The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) is comprised of six countries located in Central Africa; Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo. These countries offer investment opportunities in strategic sectors of their economies, ranging from telecommunications to urban planning and construction.

The conference focused on presenting the positive potentials these countries offer, whilst also discussing the progress and advancements individuals governments have been able to achieve. These include promoting both economic and political development in line with the specific needs of their communities, as well as looking to bridge the current gap that exists with countries in the northern hemisphere.

Many European investors have recently turned to Africa, mainly Central Africa, to explore the possibility of investment. They have looked to support local economies whilst also benefiting from various petroleum operations. At present, Cameroon offers significant agricultural potential whilst countries such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo offer the possibility of natural gas explorations.

With the CEMAC region currently in the process of a political and economic renewal, better governance is being implemented, and the introduction of social developments are being explored, enabling continual progress and moving away from political instability and corruption.

With more countries across the African region becoming open to the prospect of tourism (CAN 2012), guest speaker Robert Tashima of the Oxford Business Group said, ‘the potential to stimulate revenue growth is enormous, particularly in light of the rich biodiversity of the region.’

However, the conference highlighted CMO London’s belief that the most important change is the need to listen to Africa’s diverse population and for Africans themselves to be proud of their ethnic background to enable continual growth within the region.

The strides currently undertaken by governments in the region, supported and publicised by CMO London, are bound to make business opportunities a reality and enable the CEMAC area to break free and become a destination for serious investors around the globe.

CMO London annual conference 2011 has been a success for the organisers and the special guests and in particular to the CEMAC region.

Endemic corruption and the failure to bring broad and sustained economic growth have led to the grave possibility, the report predicts, of violence in the upcoming November elections.

What’s more, the CFR suggests that should such an eventuality occur, the country might soon have another full-blooded conflict and potential humanitarian crisis on its hands.

Five years on from the largely credible elections of 2006 and President Kablia has squandered his people’s support.

‘Living standards remain stagnant, while pervasive corruption and political violence continue to taint the Kabila government,’ the report states.

‘Delays in voter registration and continued manipulation of the current electoral process threaten to further undermine the government’s legitimacy.’

The CFR suggests that should the people believe results to have been rigged or should the election fail to take place before the December 6 mandate, public protests are highly likely and factions inside and outside the president’s alliance could challenge his rule.

The report also suggests that Kabila would be unlikely to take such protests lying down and would be more likely to respond with intimidation, violence and bribes – tactics, the report suggests, that have ‘worked for him before and which he may believe are even more necessary in light of recent developments in Uganda and the Greater Middle East’.

The CFR suggests that if such a scenario were to take place, opposition candidates such as Vital Kamerhe, Étienne Tshisekedi and even the imprisoned Jean-Pierre Bemba could easily convince their supporters to rally in search of justice. Equally, armed groups such as Bundu Dia Mayala and the Gendarmes Katangais might take up arms.

The warning, with all this considered, is that this could easily lead to the kind of humanitarian crisis seen in Equateur in 2010, ‘after a local conflict broadened to include general anti-governmental grievances and spread to other parts of the province’.

In this event, the CFR does not believe that the president would be certain to keep hold of the support of members of his security forces, who are paid very little and hold equally little allegiance to the government.

Again the report suggests the possibility that a force such as the Katangan members of the Republican Guard, who are tasked with protecting the president, could initiate a revolt that might spread easily and lead potentially to the staging of a coup in Kinshasa.

‘Estranged members of the Congolese army (FARDC), some factions of the CNDP, the Mai-Mai militias (especially the Resisting Congolese Patriots, or PARECO), and the Hutu-extremist-run Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) stand to lose from the regime’s efforts,’ the report states.

‘If a combination of these groups banded together, they could launch attacks against government forces in North Kivu province and assume further control over mining areas and profitable trade routes.’

The point is that any one of a number of different events could spark the kind of protests that could soon lead to full-scale revolt and the disposing of President Kabila.

As such, the CFR has suggested some warning indicators that could signal a new crisis in the coming months.

If either the electoral registration process ended with a large number of people unregistered and thus unable to vote, or the president failed to hold to his electoral mandate, the CFR predicts a riot would occur.

Similarly, should a broad coalition of opposition parties boycott the election or Kabila order a major redeployment of ostensibly integrated army brigades, the CFR suggests trouble.

Finally, if the government was implicated in the assassinations of high-profile opposition leaders or civil society leaders, the CFR also predicts a revolt.

