African presidents create $87 mln emergency fund to fight Boko Haram

Reuters
Gabon's president Ali Bongo talks during a news conference with Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara (not pictured) at the presidential palace in Yamoussoukro November 26, 2014. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Presidents from the 10-nation Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) pledged in an extraordinary meeting on Monday to create an $87 million emergency fund to fight the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. "My counterparts from the CEEAC and I decided to create an emergency fund of 50 billion CFA francs ($86.72 million) to fight Boko Haram," Gabon's President Ali Bongo, who attended the one-day summit in Cameroon, said on his personal Twitter account. The insurgents have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in a five-year insurgency in northern Nigeria, and have recently intensified cross-border raids on neighbouring countries in the Lake Chad area. ($1 = 576.5600 CFA francs)