Meeting in Douala from March 11 to 14, 2025, the Directors general of taxes of the CEMAC member states, accompanied by IMF experts, are working on developing a joint roadmap to improve domestic resource mobilization. This is a crucial issue for the region’s economic stability and fiscal sovereignty.
Faced with persistent economic challenges and low non-oil tax revenues, the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), launched a high-level seminar in Douala. The objective: to implement a regional strategy aimed at strengthening domestic resource mobilization and ensuring greater resilience of local economies. Opening the seminar, CEMAC Common Market Commissioner Mbogo Ngabo Seli emphasized the crucial importance of this initiative in a context marked by economic tensions and an urgent need for economic diversification.
The low ratio of non-oil tax revenues to non-oil GDP in the CEMAC region poses a significant obstacle to financing essential infrastructure and public services. Roger Athanase Meyong Abath, Director General of Taxation of Cameroon, emphasized the need to strengthen domestic resource mobilization. According to him, this is not only a constraint, but a strategic lever to ensure fiscal sovereignty and meet the expectations of the population. The seminar also follows the extraordinary summit of CEMAC heads of state held last December in Yaoundé, where improving the macroeconomic framework and community solidarity were central to the discussions.
The work in Douala is expected to result in concrete recommendations for reforming national tax systems and strengthening their harmonization within CEMAC. These conclusions will be submitted to the CEMAC Permanent Commission for Tax and Accounting Harmonization, which will meet next week to review their implementation. This initiative illustrates the member states’ desire to strengthen their financial autonomy and build a more stable and prosperous economic future for the region. By diversifying their revenue sources and improving tax collection, they intend to better respond to development challenges and the aspirations of their populations.