All of this could be potentially catastrophic not only for the DRC, but also for its allies, like the United States, which has promised its assistance to the women of DRC (a personal project of Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton) and also has interest in the DRC’s neighbouring countries.

‘Given the recent history of violence in the DRC that has directly or indirectly claimed the lives of several million people and at times involved nine neighbouring states’ armies, these risks cannot be dismissed lightly,’ the report states.

The DRC has been one of the UN’s largest missions – receiving almost a quarter of its funding from the US – and for it to fail would be an embarrassment and a major blow to the credibility of the UN.

Similarly, the report suggests that the US in particular would stand to lose from its failure, with the potential for future investment in the country very high.

‘The DRC produces 40% of all unrefined cobalt in the world and as much as 20% of the world’s tantalum, an important element used in the capacitors found in mobile phones and other electronics,’ the report states.

‘For these reasons, the United States seeks to promote a stable, democratic government in the DRC that respects the rights of its citizens (especially women) and can act to stabilize the rest of central Africa, eventually removing the need for US aid.’

Given the United States’ keen concern in the country, the CFR suggests that the US could take one of a number of preventative measures to reduce the risk of violent instability in the DRC.

‘One option would be to add significantly to the $10 million of electoral aid committed over the next two years and convert the program to a broader-based democracy support package…

‘Alternatively, the United States could condition continued financial assistance on a credible electoral process in the hope that this would deter serious misconduct and pressure the government to expedite current preparations for elections.

‘Finally, should it become clear that a significant portion of voting centres will be unequipped for November elections, the United States could request that the government postpone legislative elections.’

Suspending aid altogether would be an option to fall back on if none of the above were to work out, while ensuring a UN presence on the ground could significantly reduce the chances of war.

The report concludes that by suggesting a few recommendations for avoiding war, including the need to review international policy on Congo and creating a ‘broad-based, multiyear elections assistance package for national and local elections in coordination with the Contact Group, European Union, MONUSCO, and the UN Development Programme’.

The CFR also believes it is necessary to supplement Congo’s elections support budget, spearhead the immediate creation of a multilateral elections monitoring committee and increase support for targeted security sector reform and temporarily withhold funding for some basic military training.

All this, however, seems rather hypothetical and it won’t be until the elections of November of December that one can truly assess whether Congo has passed into another chapter in good working order. Until then, the world holds its breath.

The multiple challenges affecting world forests will dominate the High Level Summit on Tropical Forestry, which will be held in the capital Brazzaville from May 31- June 3, 2011.

The Summit of Heads of State and Government from the Amazon, Congo and Borneo-Mekong Forest Basins will be attended by countries from Africa, Latin America and Asia, seeking solutions to the sustainable management of forest ecosystems.  It will be attended by policy makers, scientists, forest managers and civil society to discuss global climate regulation, poverty eradication and economic development efforts.

The summit comes at a time when forests worldwide face grave challenges, including unsustainable timber and mineral extractions, the bush meat trade, land clearing for agriculture and weak governance. In Africa, exploitation in the trade of forests and other natural resources, especially by rebel groups, has been the source of many conflicts.

Congo’s minister of sustainable development, forestry and environment, Henri Djombo, says the summit will generate solutions for the sustainable management of the ecosystems of the three basins. The Amazon Basin (South America), Congo Basin (Central Africa) and Borneo-Mekong Basin (South-East Asia) make up 80 per cent of the world’s rainforests and contain two thirds of its biodiversity.

Djombo says the forum will address policy-relevant questions regarding the role of forests for sustainable development and the impact of climate change on forest fire prevention strategies and key resources like water. It will also promote cross-sector and territorial approaches for forest management.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on management, conservation and the sustainable development of all types of forests, on which at least 1.6 billion people depend for their survival. Forests are also home to over 60 million people, mainly members of longstanding indigenous communities.

According to Ms. Jan McAlpine, Director of the secretariat of the UN Forum on Forests, the meeting will aim to produce a common action plan for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems in the three basins. All over the world, forests are a vital part of the ecosystem and they face common challenges.

The Summit hopes to produce an agreement that will serve as a framework for consultation on forestry and climate issues. A joint statement on tropical forests, climate and sustainable development will also be signed, which will feed into the seventeenth meeting of the parties at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in Durban, South Africa, in December, and the Earth Summit 2012, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next June.

Forest loss is accelerating at a rapid pace across much of the three basins, and forest degradation and destruction now accounts for 20 per cent of the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.