Monthly Archives: April 2024

15, April 2024

Cameroonian beer and soft drinks exports soar by 73% and 46.6% in 2022 ⁰

Cameroon’s brewing companies saw a significant boost in their beer exports in 2022. According to data from the National Statistics Agency (INS), exports surged by 73% over the period to 12,602 tons, bringing in a total of CFA5.7 billion. The previous year, beer exporters sold 7,285 tons of beer and collected CFA3 billion.

Soft drink shipments have followed a similar trend. INS reported that these beverages generated CFA3.5 billion in 2022, from exports totaling 7,124 tons. This represents increases of 46.6% in volume and nearly 61% in revenue compared to 2021, when the country exported 4,860 tons for CFA2 billion.

Although neighboring countries of Cameroon have brewing facilities that are often owned by the same multinationals operating in Cameroon, the beers and beverages from this CEMAC country are highly sought after, especially in countries like Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Source: Business in Cameroon

15, April 2024

Southern Cameroons Crisis: 2 teachers abducted in the North West ⁰

Two teachers were kidnapped early Monday in Cameroon’s restive Anglophone region of Northwest, according to local and security sources.

Schools in Southern Cameroons resumed classes Monday for the last term of the academic year after a two-week holiday. The teachers were on their way to school when gunmen, identified by locals as separatist fighters, ambushed and abducted them in the region’s Njap village.

“They (gunmen) took them (teachers) into the bush. They also torched about 13 commercial motorcycles that were carrying passengers,” a local official, who asked not to be named for security reasons, said.

The army said a search and rescue operation for the teachers was underway in the area.

Fighting between government forces and separatist fighters has persisted in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 when separatists attempted to establish an independent nation in these regions.

Teachers and students are regularly abducted in the region, where separatists have warned government schools not to operate.

Source: Xinhuanet

15, April 2024

World Bank says despite high potential, 75 vulnerable economies face ‘Historic Reversal’ ⁰

Despite their high potential to advance global prosperity, one-half of the world’s 75 most vulnerable countries are facing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time in this century, a new World Bank report has found. Taking full advantage of their younger populations, their rich natural resources, and their abundant solar-energy potential can help them overcome the setback.

The report, The Great Reversal: Prospects, Risks, and Policies in International Development Association Countries, offers the first comprehensive look at the opportunities and risks confronting the 75 countries eligible for grants and zero to low-interest loans from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA). These countries are home to a quarter of humanity—1.9 billion people. At a time when populations are aging nearly everywhere else, IDA countries will enjoy a growing share of young workers through 2070—a huge potential “demographic dividend.” These countries are also rich in natural resources, enjoy high potential for solar-energy generation, and boast a large reservoir of mineral deposits that could be crucial for the world’s transition to clean energy.

Yet a historic reversal is underway for them. Over 2020-24, average per capita incomes in half of IDA countries—the largest share since the start of this century—have been growing more slowly than those of wealthy economies. This is widening the income gap between these two groups of countries. One out of three IDA countries is poorer, on average, than it was on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extreme-poverty rate is more than eight times the average in the rest of the world: one in four people in IDA countries struggles on less than $2.15 a day. These countries now account for 90 percent of all people facing hunger or malnutrition. Half of these countries are either in debt distress or at high risk of it. Still, except for the World Bank Group and other multilateral development donors, foreign lenders—private as well as government creditors—have been backing away from them.

“The world cannot afford to turn its back on IDA countries,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. “The welfare of these countries has always been crucial to the long-term outlook for global prosperity. Three of the world’s economic powerhouses today—China, India, and South Korea—were all once IDA borrowers. All three prospered in ways that whittled down extreme poverty and raised living standards. With help from abroad, today’s batch of IDA countries has the potential to do the same.”

More than half of all IDA countries—39 in all—are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fourteen of them—mainly small island states—are in East Asia, and eight are in Latin America and the Caribbean. In South Asia, all countries except for India are IDA countries. Thirty-one IDA countries have per capita incomes of less than $1,315 a year. Thirty-three are fragile and conflict-affected states.

IDA countries share similar opportunities. The “demographic dividend”—a deep and growing reserve of young workers—is one of them. Abundant natural resources is another. These countries account for about 20 percent of global production of tin, copper, and gold. In addition, some IDA countries possess critical mineral deposits essential for the global energy transition. Because of their abundant sunshine, most IDA countries are well situated to take advantage of solar energy. On average, their long-term daily solar-electricity generation potential is among the highest in the world.

This potential, however, comes with risks that must be managed. To reap the demographic dividend, IDA governments will need to undertake policies to improve education and health outcomes and make sure that jobs are available for the rising number of young people who will enter the workforce in the coming decades. To seize the full potential of their natural-resource wealth, IDA countries will need to improve policy frameworks and build stronger institutions capable of better economic management. All of this will require ambitious domestic policy reforms—and significant financial support from the international community.

“IDA countries have incredible potential to deliver strong, sustainable, and inclusive growth. Realizing this potential will require them to implement an ambitious set of policies centered on boosting investment,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group. “This means improving fiscal, monetary, and financial policy frameworks and advancing an array of structural reforms to strengthen institutions and enhance human capital.”

IDA countries today have large investment needs. In the poorest of them, closing existing development and infrastructure gaps and building resilience to climate change will require investment that amounts to nearly 10 percent of GDP. The costs of climate disasters have doubled in IDA countries over the past decade: Economic losses from natural disasters average 1.3% of GDP a year—four times the average of other emerging market and developing economies. Such needs will require IDA countries to generate sustained investment booms—the type that boosts productivity and incomes and reduces poverty. Historically, such investment booms have often been sparked by a comprehensive package of policy measures—to bolster fiscal and monetary frameworks, ramp up cross-border trade and financial flows, and improve the quality of institutions. Such reforms are never easy, the report notes. They need careful sequencing and implementation. But previous IDA countries have shown they are possible.

IDA countries will need significant international financial support to make progress and lower the risk of “protracted stagnation,” the report notes. Stronger cooperation on global policy issues—including fighting climate change, facilitating more timely and effective debt restructurings, and supporting cross-border trade and investment—will also be crucial to help IDA countries avert a lost decade in development.

15, April 2024

Cardinal Robert Sarah says Western prelates have lost their nerve ⁰

An African cardinal widely seen as a conservative critic of Pope Francis, and styled by some as possible candidate for the papacy himself, has warned of what he described as a “practical atheism” taking hold within the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea also repeated his criticism of Fiducia Supplicans, the recent Vatican document authorizing blessings of couples involved in same-sex unions, insisting that it’s not just traditional African culture but Catholic teaching itself which makes the document unacceptable.

Speaking to the episcopal conference of Cameroon, Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, the Vatican’s former top official for liturgy, criticized Western bishops for their reluctance to oppose secular worldly values, accusing them of a failure of nerve.

“Many Western prelates are tetanized by the idea of opposing the world. They dream of being loved by the world; they’ve lost the desire to be a sign of contradiction,” said the 78-year-old Sarah.

Sarah told the Cameroonian bishops he believes “the Church of our time is experiencing the temptation of atheism. Not intellectual atheism, but that subtle and dangerous state of mind [of] fluid and practical atheism.”

“The latter is a dangerous disease, even if its initial symptoms seem benign,” he said.

According to Sarah, practical atheism is more insidious than its intellectual counterpart, as it does not declare itself openly but seeps into every aspect of contemporary culture, including ecclesiastical discourse.

He asserted that the Church and its leadership has been guilty of “accommodating, of complicity with this major lie that is fluid and practical atheism.”

“We pretend to be Christian believers and men of faith. We celebrate religious rites, but in fact we live as pagans and unbelievers,” Sarah said.

