Monthly Archives: November 2022

10, November 2022

Qatar FIFA World Cup: Senegal to gamble on Mane fitness ⁰

Sadio Mane will be included in Senegal’s squad for the World Cup despite suffering a leg injury this week, a source within the country’s football federation told AFP on Thursday.

“One thing is certain, Sadio Mane will be on the list tomorrow,” the source said, with coach Aliou Cisse set to announce his squad on Friday.

Mane, who finished second in this year’s Ballon d’Or voting behind Karim Benzema, limped off during Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on Tuesday.

He was diagnosed with an injury to his right fibula. Bayern said he would undergo further tests in the coming days.

According to the source, Mane “remains calm, he’s professional, he knows that injury is part of the job.”

The 30-year-old scored the winning penalty as Senegal won their first Africa Cup of Nations title in February, beating Egypt in a shootout in the final.

Mane also converted the decisive spot-kick in the World Cup play-off the following month as Senegal again defeated Egypt on penalties.

He has been ruled out of Bayern’s final game before the World Cup against Schalke on Saturday.

The Senegal team doctor, Manuel Afonso, has flown to Munich to assess the extent of Mane’s injury.

But Senegal hope their talisman will be fit in time for their opening game of the tournament on November 21 against the Netherlands.

The Lions of Teranga will also take on hosts Qatar and Ecuador in Group A.

Mane, the two-time African player of the year, is pivotal to the African champions’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stages.

Senegal President Macky Sall on Wednesday tweeted: “Sadio, I wish you a speedy recovery.”

“Sadio, heart of a Lion! All my heart is with you!” he added.

Augustin Senghor, president of the Senegalese football federation, told AFP he was “worried”.

“We cross our fingers, we have been worried since we received the news.”

Source: AFP

10, November 2022

Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the COP27 High Level Event ⁰

Thank you, Your Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan, for taking the leadership in organizing this important event. I was very interested in the remarks by the Presidents of Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and others. I also want to the President of Mozambique for hosting several of us earlier this afternoon to discuss early warning systems and sustainable management of Miombo forests.

This conversation on the role of regional interconnections in integrating renewable energy at scale is critical in ensuring that the energy transition happens with the right balance of dependable supply, affordability, and environmental sustainability.

Southern Africa is generously endowed with renewable energy resources, an abundance of sun in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and hydro resources in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These resources are not evenly distributed and, therefore, enhanced regional integration to tap into each other’s resources can reduce economic and financial costs. Through deepened regional integration countries can become both suppliers and purchasers of electricity during times of excess capacity and when deficits occur due to the time of day, season, climate shocks and operational constraints. For example, the proposed Mega Solar Initiative which seeks to unlock about 5GW of renewable solar energy in Namibia and Botswana could also contribute to alleviate the power deficit in the region and make good use of hydro assets in the north of region for balancing and storing the variable renewable energy.

Increasingly, energy transition is underpinned by regional integration of power systems to enable clean energy resources to be harnessed at scale and greater knowledge exchange and leap frogging. Regional power pools in Africa are spearheading efforts to integrate national power systems and harmonizing regulatory and operational frameworks.

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is one of the most advanced power pools not only in Africa but also beyond. Trading through the centralized market has been growing and members have been benefitting from the lower costs. Yet, there is substantial scope for much more trading and for members to realize more benefits from integration, and to ensure SAPP remains on the leading edge.

There are four potential important gains from increased regional power sector integration through renewable energies:

(i) savings in generation and transmission costs of up to $42 billion until 2040,

(ii) better management of variable renewable energy and seasonal imbalances,

(iii) supporting decarbonization and resilience of the regional grids, and

(iv) increasing grid densification to support and complement electricity access programs and the digital agenda.

Unlocking renewable energy and power trade potential requires a comprehensive approach, with parallel efforts at regional and national levels. Several key interconnections, across three corridors (East, Central and West), have already been identified by SAPP and require investments in the order of $2 billion. The World Bank along with the African Development Bank, and other cooperating partners is supporting SAPP to develop the Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF), an innovative financing mechanism aimed at unlocking current constraints and to crowd in the public and private sector financing required.

The World Bank Group remains committed to supporting Africa in promoting increased interconnectivity, decarbonization and access to electricity. This morning we launched SCALE, a new multi-partner initiative that aims to bring global community resources – including grants and concessional loans – to support greenhouse gas reductions in developing countries. We also support faster debt reduction efforts for countries with unsustainable debt – this will free up vital resources for development and climate action.

