KEY RESULTS

• The Central African Republic (CAR) model provides an excellent case of Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) integration and institutional capacity-building in a post-conflict environment. The EIF helped set up the National Implementation Unit (NIU), which took on the then-vacant position of the planning department for the Ministry of Trade. 
• The NIU was established by presidential decree as the Sectoral Strategy and Project Management Unit and, among others, helps update the National Development Plan and develop the ministry’s annual work plans. It is now fully integrated in what is now the Ministry of Trade and Industry, with staff salaries being paid for by the government. 
• The EIF supported projects on maize, sesame and palm oil. Encouraging results have contributed to the creation of more than 11,000 jobs and an increase in sesame production from 6,000 tons in 2020 to nearly 280,000 tons in 2022, and corn from 48,000 tons to 521,000 tons in the same period. This was despite the security challenges in some parts of the country.

The Central African Republic, a vast country with a small population of five million, is testing the potential for achieving lasting peace through trade for development to improve livelihoods and build a better future for this and coming generations. 

Recurring conflict over the last three decades has increased the country’s poverty levels, weakened social cohesion and presented the government with the challenge of rebuilding institutions, human capital, infrastructure and productive assets. An important milestone in the country’s progress towards revitalizing the economy was the election and formal installation of members of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Crafts by the President in 2009. This effectively paved the way for trade stakeholders, who had been affected by the crisis, to advocate for greater government attention to commerce and trade as integral to peacebuilding.

A partnership between the Government of the Central African Republic and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), established since 2005 under the Integrated Framework (IF), has methodically worked to improve productivity and build institutions to support pro-poor trade, with the goal of rebuilding the economy and achieving peace. The relationship has been ongoing, except for a period of instability following the government’s overthrow in March 2013. The partnership resumed in May 2018 in the wake of a successful national reconciliation process and elections in 2016.

People, in general, have begun to realize the benefits of the systematic approach, which includes what is now the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s active engagement with women, youth and the poorest communities. According to Edmond Mologodo, EIF Project Coordinator in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, some of these early results are due to the EIF’s sustained commitment to supporting the Central African Republic’s poor-growth and peacebuilding agenda. "The EIF is the only international trade programme that is pragmatic, flexible and works close to the grassroots," says Mologodo.

Easing constraints to recovery

Rebuilding institutional capacity to support trade for development, including modernizing outdated (or developing new) trade rules and regulations to facilitate growth, began with the strengthening of the NIU in 2017 by a presidential decree that expanded its functions to become a sectoral strategy and project management unit. The NIU, with endorsement from the country’s highest political office and commitment demonstrated by government financing of NIU staff salaries, took on the role of planning department in the Ministry of Trade. This mandate enabled the ministry to drive the effective implementation of the trade-related pillar of the National Recovery and Peacebuilding Plan 2017-2021, namely "to promote economic recovery and boost productive sectors to rapidly provide the population with income-generating activities and employment opportunities".

Further, the NIU ensured the integration of trade priorities into Poverty Reduction Strategies 1 (2008-2010) and 2 (2011-2015). A trade and industry development strategy covering several areas, including export competitiveness and diversification, was developed and adopted in June 2019. The NIU further supported the integration of trade into the agriculture, mining, tourism, water, and forestry sectoral strategies.

Boosting productive sectors from the ground up

With the policy framework in place, the government/EIF partnership advanced to implementing a catalytic project countrywide to demonstrate the potential of maize, palm oil and sesame for improving small producers’ incomes. This was to be achieved through institutional strengthening at the national and local levels; training on legal and trade frameworks such as quality and standards for export and on marketing; and by providing tools and machinery. 

The approach to increasing production and raising export standards has been hands-on, working countrywide from the grassroots level and upward. Mologodo explained that the NIU works through a consultative engagement process that begins with meetings with local political and administrative authorities to explain the project objectives and get their support. Sector-focused awareness-raising meetings and training sessions are then held with local cooperatives and enterprises. The process allows for buy-in from local authorities and community members and fosters a greater sense of ownership, which helps build trust and cooperation. As Mologodo said, As Mologodo said, "The hope and interest of the populations in the project is great every time we visit them."

Marketing support enabled farmer organizations to participate in agricultural fairs in the capital, Bangui, and in the provinces. Women entrepreneurs and youth were trained on business development and planning. An awareness campaign rolled out in the project's intervention zones encouraged producers, processors, transporters and exporters to engage with the regional directorates of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

The establishment of cooperatives has been especially rewarding under the project partnership. 428 groups – 247 in the maize sector, 126 in the sesame sector and 55 in the oil palm sector – were structured into 27 unions and cooperatives. 

The cooperatives were provided with financial support for clearing, plowing and crop maintenance. They were also supplied with seeds and other agricultural inputs and equipment, including palm oil production and product packaging equipment and materials. Storage warehouses were built. and to facilitate extension services in this vast country, heads of regional departments were allocated motorcycles. 

Across the country, the project has empowered the Central African Republic’s women agricultural producers and demobilized ex-combatants, including young people. Most of the Central African Republic’s rural population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, and cultivation is primarily the responsibility of women. Training for members of the Organization of Rural Women "Flowers of Central Africa" and the market gardeners’ association of Ngoulekpa, for example, enabled the women to create sales outlets for their products both in Bangui and in the regions. It also helped them master best practices in agricultural product marketing. 

Ex-combatants who have opted to move into agriculture under the national disarmament, demobilization, repatriation and reintegration scheme have joined or formed cooperatives as an alternative to conflict. This is helping to turn around a sector previously ravaged by war. Interventions targeted at youth include school visits to talk with students about maize, sesame, or palm farming, and other small trade opportunities. According to Mrs Léa Koyassoum Doumta, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the project brings substantial income to women and contributes to the socio-economic integration of young people in the areas covered by the project, preventing them from being recruited into armed groups.

EIF-supported maize and sesame exports, mainly to Chad, Sudan and South Sudan, are growing. Meanwhile, increased maize production has provided the Central African oil and soap company (HUSACA-Huilerie savonnerie de Centrafrique), a private sector enterprise, with a consistent supply for processing and sale to the World Food Programme. Between 2020 and 2022, sesame production increased from just over 6,000 tons to nearly 280,000 tons, while maize increased from 48,000 tons to 521,000 tons.  A palm oil production plant with a capacity of 250 to 300 tonnes per year has been fully installed 35 km southwest of Bangui with EIF funding and will boost the value chain in this sector. All this has led to the creation of more than 11,000 jobs, which is helping to consolidate peace in the country.

Going further together

Along the way, the Government of the Central African Republic and the EIF have strengthened existing – and built new – partnerships. These have included EIF institutional partners such as the World Bank, as the main implementing partner in the development of the first Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS), the UN Development Programme, as the main implementing partner for the DTIS Update, and the International Trade Centre, which undertook the Central African Republic Export Potential Study. The European Union also provided support for the elaboration of the post-conflict trade strategy. 

On the surface, the EIF’s contribution to building the trade sector’s technical expertise, increasing production and marketing from the grassroots level up to the processing and export sectors has opened the door to leverage support at greater scale from other funding partners. But according to Mologodo, it has gone far beyond that: