The Economic Community of Central African States — commonly abbreviated ECCAS in English and CEEAC (Communauté Économique des États de l'Afrique Centrale) in French — was established by the Treaty of Libreville, signed in October 1983 and entering into force in 1984. It was conceived as a vehicle for economic integration among Central African states, building on the earlier customs union UDEAC, and is recognized by the African Union as one of the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs) that form the pillars of the African Economic Community envisioned under the 1991 Abuja Treaty.
Membership includes Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Rwanda rejoined in 2016 after an earlier withdrawal.
ECCAS's mandate has expanded well beyond trade. Its objectives include the establishment of a common market, free movement of persons, and macroeconomic policy coordination, though progress on the customs union has been slower than in some peer RECs. The organization also operates a peace and security architecture, COPAX (Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa), with associated mechanisms including MARAC (early warning) and FOMAC (a standby multinational force). ECCAS has deployed or supported missions in the Central African Republic and engaged on crises in Burundi, the DRC, and the Gulf of Guinea maritime security agenda.
In 2019–2020, ECCAS heads of state adopted a major institutional reform replacing the Secretariat with a Commission, intended to strengthen supranational capacity. The reformed Commission formally launched in 2020 and is headquartered in Libreville, Gabon. Persistent challenges include overlapping membership with CEMAC, uneven implementation of free-movement protocols, dependence on a small number of contributing states for budget contributions, and limited intra-regional trade volumes relative to extra-regional flows.
Example
In 2014, ECCAS authorized and contributed troops to MICOPAX in the Central African Republic, a mission later transitioned to the African Union-led MISCA.
Frequently asked questions
CEMAC is a smaller monetary and customs union of six Central African states sharing the CFA franc, while ECCAS is a broader political and economic bloc of eleven states that also covers peace and security cooperation.
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