Our commitment to Africa is reflected in the current active portfolio of regional integration programs across the African continent in the amount of $19 billion, ranging from common infrastructure to building the joint capacity and systems for coordinated action on, among others, food systems, digital development, trade, and energy markets.

Our active portfolio of regional energy projects amounts to around US$6 billion, including US$ 1.2 billion in Southern Africa. We are keen to provide additional support. I note that this is in addition to our current portfolio of energy access operations which amounts to US$8 billion, and when completed, it will provide energy access to 75 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the WBG’s commitment to supporting the innovative solutions that SAPP is developing to leverage private and climate funding. Thank you and I look forward to a good discussion today.

9, November 2022

FECAFOOT launches World Cup kits made by One All Sports as Le Coq Sportif puts off court battle ⁰

With less than three weeks to go before their first group stage match and courtroom drama swirling in the background, Cameroon’s national football team has finally unveiled the jerseys they’ll wear at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) unveiled the kits on Saturday, November 5. They’re made by One All Sports, a company that until recently had focused mainly on motorsports apparel.

The home kit is green, with a darker green pattern on the chest. The standup collar is red, while the sleeve cuffs have green, red and yellow stripes with a yellow star in the middle of the red stripe to mimic the Cameroonian flag. The Fecafoot logo appears on the right chest, while a lion crest (the national team’s nickname is the “Indomitable Lions”) sits on the left chest. One All Sports’ logo sits in between.

The dark green chest pattern and flag sleeve cuffs carry forward to both the white away kit and the red third kit, as do the crests on the chest. The away kit features a white standup collar, while the third kit collar is green.

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Each shirt has a matching pair of shorts with the same base colour and a dark green pattern down each side.

A red goalkeeper kit was also unveiled on Saturday. It features a tonal pattern of geometric shapes down the front and solid red raglan sleeves.

*Courtesy **@FecafootOfficie** / Twitter*

Cameroon’s kits have been the subject of a legal battle leading up to the World Cup. Fecafoot previously had a contract with French manufacturer Le Coq Sportif for their national team kits, which they wore as recently as the men’s Africa Cup of Nations in early 2022 and the women’s Africa Cup of Nations over the summer. But the federation unilaterally ended that contract early in July 2022 and then signed a contract with One All Sports in August.

Le Coq Sportif took Fecafoot to court to force them to honour the original terms of their contract, which ran through December 31, 2023, and included the World Cup. On Thursday, November 3, a judge ruled in favor of Le Coq Sportif, saying the contract was still valid. Fecafoot has indicated that it will appeal the decision.

In the meantime, however, Le Coq Sportif has stood down and will not continue the legal dispute during the World Cup. “We will not put the players and staff of the Indomitable Lions in an uncomfortable situation before and during this event. They must be able to give the best of themselves to thrill the Cameroonian people,” a statement from the company reads, according to BeIn Sports.

But the statement also says Le Coq Sportif will continue the fight once the tournament concludes.

Culled from News.sportslogos.net

9, November 2022

Haunted by past glory and failure, Indomitable Lions aim for the ‘impossible’ ⁰

Not many football pundits and fans picked Cameroon to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The Indomitable Lions were pitted against perhaps Africa’s best team at the time – Algeria. However, as the Cameroonian saying goes, ‘L’impossible n’est pas Camerounais!’ (The impossible is not Cameroonian!)

A last-gasp goal deep in stoppage time by Cameroon’s Lyon striker, Karl Toko Ekambi shattered the North Africans’ hope leaving Algeria coach Djamel Belmadi inconsolable; Cameroon erupted for joy as they booked a flight to Qatar 2022. The match ended 1-2 in favour of Cameroon and 2-2 on aggregate, but the Lions qualified thanks to two away goals despite losing the first leg at home by a lone goal.

It is a new era for Cameroonian football, with former players taking administrative and coaching positions. Legend Samuel Eto’o recently became president of the football federation in December last year. At the same time, another national icon and former defensive stalwart, Rigobert Song, will lead the team as coach to the eighth World Cup appearance. Song replaced Toni Conceiçao in March, just before the World Cup playoff. Conceiçao had led the team to third place at AFCON earlier this year.

Cameroon will kick off their Qatar 2022 campaign when they take on Switzerland in their Group G opener at the Al Janoub Stadium on November 24. The 1990 quarter-finalists will also play Serbia at Al Janoub on November 28 and five-time champions Brazil at the Lusail Stadium on December 2.

The Indomitable Lions have failed to replicate the historic highs of the Roger Milla-led 1990 team that reached the quarter-finals amid impressive victories over Argentina and Colombia. They have also been to the 1982, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 editions but have scaled past the group stages. Cameroon have won only one game at the World Cup since 1990, a 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia in 2002.

