Special session of the Council of Ministers of ECCAS

Sipopo, 16 January 2026 (Republic of Equatorial Guinea) - The Ministers of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) held a special session on 16 January 2026. Objective: To strengthen Community institutions and reform executive bodies to make the organization more effective.

A session dedicated to regional integration

During this session, Ministers responsible for regional integration of ECCAS member States discussed the future of the Community. This special session is part of efforts to strengthen regional integration and modernize the functioning of ECCAS, in a context of many political, economic and security challenges.
Discussions focused on ways to improve the effectiveness and coherence of the Community institutions so that they better meet the expectations of the Member States and the people of the subregion.

Reorganization of the ECCAS Commission

At the heart of the work was the reorganization of the ECCAS Commission, the main body responsible for implementing the decisions taken by the Community bodies. The Ministers discussed in depth the reform of its internal organization and the strengthening of its operational capacity.

The objective is to provide the Commission with appropriate human resources and tools for its missions. Initially planned for a single day, work continued until Saturday 17 January at 3 a.m., due to the importance of the topics discussed and the willingness of Member States to reach consensus.

Towards a new Community executive

Ministers also worked on the composition of the future Executive of ECCAS. The Commissioners for the new management team were identified on the basis of criteria of competence, balance and regional representativeness.
The list of this new team will be submitted for approval by the ninth special session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECCAS, scheduled for 24 January 2026 in videoconference.

Exchanges also focused on strengthening regional communication, improving political coordination between Member States, implementing institutional reforms and rationalizing the Commission's human resources.

A more effective and citizen-friendly ECCAS

Ministers stressed the need to align ECCAS governance with the common aspirations of member States and people in Central Africa. Particular emphasis was placed on strengthening collaboration between national ministries and the Commission in order to ensure better implementation of Community decisions.

The Council of Ministers reaffirmed its commitment to building a more coherent, effective and relevant ECCAS for the development and integration of the peoples of Central Africa.