Sarah described “fluid and practical atheism” as a treacherous and elusive force. He compared it to being caught in a spider’s web, where efforts to escape only tighten its grip. This brand of atheism, he argues, is a masterful trap set by Satan himself.

The Church leader emphasized that this form of atheism preys on human frailties and on man’s tendencies to give in to its deceptions. He urged that within the Church, there should be no factions or self-proclaimed saviors, as such divisions play into the adversary’s hands.

“We don’t have to create parties in the Church; we don’t have to proclaim ourselves the saviors of this or that institution,” he said.

“But each of us can decide today: the lie of atheism will no longer pass through me; I no longer wish to renounce the light of faith; I no longer wish, out of convenience, laziness or conformism, to allow light and darkness to cohabit within me,” Sarah said.

“To maintain the spirit of faith,” he said, “is to reject anything that undermines it and to view the world solely through the lens of faith, holding steadfastly to God’s hand,” calling that the only path to true peace and kindness.

Sarah condemned the “bitterness and partisanship” that have plagued the Church, suggesting that these issues are symptomatic of a deeper spiritual crisis. He stressed that only a spirit of faith can foster genuine brotherly love and bring peace to a world ravaged by deceit and conflict.

The cleric also exhorted the episcopate in Africa to defend what he called the “unity of faith” in the face of Western distortions.

Referring to the October 2024 session of the ongoing Synod of Bishops on Synodality, Sarah praised the spirited defense African Church leaders have mounted of traditional doctrine and values.

“At the last Synod, the Church in Africa forcefully defended the dignity of the man and woman created by God. Her voice was ignored and scorned by those whose sole obsession is to please Western lobbies,” Sarah said.

“The Church in Africa will soon have to defend the truth of the priesthood and the unity of the faith. The Church in Africa is the voice of the poor, the simple and the small,” he said.

The cleric noted that while the African Church today plays a critical role in upholding the word of God, Western Christians seem to be misled by their wealth into a false sense of enlightenment and modernity.

Sarah highlighted the unique position of African bishops as guardians of the faith’s universality, standing against those, he said, who fragment the truth and promote a culture of relativism. He praised their role as messengers of divine truth, suggesting that God often chooses the seemingly weak and unpopular to confound the strong and well-regarded.

Sarah also commended the bishops of Cameroon for their opposition to Fiducia Supplicans, the recent Vatican document permitting blessings for same-sex couples and others in non-traditional relationships. Sarah called the Cameroonians’ decision not to implement it as a “bold and prophetic move” that upholds the unity of the Church and the truth of its teachings.

He criticized the notion that African bishops’ resistance to Fiducia Supplicans is rooted in traditional African culture, dismissing such claims as a form of intellectual neo-colonialism.

Instead, Sarah pointed to the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM)’s statement, which outlined theological and doctrinal reasons for not adopting such blessings in Africa, including previous declarations on homosexuality, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sacred Scriptures, and concerns about the language used in the Vatican document.

The President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, told Crux that Sarah “is a great man of God, an icon of the Catholic Church in Africa and it’s a great opportunity that he is amongst us.”

“He has taught us to go into intimacy with God in silence, because there is so much noise in this world,” Nkea said.

Source: Crux

13, April 2024

Iran launches drones at Israel in retaliatory attack ⁰

Iran has launched drones at Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, appearing to mark a widely anticipated reprisal attack.

The IDF said the wave could take hours to reach Israel, a distance of 1,100 miles (1,800km).

It said Israeli forces were on high alert and “monitoring all targets”.

Iran had vowed to retaliate after an attack on its consulate in Syria on 1 April – for which it blamed Israel – killed several Iranian commanders.

Shortly before news of Iran’s drone launch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s “defensive systems” were deployed.

“We are ready for any scenario, both defensively and offensively. The State of Israel is strong. The IDF is strong. The public is strong.”We appreciate the US standing alongside Israel, as well as the support of Britain, France and many other countries.”

