UAE and CEMAC - A Gradually Expanding Economic Partnership

The United Arab Emirates is deepening economic ties with the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) through a series of logistics, energy and trade initiatives, while remaining a comparatively modest partner alongside long-standing actors such as France, China and the EU. Since 2023 Emirati firms have secured major concessions and memoranda of understanding across the region, official announcements indicate the UAE committed USD 6.2 billion in November 2025 to support Chad’s national development strategy, and companies including AD Ports Group, Etihad Rail, Global South Utilities Power and AMEA Power have advanced specific projects.

"Abu Dhabi may be emerging less as a replacement for traditional actors than as an additional node within an increasingly diversified network of external partners," the analysis observed, underlining that Emirati involvement appears complementary rather than transformative at this stage.

Projects, concessions and diplomatic outreach

Emirati engagement has concentrated on transport infrastructure and energy. AD Ports Group signed a 30-year concession to manage and operate the port of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo in 2023, reportedly including a USD 500 million commitment, and in February 2026 won the right to operate the dry bulk terminal at the Douala Autonomous Port in Cameroon with an investment estimated at EUR 73.4 million. AD Ports has also been linked to interest in Gabon’s planned deep-sea port at Mayumba.

Transport connectivity measures include a May 2025 memorandum of understanding between Etihad Rail and Chad’s National Railway Office to update feasibility studies for an 800-kilometre railway linking N’Djamena to Ngaoundéré in Cameroon, a scheme intended to connect Chad more directly to the port of Douala.

Energy partnerships have featured large-scale solar and thermal power proposals. Global South Utilities Power reportedly agreed in November 2025 to develop a 180-MW solar power plant in Chad with an estimated investment of USD 350 million; that package reportedly includes support for a thermal power plant in N’Djamena and smaller solar installations led by local company Tchadelec. Construction began in August 2025 on a roughly 60 MW solar project near Bangui in the Central African Republic, and AMEA Power signed a memorandum of understanding in 2024 to develop a 100-MW solar plant in the Republic of the Congo as part of plans to raise national generation to 1,500 MW by 2030.

• AD Ports Group: 30-year Pointe-Noire concession (USD 500m) and Douala dry bulk terminal (EUR 73.4m)
• Etihad Rail: MoU to study an 800-km Chad–Cameroon railway
• Global South Utilities Power: 180-MW solar plant in Chad (USD 350m)
• AMEA Power: MoU for 100-MW solar plant in the Republic of the Congo

Diplomatic exchanges have accompanied these commercial ties: presidents Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno of Chad, Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon, and Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo have all visited the UAE in recent years, and Emirati business delegations travelled to Chad and Gabon in 2025. Discussions over Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements have occurred with Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the C.A.R. and Chad.

Outlook: analysts caution that CEMAC’s political fragility — including recent coups in Chad and Gabon and ongoing conflict in the C.A.R. — complicates the durability of investment frameworks. While Emirati actors appear prepared to operate in complex political environments, the UAE’s footprint remains limited compared with entrenched partners. Whether Abu Dhabi’s involvement will shift Central Africa’s development trajectory or simply add another external actor to a crowded field remains an open question.