After a five-year standoff, the Central Bank authorizes extractive companies to cede only 35% of the currencies in their possession – against 70% for banks in the Cemac zone – to strengthen its foreign exchange reserves.
Motus and mouth sewn among the representatives of extractive companies operating within the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) at the end of the meeting of November 17, in Douala. “They are not happy with the conclusions of the consultations,” quips an executive from the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
And for good reason, the companies they manage will have, from January 1, 2022, to repatriate and cede to the central bank at least 35% of the currencies resulting from the sale of minerals and hydrocarbons on the international market. This change comes after the obtaining of two moratoriums rejecting, for these companies, the application of new exchange regulations that came into force on March 1, 2019.
Regime too conciliatory
A sizeable concession, however, insofar as banks operating in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea and Chad transfer 70% of the currencies in their possession to the BEAC. In other words, “they have a working capital of 30% on currencies, where the mining and oil operators benefit from a rate of 65%, in two sectors which drain considerable sums”, analyzes the framework requested.