Source: BBC

13, April 2024

Thousands protest in Niger demanding immediate withdrawal of US troops ⁰

Thousands of people in Niger’s capital on Saturday protested for the immediate departure of US soldiers from the north, after the military junta in Niamey said it was withdrawing from a military agreement with Washington.

Following a July coup, the West African country said in mid-March that the 2012 cooperation agreement had been “unilaterally imposed” by the United States.

Students and several prominent figures from the military regime were amongst the crowd in front of the National Assembly Headquarters in Niamey.

The crowd was heard chanting “Down with American imperialism” and “The people’s liberation is on the march”.

French troops were expelled at the end of 2023, but about 1,000 American soldiers remain based in Agadez city in the north.

In late March, Niger said the US would submit a proposal to “disengage” its soldiers from the country. Washington declined to comment, but said it contacted Niger to “obtain clarification”.

“They said they (the Americans) were going to leave, so let them leave in peace and quickly,” shouted Sheikh Ahmadou Mamoudou, a well-known religious leader.

Flags from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Russia were visible but organisers asked demonstrators to refrain from slogans insulting the US or burning its flags.

In March Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso in the creation of a joint force to battle the long-running jihadist rebellions raging in the three nations.

The three countries have turned their backs on former coloniser France and strengthened their ties with Russia.

Source: AFP

13, April 2024

President Biya’s health: doctors long implanted a pacemaker in his heart ⁰

The succession crisis at the heart of Cameroon is clearly deeper than that in the heart of the regime’s leader President Paul Biya.

Cameroon Intelligence Report has been reliably informed that Swiss doctors implanted a pacemaker in the heart of president Biya during his last trip to Geneva.

Our source added that the crisis at the heart of the Francophone dominated regime is deeper than the crisis in the heart of its head of state.

The ruling CPDM crime syndicate is 42 years old and many in both French and English speaking Cameroon think that now is the best time to evaluate the success or failure of President Biya and his acolytes in managing state affairs.

According to several indicators compiled by our London Bureau Chief Isong Asu, the situation of the 42 year old Biya government in terms of responsiveness indicates the worst scenario compared to other CEMAC states like Gabon and Congo Brazzaville.

The Biya regime has the worst record in the regulation and quality of legislation, especially for the economy. Immediately after he took office from the late Ahmadou Ahidjo economic crises became more pronounced.

For 42 years, Biya has based his policies on false therapeutic promises that are now being ridiculed by many including legendary Cameroonian musician Richard Bona.

For 42 years, people’s livelihoods have been severely affected by the crises created and exacerbated by the Biya government. Cameroonians have protested against the incompetence of the ruling government until many recently turned to prayers calling for some sought of divine intervention.

“The Biya administration is an extreme one, and needs someone from inside to take it down as quickly as possible,” said Rita Akana, our Yaoundé City Reporter.

“Our Beti, Bulu and Ewondo communities all share a responsibility to stop the deep division, polarization and rift among the Cameroonian people,” a senior CPDM official said during a televised debate on Equinox TV.

Dr Joachim Arrey of the Global Think Tank for Africa in a conversation with this reporter advocated for a judicial overhaul of the electoral code. Dr Arrey observed that only “ELECAM has the prerogative of publishing election results and only ELECAM-published results will be acceptable. It should also be pointed out that in the event of any election disputes; only the Constitutional Council has the right to address such issues. Once more, it is the President’s constitutional right to appoint the president and members of the Constitutional Council. Except Mr. Biya and his people completely lose their minds, there will never be any accident in this regard.”

“The country’s political opposition will never win an election if the current political dispensation is not reformed to reduce the ruling party’s grip on the country” Dr Arrey Furthered.

In addition to economic problems and crises, the human rights situation in Cameroon has turned into a disaster. The government’s execution machine and repression are never silent. Biya is currently sacrificing his Beti Bulu political elites to save himself from internal crises.

The eruption of war in Southern Cameroons remains part of the destructive policies adopted by Biya and his government. Biya and his gang fantastically believed that igniting this war would bring them significant benefits. The outcome of the current war in Southern Cameroons increasingly demonstrates the strategic failure of the regime.

