The Central African Region (CAR): Regional Analysis

Introduction
The Central African region (CAR) consists of such countries as Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. The region gained its independence in the 1960s, Central African states have agreed to strengthen their cooperation at the regional level. Most countries within this region have fallen prey to political instability due to wars and humanitarian conflicts. Despite all the conflict, most of the countries have managed to grow in wealth for example, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in oil wealth and DRC in mineral and agricultural wealth - hence their economies are growing significantly.

Although the initial focus was on regional economic cooperation and trade, growing crises and conflicts

The governments also need to integrate the industrial and agro-industrial sector and establish trans-border development basins. To enhance regional average yields, the governments need to invest in agriculture thereby ensuring food security in the region. To strengthen the processing capacity of the agricultural industry; government should provide subsidies inputs and fertilisers. Schiller, (2009 p334) confirms that the easiest kind of growth comes from increased use of our productive

Implementation of monetary integration in terms of inflation, interest rates and levels of employment is necessary for economic development.

Millennium Development Goals: Governments of the Central Region need to come up with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that will address poverty eradication. The region has in the past received support from the European Union through EU Aid, which offered funding for humanitarian assistance, food security and stability. The Kimberly process in 2003 also allowed for compliance with Extractive Industries Transparency initiatives in mining.

Research and Technological Advances: The manufacturing sector is reported to be underperforming across the region. Governments’ initiatives to create a manufacturing laboratory that would focus on research on manufacturing processes and best practices in manufacturing management would improve performance. Supply chain management and the diffusion of up-to-date technology and business processes to new and existing manufacturing firms is a