The Conference of ECCAS Ministers of Economy and Finance on the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa (FEVAC) and the structural transformation of the economy was held from October 27 to 30, 2014 in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), chaired by His Excellency Daniel MUKOKO SAMBA, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Budget, who was representing the Prime Minister, Head of Government. The get-together aimed to encourage the structural transformation of the Natural Resources Economy System in general and the Timber Economy System in particular, to adopt the text establishing the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa (FEVAC), a tool for the development and promotion of the Green Economy System in Central Africa (SEVAC). The meeting also purposed to take other decisions aimed at speeding up implementation by Member States, with the support of partners and donors funding the Natural Resources Economy System. The gathering brought together finance ministers from ECCAS countries as well as representatives of the ECCAS General Secretariat; the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC); the European Union Delegation in Congo; the French Development Agency in Kinshasa; the FAO office in the DRC; IUCN’s Regional Office for Central and West Africa; the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC);  the Standing Conference of African and French-speaking Consular Chambers (CPCCAF) and the Sovereign Fund of the Republic of Gabon.

It was preceded by a meeting held on October 27 to 29, 2014 attended by experts from ECCAS countries, partner organizations and resource persons who reviewed the final text on the establishment of the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa and proposed a pre-launch roadmap. The meeting further proposed measures for the diversification and structural transformation of Central Africa’s non-oil and non-mineral Natural Resources Economy; it suggested measures for taking into account governance, integration and diplomacy in the structural transformation of the Timber Economy System in Central Africa; it proposed conditions for establishing and implementing a diplomacy of natural resources in general and timber diplomacy in particular; it studied the new requirements of various timber markets’ regulatory instruments (EUTR, US Lacey Act, Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act), opportunities (VPA and CITES) for addressing them and guidelines for accelerating the implementation of these opportunities in the States; it proposed operating procedures for the sectoral and strategic development programs of the green economy, their location and promotion tools within the Member States; it finalized the draft decisions and recommendations to be submitted for approval to the Ministerial segment and, thereafter, to the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS for adoption in November 2014.

The findings from the experts’ meeting served as raw material for the in-camera meeting of Ministers held during the conference. At the end of this closed session, the Ministers validated and amended the draft decisions to be submitted for adoption to the 16th Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS scheduled to hold on November 25 and 26, 2014 in N'Djamena. The draft decisions include: the establishment of the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa; the development of lumber markets in Central Africa; promotion of SMEs and SMIs in the timber industry in Central Africa; measures relating to the role of diplomacy, integration, and governance in the structural transformation of the timber economy in Central Africa; ways and means of boosting implementation of the VPA/FLEGT in Central Africa; a concept note on the program to accelerate the structural transformation of the natural resources economy; institutionalization of the Conference of ECCAS Ministers on the development and promotion of the green economy in Central Africa and the adoption of sectoral programs on the green economy in Central Africa.

The highlight of the conference, which was the icing on the cake was the DRC’s announcement of a three-million dollar contribution to promote the green economy, particularly towards the establishment of FEVAC, full mobilization of the CCI, support for the establishment within the ECCAS General Secretariat of a department dedicated to environmental issues, the institutionalization of the Annual Conference of ECCAS Ministers on the development of the green economy by 2015.

For more details on the experts’ deliberations on the draft decisions and the proceedings of the Conference of ECCAS Ministers of Economy and Finance on the Fund for the Green Economy in Central Africa (FEVAC), the report and the final communiqué can be downloaded HERE Below: