In Africa, there are still challenges in improving the business climate despite the many advances made in recent years. Indeed, according to the World Bank, sixteen of the most difficult countries to do business in are African. Among the six, four are Central African states: Congo , the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Gabon . This ranking is sufficient proof how Central Africa lags behind in terms of facilities do business.

But the "Doing Business" clearly show that the state has a central role in improving the business conditions of any given country as well as its private sector development. A good public-private sector partnership is therefore needed to improve the business climate. It against this backdrop that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA ) through its Sub-Regional Office for Central Africa has included in its 2014 work program, an ad hoc expert group meeting (AEGM) on the improvement of the business climate in Central Africa.

The purpose of the meeting is to provide a platform for discussion among experts in the sub region to discuss the business environment in Central Africa through an analysis of policies and programs implemented in the sub-region and the results achieved so far. The meeting also aims to identify measures to promote the development of a dynamic and competitive private sector which would contribute more effectively to the economic growth of countries in the sub-region.

Experts invited to the meeting would review be state of the business environment in Central Africa, identify the range of instruments available in countries of the sub-region and size up the results achieved to date. This would enable them propose the ways of circumventing the current difficulties in doing business in the sub-region which would lead to  the emergence and development of the private sector and boost economic growth of countries found therein.