After missing out on Russia 2018, the pressure on the likes of Vincent Aboubakar, Toko Ekambi, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, André Onana and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, to lead the team to glory is palpable, especially from Eto’o.

“During last week’s General Assembly, we came together to discuss the road ahead for Cameroonian football. We must seize every opportunity, nationally and internationally. We’ve made it to the World Cup, not to play extras but to dominate all 7 matches and bring home the trophy,” Eto’o posted on his Twitter handle back in August.

However, recent results mean Song has a lot on his plate if the team’s goal is to enter the world cup in the best form. They lost back-to-back friendlies in September. A shock 2-0 defeat to minnows Uzbekistan was followed by another 1-0 loss to South Korea.

The 46-year-old Song, Cameroon’s most-capped player, coached the under-23 team before his promotion. He had led the home-based team to a forgettable African Nations Championship in 2018. The latest defeats have not done much to quell several opinions about Song’s ability, but the former Liverpool man seems sure the team will not repeat past mistakes.

“The World Cups follow each other but are not the same. The past is the past,” Song told FIFA.

“Today, there is a new dynamic; there are new projects and leaders. I can tell you that we will not be subject to the same issues we faced in Brazil.”

With latest additions like former France under-21 international Bryan Mbeumo, who has switched allegiance to his father’s home country; the brilliant goalscoring form of Bayern Munich’s Choupo-Moting, and the constant presence of Aboubakar and Toko Ekambi, perhaps the famous phrase ‘L’impossible n’est pas Camerounais!’ may be an anchor for the Indomitable Lions after all.

Cameroon play Jamaica today in a friendly in Yaounde before a final warm-up against Panama on November 18.

Culled from The Peninsular

9, November 2022

Indomitable Lions: All you need to know ahead of Qatar 2022 team announcement ⁰

Indomitable Lions have been drawn in group G at the World Cup and will face Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland. They have played at the tournament more than any other African side, competing seven times since their debut in 1982.

The Qatar World Cup will be Cameroon’s eighth such competition and marks a return to the global stage after missing out on a place in Russia four years ago.

This time around, the Indomitable Lions booked their World Cup place in dramatic fashion. They came top of their initial CAF group, finishing two points ahead of Ivory Coast after winning five of their six matches.

The Lions then faced a strong Algeria side in their CAF play-off and lost the first leg 1-0 at home. Winning 1-0 in Algeria and with the match in extra-time, they conceded a 118th-minute equaliser and looked to be destined to miss out again. Karl Toko Ekambi then became the nation’s hero, scoring the all-important winner in the 124th minute of the match.

The Indomitable Lions most recent international squad contained several names that followers of European football will be familiar with. Inter Milan’s Andre Onana is their No 1 goalkeeper, Napoli’s Andre-Frank Anguissa is a standout option in midfield and captain Vincent Aboubakar has played top-flight football in Portugal, Turkey and France.

Brentford’s France-born Bryan Mbeumo has recently switched his nationality too, picking up his first Cameroon cap in September.

Lions most recent international squad

Goalkeepers: Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Marseille), Devis Epassy (Abha), Andre Onana (Inter Milan).

Defenders: Darlin Yongwa (Lorient), Nicolas Nkoulou (Aris), Christopher Wooh (Rennes), Oumar Gonzalez (Ajaccio), Nouhou Tolo (Seattle Sounders), Olivier Mbaizo (Philadelphia Union), Collins Fai (Al-Tai), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Nantes), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese).

Midfielders: Olivier Ntcham (Swansea City), Georges Mandjeck (Nea Salamis), Pierre Kunde (Olympiacos), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona), Samuel Gouet (Mechelen), Gael Ondoua (Hannover 96), Jean Onana (Lens).

Forwards: Moumi Ngamaleu (Dynamo Moscow), Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (Besiktas), Leandre Tawamba (Al-Taawoun), Vincent Aboubakar (Al-Nassr), Karl Toko Ekambi (Lyon), Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys), Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford).

Cameroon’s recent call-ups

Goalkeepers: Simon Omossola (Vita Club).

Culled from The Athletic.com

9, November 2022

Southern Cameroons resistance is still battling to end union with French Cameroun ⁰

The head of the Ambazonia Intelligence Service in Ground Zero held a telephone conversation with the Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government Dabney Yerima late on Tuesday. The two discussed the situation in Southern Cameroons, including Bemenda and the presence of Bayelsa armed militants from Nigeria in Pamol Lobe and Mamfe in Manyu Division.

