maritime cooperation zone D (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tomé and Principe)
Maritime issues 2014 Set up of Regional Coordination Centre for Maritime Security in Central Africa (CRESMAC) in Pointe-Noire, the Republic of the Congo
Maritime issues 2014 Official launch of the inter-regional coordination centre in Yaoundé