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9, June 2023

Andre Onana: Cameroon outcast ‘feeling good’ as Inter Milan prepare for Champions League final ⁰

Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana insists the pressure is all on Manchester City before Saturday’s Champions League final in Istanbul.

The 27-year-old Cameroonian has been heavily linked to a summer move to the Premier League with Chelsea believed to be at the front of the pack.

Onana has kept eight clean sheets in 12 matches in Europe and believes the heat is on Treble-chasing City.

“We have nothing to lose. They have more pressure than us,” he said.

“We have to prepare well – we don’t have to stress – we have to go easy because we play against a very tough opponent.”

A tough task awaits the side who finished third in Serie A this season, but Inter already have the Coppa Italia to their name after a 2-1 win against Fiorentina in Rome.

There was no clean sheet for Onana that day but among those games in Europe in which he did keep the opposition scoreless were both legs of the Champions League semi-final against their city rivals AC Milan.

A turbulent World Cup for Onana last year saw him sent home from Qatar before he announced his retirement from international football.

But the stopper, who only joined Inter from Ajax last summer, said: “I’m feeling very good. I am so calm and so happy.

“It’s a special game for us. The Champions League final may come along only once in life.”

‘Africa is proud of him’

Onana is the fourth Cameroonian to play for the Nerazzurri after Pierre Wome, Daniel Boumsong and the legendary Samuel Eto’o.

Another Indomitable Lions legend of the past with 113 international caps, Geremi, is backing his fellow countryman to come out on top in the final – much as the 44-year-old defender did himself with Real Madrid in 2000 and 2002.

“For sure I will be supporting Inter Milan,” he told BBC Sport Africa.

“We have one of our younger brothers, one of our compatriots playing.

“I know him very well and I think all of Africa is proud of him. This is a big achievement for Cameroon, that’s why I wish him all the best as he tries to win that special trophy.

“It’s the Champions League final, the highest competition in Europe.

“I have already told him to enjoy, to not have any regrets after the final.”

Geremi won two Premier League titles with Chelsea – the team Onana has most strongly been linked with were he to move this summer.

Regardless of whether or not it’s Onana’s final match for Inter, Geremi wants his compatriot to embrace the moment.

“One of the biggest memories I have is coming out onto the field and hearing that Champions League song because it is such a special and unforgettable moment,” he said.

“He needs to give his all, he knows what to do and I wish him well.”

Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana training ahead of the Champions League final against Manchester City — Former Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana’s last season at Ajax was overshadowed by a doping ban

Onana’s path to this year’s final has not been an easy one along with the international fall-out at the World Cup.

His final season at Ajax was a mixed one following a 12-month doping ban, which was reduced to nine months on appeal.

Following his switch to Italy, Serbia’s Samir Handanovic started the season for Inter as the number one choice between the sticks before eventually being displaced by Onani.

Last year had started on a high for Onani though, as he helped hosts Cameroon to a third-placed finish at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).

The bronze medal was achieved with a penalty shoot-out win against Burkina Faso following their semi-final exit at the hands of defeated finalists Egypt.

Mahrez ready to claim glory for North Africa

In opposition to Onana on Saturday is a player who didn’t enjoy such a favourable time at last year’s Afcon.

City forward Riyad Mahrez was unable to prevent his Algeria team crashing out at the group stage with three defeats.

The 31-year-old has, however, become the first African to win five Premier League titles as part of City’s Treble bid though.

He surpassed former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba’s count of four titles, all achieved with Chelsea.

Now Mahrez’s shot at the Treble – only achieved once before by Manchester United – has captured the imagination of his country and one of the first Fennec stars on the global stage, Rabah Madjer, believes more silverware awaits his compatriot.

“For me, Manchester City is the best team in Europe. This is a team that plays very well with the ball.” he said.

“This is a team that has a lot of very good players, with a great coach in [Pep] Guardiola.

“We saw the last match against Real Madrid, and it was a great and well-deserved victory for Manchester City.”

Madjer, 64, won the European Cup with Porto in 1987 – overcoming their billing as underdogs to beat an illustrious Bayern Munich side.

The former striker, who netted 28 goals in a 14-year international career, scored the opening goal in a 2-1 win and is warning Mahrez and City not to take Onani and Inter lightly.

“It was an amazing final in Vienna,” he recalled.

“It’s true that we were really afraid because Bayern were an extraordinary team with the likes of [Andreas] Brehme and [Lothar] Matthaus. It was a team with a lot of experience but we played with lot of rigour.

“We won it and it is a game that will stay engraved in history. It was exceptional.”

Culled from the BBC

9, June 2023

Sudan authorities declare UN envoy ‘persona non grata’ ⁰

Sudanese authorities loyal to the regular army have declared UN envoy Volker Perthes “persona non grata”, accusing him of taking sides in nearly two months of devastating fighting with rival paramilitaries.

Fighting has raged in the north African country since mid-April, when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, turned on each other.

In a letter to the United Nations last month, Burhan accused the envoy of bias, not respecting “national sovereignty” and exacerbating fighting between the regular army and the RSF.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has repeatedly defended Perthes.

“The government of the Republic of Sudan has notified the secretary-general of the United Nations that it has declared Mr. Volker Perthes… persona non grata as of today,” the foreign ministry said in a statement late Thursday.

A Sudanese government official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the decision was taken “because he sided with certain political parties and stressed that the political process be restricted to certain parties and exclude others”.

“When the head of the sovereign council (Burhan) wrote to the UN secretary-general asking for him to be replaced, and he did not respond, the Sudanese government had no choice but to take this decision,” the official added.

