from its specialised
bodies such as:
- The Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), born at the 1999 Heads of State Summit in Yaounde, which is working for sustainable eco system management. Its convergence plan which the Heads of State adopted in 2005 has ten strategic elements (including element 8 on research and
de-- The Central African Energy Pool (PEAC) is in charge of implementing the energy policy, monitoring community infrastructure construction studies and organising trade in electrical energy and related services within the ECCAS zone. In its vision, the PEAC intends to valorise the huge hydro electric potential of Central Africa to meet, all forms of demand inside and outside ECCAS by 2035, via interconnected energy boulevards and effec tive and prosperous electrical energy free markets.
- The Regional Fisheries Commission of the Gulf of Guinea (COREP), crea ted in 1984, is in charge of coordinating, harmonising and developing fi sheries in economic areas exclusively for member countries.
There are several other entities, partners or projects, including:
- The CEFDHAC. Created in May 1996 in Brazzaville, the Conference on dense and tropical forests of Central Africa (CEFDHAC) - the Brazza ville Process - is a forest ecosystems consultation and experience sharing and orientation platform through the articulation of all groups of actors wor king in the Congo Basin. It consolidates the political will of States of the sub region to achieve a common vision to conserve and sustainably utilize the ecosystems of dense and tropical forests of Central Africa.
- OSFAC/GOFC Created in 1999, the main mission of the satellite obser vatory of Central African Forests is the monitoring via remote sensing, of the evolution of the vegetal cover of Central African forests.
- The Central African Environment Regional Programme (CARPE) com bats deforestation and loss of biodiversity in the Congo Basin.
- ECOFAC (Central African Forest Ecosystems) seeks to reconcile deve lopment and natural habitat protection.
- RAPAC (Network of Protected Areas in Central Africa). - PFBC (Part nership for Congo Basin Forests).
At the level of the States, the institutional scheme in force ensures the dis tinguishing of public authorities, development partners, other research ins titutes and NGOs.
In planning environmental resource use, several government bodies are in volved. Their appellations vary from one country to another: they are mi nistries in charge of water resources, forests, hunting, fisheries and the environment; energy, agriculture, rural development, finance and the bud get, etc. These central authorities have relays at local level - decentralised local and regional authorities.
The Economies of Central Africa - 2013
in several sites, support the public authorities in conservation and sustaina ble development. Some of these partners are the IUCN, WWF, UNDP, UNEP, GIZ, CARPE, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, and the FSC.
There are several challenges at the institutional level.
The first challenge concerns the regular and harmonious functioning of ins titutions. It should be noted that despite its progress, the institutional archi tecture of ECCAS has some shortcomings which could undermine most of its achievements.MbonguSodi (2009) identifies these shortcomings at se veral levels.
In principle, States must contribute to the running of the organisation, but the main difficulty ECCAS and its specialised bodies are facing is the issue of mobilising member States' financial contributions. Most countries have backlogs in egalitarian contributions, and are late in paying, thereby pena lising the harmonious functioning ofthese organisations, thereby generating frequent financial tensions.As a result of this dysfunction, several activities programmed at the sub regional and national levels are not carried out. Due to these obstacles, ECCAS and its specialised bodies are still very depen dent on financial support from development partners. If this dependence is not clearly defined, it can unfortunately undermine the sustainability of these institutions.
Another difficulty lies in the functioning of sub regional cooperation relay structures in member States. These relay structures - national coordination bodies - are not always formally created in some member countries. Also, those that are introduced do not have the necessary resources to carry out their missions. Consequently the appointed national coordinators spend lit tle time monitoring sub regional programme implementation. (Mbongu-Sodi, 2009).
Finally, one of the major challenges is the effective involvement of all sta keholders, ranging from the central authorities to local administrative au thorities, to NGOs, to private operators to civil society. Also, sub regional bodies, if they cannot coordinate the actions initiated in the plethora of pro grammes identified above, should at least have overseeing rights on what is done to avoid scattering energy and resources about. This would result in a general institutional mechanism:
Governments
Provincial or regional authorities
Businesman, NGO;
Researchers, bankers, Foreign Funding Partners;
etc.
Local councils
Smalt and medium size enterprises and
large enterprises
Consumers
Parliamentarians
Figure 3.2: Institutional Mechanism for a Green Economy in Central Africa Source: HonoreTabuna, 2012
The correct translation of this appropriate scheme for a green economy in Central Africa requires the development of useful partnerships at different levels: national, regional and international.
On the international plane, it is necessary to entertain bilateral and multila teral partnerships with industrialised countries in order to transfer efficient technologies in the interest of countries concerned and to raise the necessary
The Economies of Central Africa - 2013
At the regional level, the different sub regions ofAfrica are called upon to cooperate towards pooling forces and sharing experience. Central Africa in particular could benefit from the experience of North African countries which are more advanced in the production of new forms of energy and are more industrialised. Sub regional bodies would coordinate States' actions in trans-border sectors (watersheds, biodiversity, energy, etc.)
At the domestic level, conditions necessary for a public sector - private sec tor partnership to benefit the green economy should be created. Private sec tor companies are drivers of a transition into a green economy and States must formulate legislative measures which encourage them to adopt envi ronmentally friendly practices. Individuals or groups are increasingly inte rested in biodiversity conservation.
Conditions necessary for a public sector - private sector partnership to be nefit the green economy should be created.
In some countries, there are indications whereby the private sector can own protected areas, as is the case in South Africa and Malawi. In 1990, Namibia recorded three hundred and fifty nine farms covering 46 000 square kilometres as wildlife and hunting reserves belonging to private operators and in Uganda there were 2 000 square kilometres as private forests. As for South Africa about 0.2% of all conservation areas are private property, that is almost 620 000 hectares (Mengue-Medou, 2002). Other incentives can be linked to profits generated from ecotourism and hunting, or tax reductions. Such experiences deserve to be duplicated in Central Africa.
■ Green Economy-Oriented Programmes
In the Central Africa sub region, there are already programmes in line with the goals of a green economy. Given their shortcomings, these programmes should be strengthened or even renovated.
Countries in the sub region agreed to the initiative for a support programme to develop a green economy in Central Africa (PADEVAC) during the Green Business Forum at Pointe-Noire from 8 to 10 May 2012. This pro-Conditions necessary for a public
sector - private sector partnership to benefit the green economy should be created.
environment. It is developed around the following components: clean de velopment mechanism (CDM); sustainable waste and forest management;
ecotourism; eco-construction and eco-industry; bio fuels; agro forestry and renewable energies. Joining this programme is one more step towards the green economy. At the moment, green economy policies in the Central Africa region concern several sectors.