Following the meeting, the exiled Southern Cameroons leader told the Southern Cameroons Broadcasting Corporation that they discussed the reasons leading up to the recent 40 years celebration of the French Cameroun dictator in Ambazonia territory and the humanitarian situation in Menchum, Bui and Ndian.

Yerima pointed out that he told the Ambazonia Intel Chief that Southern Cameroonians will never accept the continuation of the 1961 status quo. He warned that the Ambazonia resistance groups might agree to take action against all French Cameroun military installations in Southern Cameroons. But he did not say when and where it could start.

Sending a strong message to Yaoundé, Yerima said he would sit with all Southern Cameroons factions to discuss counter measures and the fate of all Southern Cameroons detainees who are still being held by the Biya French Cameroun regime in harsh conditions, including solitary confinement and detention with neither charge nor trial.

When asked if Ambazonian resistance groups failed when they allowed the CPDM Biya celebration to go on in Southern Cameroons without ghost towns operations, Dabney Yerima answered: “Our struggle is not only to end the fake union with La Republique du Cameroun, but also to let our people see the Southern Cameroonians who are helping the Francophone regime in its genocidal campaign in our homeland. When we get to Buea, they will pay dearly for their actions.”

By Chi Prudence Asong

8, November 2022

World Bank Group Presents New Fund for Lowering Emissions ⁰

Today the World Bank announced a new multi-partner fund that will pool funding from the global community — including donor countries, the private sector and foundations — for scalable pathways to greenhouse gas emission reduction. The Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions (SCALE) partnership will provide grants for verifiable emissions reductions and expand the funding sources for global public goods.

“Climate finance needs major new mechanisms that pool funding from the global community to accomplish actual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across the developing world. SCALE offers a key non-fragmented avenue for the global community to take action on climate change,” said David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group. “The verifiable emission reductions created by SCALE and similar mechanisms will also be an important step toward building effective carbon credit markets.”

SCALE will deploy Results-Based Climate Finance where countries receive grant payments for achieving pre-agreed, verifiable results, drawing on twenty years of World Bank Group experience in this area.

SCALE will support countries to build a track record of generating emission reductions from impactful programs and policies that they can apply toward their national emission reduction targets. SCALE will also yield excess credits that can be offered in carbon markets with the potential to unlock additional private sector funding.

SCALE will pool public and private resources to (i) channel additional funding to middle and low-income countries’ emission reduction programs; (ii) help bridge the gap between the supply of and demand for high-quality emission reduction credits by supporting large-scale climate investments; and (iii) help countries develop high integrity credits and enhance their access to international carbon markets.

Social inclusion is embedded in the design of all SCALE programs. An associated fund within the SCALE umbrella – Enabling Access to Benefits while Lowering Emissions (EnABLE) – enhances the inclusion of marginalized communities and indigenous peoples in programs under the partnership through specially designed benefit sharing arrangements.

8, November 2022

Germany to reckon with its abusive colonial past in Cameroon ⁰

A top German official gave a strong speech on the need for Germany to reckon with its abusive colonial past in Cameroon, a German colony between 1884 and 1919, and other former German colonies.

Katja Keul, minister of state at the German Federal Foreign Office, stated that “In Germany, we either played down or ignored the colonial period for far too long. As a society, as a government, and also as the Federal Foreign Office. … Let me put this quite bluntly: European colonialism was an unjust system.”

During her visit to Cameroon from October 30, 2022 to November 2, Keul paid tribute to Rudolf Douala Manga Bell, a Douala king and resistance leader against Germany’s colony in Cameroon. In 1914, the German colonial administration sentenced the king to death in a trial that violated due process, even at the time.

Keul said that “Colonialism led to unimaginable suffering. It destroyed the lives of many people in Africa. King Rudolf Manga Bell was one of them.”

Keul also discussed with Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute the prospects of returning artifacts that were removed from Cameroon during the colonial era.

She committed the German government “to face up to this chapter of our history and to put an end to the shortcomings in coming to grips with it.”

Keul’s speech comes on the heels of Germany’s refusal in September to renegotiate a reparation deal related to the atrocities, now recognized by Germany as genocide, committed against the Herero and Nama peoples during Germany’s colonization of Namibia between 1885 and 1919. The “reconciliation agreement” was deemed a failure by, among others, colonial historians and representatives of the Herero and Nama, in part because the latter were not recognized as official partners during negotiations between the German and Namibian governments.

Studies have shown that Germany is grappling with structural racism within its institutions, such as the police, healthcare provision, and public employment services.

