GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNION OF EMPLOYERS OF CENTRAL AFRICA (UNIPACE)

Created on December 13, 1997 in Douala (Cameroon), the Union des Patronats d'Afrique Centrale (UNIPACE) held for the first time its general assembly on September 24, 2019 in Brazzavilleat the headquarters of Unicongo, under the leadership of its President Mr. Celestin TAWAMBA, President of the Interprofessional Group of Cameroon (GICAM), in the presence of Mr. Christian BARROS and Mr. Alphonse MISSENGUI, respectively President and Vice-President of Unicongo, Mr. Alain BA OUMAR, President of the Union of Central African Employers (UNIPACE). Alain BA OUMAR , President of the Gabonese Employers Confederation (CPG), Mr. Ali ANNADIF, Vice-President of the National Confederation of Chadian Employers (CNPT), and the Executive Secretaries General of the different employers' organizations.

In addition to the four employers present, the Groupement Interprofessionnel du Centrafrique (GICA), which was not present at this general assembly, completes the list of five employers who are members of UNIPACE. The International Labor Office (ILO) was highly represented by Ms. Aminata MAÏGA, Mr. François MURANGIRA and Mr. Lassina TRAORE, respectively Director of the ILO in Kinshasa, Director of the ILO in Yaoundé and Senior Technical Specialist for Employers' Activities at the ILO office in Yaoundé.

During this general meeting, originally scheduled for May 2019 and postponed several times since 2018, were discussed: 

• the national and sub-regional economic conditions ;
• the of concern in the sub-region, including:
  • difficulties in accessing foreign exchange;
  • Central Africa's place in the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA);
  • the governance of UNIPACE.

UNIPACE members have unanimously recognized the essential role of their union as a platform for the private sector in Central Africaand interlocutor CEMAC, ECCAS and international partner organizations (ADB, World Bank, European Union, UNDP ...), for all files of community interest affecting or involving the private sector. For this, a resolution was taken toTo this end, a resolution was passed to extend UNIPACE to the employers' associations of the DRC and Angolawhich are two important economies of Central Africa, without forgetting Equatorial Guinea. The ILO has promised to support UNIPACE in the implementation of this resolution.

UNIPACE has also developed an action plan for the period 2019-2022 which aims essentially at strengthening the position of UNIPACE as a representative of the community private sector, and interlocutor of the CEMAC Commission and institutions of economic, financial and social nature. Monitoring the economic performance of the zone, intra-community trade and regional integration processes.

The members of UNIPACE have finally decided to meet in an Extraordinary General Assembly in Libreville, Gabon, on the sidelines of the activities of the ^60th anniversary of the Employers' Confederation of Gabon (CPG) in mid-December 2019. On this occasion, the employers' associations of other ECCAS member countries will be invited as observers.