There are many parameters that the regime cannot overcome the numerous crises in Cameroon. They include the government’s empty coffers and massive printing of banknotes that have severely depreciated the FCFA currency and also led to inflation and staggering price hikes.

Observing the current goings-on in the government, Biya’s deteriorating health and widespread and systematic corruption, it is evidently clear that the situation in Yaoundé is more critical for the dictator.

Biya, his family members and his CPDM criminals must now prepare themselves to deal with very challenging conditions. Can they navigate these crises with the current situation? The realities show that Biya has reached the final phase, from which it is impossible to escape this whirlpool.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-In-Chief

Cameroon Concord Group

13, April 2024

Cameroonian Catholic Priest Who Died in Rome Remembered for His “serenity in accepting the Lord’s will in suffering” ⁰

Fr. René Gaston Ayihi Tsimi, a member of the Clergy of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Obala, who died on Monday, April 8 in Rome after an illness, is being remembered for his “serenity in accepting” the will of God in his life amid suffering. He was aged 31.

In a statement issued Friday, April 12, the Local Ordinary of Obala Diocese, Bishop Sosthène Léopold Bayemi Matjei, expresses his “sincere condolences” to Fr. Tsimi’s “family and to all those who knew him during the exercise of his Priestly ministry.”

Bishop Bayemi invites the People of God to pray for the eternal repose of the soul of Fr. Tsimi, who, until his passing on, was a student at the Rome-based Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

In a Wednesday, April 10 Vatican News report, the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy eulogizes the late Cameroonian Catholic Priest as serene.

“Fr. René made a great impression on me. He was a son of the Church in Cameroon. What struck us was his serenity in accepting the Lord’s will in suffering,” Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio has been quoted as saying.

Archbishop Pennacchio recalls Fr. Tsimi as one who “always had a smile from beginning to end, despite the suffering.”

Referring to the remarks of one of the nurses attending to the late Catholic Priest, the Archbishop says, “He suffers, but he doesn’t say it. He really suffered a lot.”

“The Holy Father was close to him with a beautiful letter, encouraging him to face this trial and to offer his sufferings for the good of the Church,” Archbishop Pennacchio recalls.

He continues, “When he was taken to Gemelli, I gave him an image of St. John Paul II, and he kept it on his bedside table the whole time next to the image he already had, along with the image of Our Lady of Pompeii.”

“It was truly a moment of witness even for the Academy alumni. I saw a family united, as when a family (suffering) for a brother who is in pain,” the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy has been quoted as saying.

Born in July 1992 in Mbandjock in the Diocese of Obala, Fr. Tsimi, alumni of Mary Queen of the Apostles Major Seminary, was ordained a Priest in August 2020.

The holder of a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome served as curate at Mary Admirable Mother Nkomotou Parish until July 2021, when he was appointed Deputy Chancellor of Obala Diocese, a position he held until his return to Rome.

He was a holder of a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

The Funeral Mass for the late Catholic Priest is to take place at the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica in Rome on Saturday, April 13. His body is expected in Cameroon on April 17, ahead of his burial, scheduled for April 19.

Source: Aciafrica

12, April 2024

Nearly 100,000 people have fled Haitian capital since March due to gang violence ⁰

Some 95,000 people have fled rampant gang violence in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince since early March, the United Nations said Friday.

Insecurity is “pushing more and more people to leave the capital to find refuge in provinces, taking the risks of passing through gang-controlled routes,” according to the International Organization for Migration.

Source: AFP

12, April 2024

Russian air defense system, trainers arrive in Niger ⁰

Russian military instructors have arrived in Niger with an air defence system and other equipment as part of the West African nation’s deepening security ties with Moscow, state television announced late on Thursday.

Niger’s military government agreed in January to step up security cooperation with Russia, after expelling French forces that were helping fight jihadist rebellions in several Sahel nations.

Source: France 24