If the German government is serious about reckoning with its colonial past, it should reconsider its approach on reparations and examine how its colonial past affects racism in Germany today. The EU requires Germany to adopt a National Action Plan on Racism; adopting one addressing racism rooted in colonialism would be an important step.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

8, November 2022

French Cameroun: Traders Say Equatorial Guinea Border Closure Ahead of Elections Hurts Business ⁰

Traders in the Cameroon town of Kiossi, on the border with Equatorial Guinea, say business is suffering after the land border was closed last week ahead of November 20 elections. Equatorial Guinea says it closed the border to prevent what it calls “infiltration of mercenaries who want to destabilize the elections.” Political analysts say President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who came to power in a 1979 coup and is Africa’s longest still-serving leader, is sure to win.

Several hundred citizens from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, most of them merchants, say they have not been able to cross the border from Kiossi, a Cameroonian border town, to Equatorial Guinea since November 3.

Dozens of heavily armed Equatorial Guinea government troops can be seen on the central African state’s side of the border.

Building material importer Dominique Essono says the troops are preventing him and many other Equatorial Guinea citizens from returning to their country to vote on November 20.

Essono said scores of businesspersons are stranded and cannot move to Cameroon from Ebebiyin, a town in Equatorial Guinea. Cameroon imports vegetable oil, wine, canned food and body lotions from Equatorial Guinea and exports building material, vegetables, tomatoes, rice and potato to Equatorial Guinea.

On October 25, Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue said the border was sealed to prevent from the “infiltration” of groups that may want to destabilize Equatorial Guinea’s elections.

Obiang, 80, is Africa’s longest serving leader. The former military officer serving as the 2nd president of Equatorial Guinea took power in an August 1979 coup.

He will be facing two candidates in the November 20 elections.

Esono Ondo is running for the first time while Monsuy Asumu is running for the third time. Obiang told the Pan African TV Channel Afrique Media on Monday that he will continue to develop his country and reduce poverty in rural communities if reelected.

Obiang says it is by no error that continuity is the slogan of his election campaign. He says his exceptional program is to open Equatorial Guinea businesses to the rest of the world so that by 2035, the central African state can become an economically independent emerging economy.

Owona Wolfgang, a political analyst at the University of Yaounde’s political science research center in Cameroon, says Obiang is poised for another victory, as in the past six elections when he never got less than 90% of the vote.

Wolfgang says it will not be surprising if after the elections, the aging Obiang hands over leadership of Equatorial Guinea to his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. He says Obiang’s son is Equatorial Guinea’s vice president and a very influential member of the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea, the country’s ruling party.

The opposition says Obiang’s rule is marked by persecution and torture of political opponents, corruption and sham elections, charges Obiang’s party denies.

The ruling party holds 99 of the 100 seats in the outgoing National Assembly and all 55 seats in the Senate.

Equatorial Guinea’s presidential poll was initially scheduled for April 2023. President Obiang brought it forward to November 20 to coincide with legislative, senate, and local elections.

Equatorial Guinea has an annual oil revenue of more than $3 billion, but most of its 1.5 million people live in poverty according to the United Nations.

Source: VOA

8, November 2022

Football: Bayern Munich to decide on Choupo-Moting’s future ⁰

Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has expressed the club’s desire to keep Cameroon striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.

Choupo-Moting’s contract expires at the end of the season and while the player has confirmed his interest in extending his stay in Bavaria, the club also seems to be happy with him penning a new deal.

“We’d love to keep him. I have a good relationship with his adviser. We’ll meet and see if we can please him. The way he’s playing, he’s a big win for us. He’s a great guy, and that’s why we got him. I’m happy that he’s here and I’m happy if he stays here.”

Choupo-Moting joined Bayern from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2020 and has scored 28 goals in 72 games.

The 33-year-old Cameroon international is enjoying a rich vein of form, having scored in seven straight games, taking his tally for the season to 10 already better than the last two campaigns when he managed nine apiece.

Choupo-Moting scored twice in Bayern’s 3-2 victory over Hertha Berlin at the weekend in what was his fifth goal in the Bundesliga, taking him to third on the Bayern top scorer’s list in the league, behind teenage sensation Jamal Musiala who has eight and Sadio Mane who has bagged six.

The striker expressed his wish to stay longer at Bayern after his brace at the weekend. “I’m very, very happy at Bayern and can of course imagine staying here longer. I’m just concentrating on Bayern Munich and I am here for now.

Bayern host Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Tuesday with the striker keen to extend his scoring run as he also looks forward to making the final Cameroon squad for the 2022 World Cup.

Source: Goal.com