Press Releases

This week, Congressman Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Vice Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, and Financial Services Committee Oversight and Investigations Chairman Dan Meuser (R-PA) introduced the Central African Exploitation and Manipulation of American Companies (CEMAC) Act. This legislation instructs the United States to oppose any effort by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) related to the countries of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo until the IMF issues guidance regarding the status of the American companies’ restoration funds held in escrow by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).

“The environmental restoration funds paid by American companies should not be raided to shore up monetary reserves in Central Africa,” said Congressman Bill Huizenga. “Under the IMF’s Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, these restoration funds cannot be used for foreign exchange reserves. The CEMAC Act protects the environment and American companies by preventing the IMF from pulling a monetary bait and switch.”

Background:

In 2018, the African nations comprising the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa or CEMAC issued a regulation requiring American companies that develop resources in the region to pay into a restoration fund. Congressman Huizenga’s legislation does not change that requirement and maintains the important industry standard of holding restoration funds in escrow. However, under the current negotiation structure, the American companies have no guarantee that these restoration funds will be kept in escrow, to be used at a later date, for environmental rehabilitation. Additionally, the BEAC sees the IMF’s silence as an opportunity to use these American companies dollars to shore up their own foreign currency reserves. The CEMAC Act ensures that money paid into the fund goes toward it’s intended use of environmental recovery.

Currently, energy development in the Central African region accounts for 80-90% of each nation’s GDP. A withdraw by energy producers would have catastrophic consequences for the region and invites adversaries such as Russia and China, who have little to no concern about the environmental impact of energy exploration, to fill the void. While negotiations are ongoing, the current deadline to comply with the regulation created by CEMAC has been arbitrarily moved to April 30, 2025.

The legislative text for the CEMAC Act is available here.