ECOWAS at 50: The Case for Cameroon’s membership amid the Southern Cameroons conflict

By Hans Ngala

The burning question some ask is “Cameroon is in West Africa, so why didn’t she ever join ECOWAS?”
This question resurfaced among some Cameroonians as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) marked 50 years on Wednesday this week. The ceremony was held at a hotel in Lagos, Nigeria – the bloc’s largest member state by numerical and economic strength.
Ashu Nyenty, a leading Cameroonian journalist and researcher, puts it thus:
“Geographically, Cameroon straddles both West and Central African regions. Much of its territory is situated in Central Africa, but a small portion, especially the northern part of the country, is in West Africa. Many Cameroonians who have traveled to West Africa have expressed their preference for the West African Economic block”
Nyenty goes on to add that “In the British geopolitical conception, Cameroon is viewed as a West African country, while in the French geopolitical prism, it is seen as a Central African country. This divergent geopolitical reading is understandable, given Cameroon’s dual colonial heritage, which was run separately by Britain and France as mandated territories of the League of Nations and later Trust territories of the United Nations”.
Doug Chaffee, a Canadian-American missionary who spent most of his childhood as a missionary kid in the British Cameroons in the 1960s says that “Prior to independence, it was ‘British Cameroons, West Africa’. We used Nigerian currency and postage stamps”.
And Chaffee is right, even today when Cameroon takes a stronger leaning with Central Africa, Anglophone Cameroonians tend to strongly identify with West Africa still. This is exemplified by the existence of institutions such as the Pan African Institute for Development – West Africa (PAIDWA) and the fact that Cameroonian-born Prof. Victor Anoma Ngu was the founder of the West African College of Surgeon (WACS). Beyond these however, there is an estimated 8 million Anglophone Cameroonians who, feel no strong affinity to a Central African region where they are the lone minority and are sidelined. However, if Cameroon were to take up membership in ECOWAS, these Anglophone Cameroonians will find cultural and linguistic bonds with Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia over such things as their shared Pidgin English, variations of jellof rice, garri and the broader English language and values of course.
Nyenty argues that dual membership for Cameroon in CEMAC and ECOWAS is unlikely because “According to the Abuja Treaty, Africa has been divided into five Regional Economic groupings, with Cameroon clearly represented in Central Africa instead of West Africa”. However, the argument is not too strong in my opinion. Cameroon gets listed as a solely Francophone country in some spaces and sometimes as an English-speaking country and in some places, the country is striped in both English and French colors. Currently, Cameroon is both in the Commonwealth and also in La Francophonie. She gets listed as “Africa in Miniature” due to the vastness of her diversity in every sense of the word.
In May 2016 during a business forum in Yaounde, President Paul Biya even acknowledged Cameroon’s strategic West-Central African location when he said “I am fond of saying that Cameroon, Africa in miniature, is not coming empty-handed to this give-and-take forum. Indeed, it has abundant assets, hence its attractiveness”.
Biya went on to state that Cameroon is “The most populated country in the CEMAC zone sharing a more than 1 500 km-long border with Nigeria, Africa’s leading economy, Cameroon stands out thanks to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa and at the intersection between the ECOWAS and CEMAC zones”.
In an age where stronger regional alliances are not only beneficial for individual countries but also necessary for global trade and to alleviate poverty, Cameroon stands to gain more by expanding her partnerships with her geographic West African allies.
Franklin Sone Bayen, a Cameroonian commentator and analyst puts it this way “Movement within ECOWAS is like moving from kitchen to veranda. You can travel from Dakar (far west of ECOWAS to Lagos (far east of ECOWAS) without as much as a hurdle”. Bayen, goes on to note that “When I hear the usual boasting “Le meilleur en Afrique central” (which translates to “The best in central Africa”), I wonder what good is in central Africa to be proud of being the best here. It’s the most backward and primitive subregion in Africa. When Ahidjo and Leon Mba of Gabon created CEMAC’s predecessor UDEAC, in 1967, it was Ahidjo’s way of escaping fruitful, progressive competition in West Africa with giants Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal… It was also fear of Biafra (socio-economically domineering Biafra, but also politically imposing Biafra). These were the years of the Biafra War. Ahidjo feared that an independent Biafra would influence Southern Cameroons’ quest for independence; that, if the two would bond into one new country (reminiscent of former Eastern Region of Nigeria)”.
It is safe to say that Cameroon’s membership in ECOWAS would help isolated Anglophones feel a sense of belonging while remaining part of Cameroon. It would strengthen Cameroon’s economy by boosting trade with an even larger and freer West African market where there are fewer bottlenecks as compared to the CEMAC market. And this is a safe assertion after 50 years of ECOWAS.
While Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have pulled out of the bloc for purely political reasons, Cameroon could join for the same reasons too.