The United Nations has yet to comment on the announcement. It noted in a tweet on Thursday that Perthes was in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for a series of talks.

Fresh fighting

Sudan has been embroiled in deadly conflict since April 15, with fighting spreading across the country from Khartoum to the western region of Darfur in defiance of a series of truces.

Witnesses reported hearing clashes on Friday near the Yarmouk weapons manufacturing and arms depot complex in Khartoum, from where plumes of smoke were seen rising for a second successive day.

Air strikes were also carried out in eastern parts of the capital and the sound of anti-aircraft guns was heard.

Since the fighting erupted, more than 1,800 people have been killed, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. The UN says nearly two million people have been displaced, including 476,000 who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Those unable to leave have been forced to camp out for weeks as supplies of food and other vital goods run low.

Entire districts of Khartoum no longer have running water, mains electricity is only available for a few hours a week and three-quarters of the hospitals in combat zones are not functioning.

The most recent truce was agreed to allow desperately needed humanitarian aid into areas ravaged by the fighting, but like all those that preceded it, the accord was flouted by both sides.

The UN estimates around 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — are now in need of aid.

Blame trading

Perthes and the UN mission he heads have been targeted since late last year by military and Islamist-backed protests denouncing perceived foreign interference.

A former academic who has headed the Sudan mission since 2021, Perthes has staunchly defended the UN against accusations of inflaming the conflict, saying those responsible are “the two generals at war”.

In his letter to the UN chief, Burhan charged that Perthes had presented a misleading picture “of consensus” in his reports to the UN, and “without these signs of encouragement, the rebel leader Daglo would not have launched his military operations”.

It has never been possible to verify who fired the first shots of the war.

Daglo, an ambitious militia leader originally armed by Bashir to crush rebels in Darfur, was Burhan’s second-in-command before the two fell out, most recently over the RSF’s integration into the army.

Source: AFP

8, June 2023

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Two Amba commanders surrender in Fundong ⁰

Two separatist commanders surrendered to the Cameroonian army in the country’s restive Anglophone region of Northwest Wednesday, according to the army and local officials.

The militant commanders known as Felix Kibam, alias “general show,” and Benard Kuh, alias “Oga Landlord,” handed themselves over to the gendarmerie in the Fundong locality of the region early Wednesday.

The National Gendarmerie said they were “safe” and “being taken care of.”

Since the beginning of this year, several senior leaders of separatist forces have given up fighting with the government.

In May, 18 separatist fighters surrendered at a blow in Southwest, one of the restive Anglophone regions.

There has been fighting between government forces and separatist fighters in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017 after separatists made a bid to create an independent nation in the regions.

Source: Xinhuanet

8, June 2023

Biya Beti Ewondo Regime: Contract awards surge, but execution rates fall behind ⁰

The Public Investment Budget (BIP) in Cameroon was executed at 74.56% in 2021, according to the National Committee for Monitoring the Physical and Financial Execution of Public Investment. Compared to 2021, when the rate was 74.99%, this makes a decline of 0.43 pts.

While the execution stagnates, the commitment (contracting) rate for these projects has improved significantly, rising from 81.41% in 2021 to 92.07% in 2022, an increase of more than 10 points. The Committee attributes the slow execution rate to several factors, including delayed project development, abandoned sites due to payment issues, sluggish implementation of jointly-financed projects, inadequate ownership of implementation procedures, and the security crisis in certain regions.

By region, the North and Adamaoua have the highest execution rates, at 91.5% and 87.8% respectively. Despite the security crisis in the Anglophone regions, the execution rate in the Northwest was 87.86%, compared with 73.6% in the Southwest. The worst performer in terms of physical execution remains the Central region, with a rate of 65.76% of project executed by the end of 2022.

Source: Business in Cameroon

8, June 2023

Pipeline Palaver: Chad’s Ambassador returns to Yaoundé ⁰

Chad’s ambassador to Cameroon, Djidda Moussa Outhman (pictured), returns to Yaoundé today after he left his position on April 20 due to “a dispute over the Cameroon-Chad pipeline”. This good news announced by Ibrahim Adam Mahamat, spokesman for the Chadian Foreign Ministry, marks the official end of the dispute.

As a reminder Tensions started between the two partners after the Chadian government, in an April 20 statement, expressed its dissatisfaction with the recent developments in the management of the pipeline. The country found it unfair that the Cameroonian national hydrocarbons company (SNH) and the British Savannah Energy signed an agreement under which SNH will acquire 10% of Savannah Midstream’s (subsidiary of Savannah Energy) shares in Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (Cotco). N’Djamena said this agreement reflects a new rapprochement between Cameroon and its “enemy,” especially since they pledged in their agreement to “support each other”.

The agreement particularly triggered Chad’s anger, insofar as, through the deal between SNH and Savannah Energy, Cameroon implicitly recognizes the British junior’s ownership of the Chadian oil assets purchased from Exxon Mobil. N’Djamena has therefore nationalized the assets in question to halt the deal. N’Djamena is also criticizing the Cameroonian authorities for failing to issue a no-objection to the Cemac Competition Council to facilitate the acquisition of Petronas’ assets in Chad by the Chadian oil and gas corporation (SHT). This transaction will enable Chad to take control of Cotco, with 53.7% of the capital.

The SNH-Savannah Energy deal

On April 26, 2023, Cameroonian President Paul Biya sent the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic (SGPR), Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, to N’Djamena to hand over a sealed envelope to General Mahamat Deby Itno. “We have talked with Chadian authorities. All the issues have been addressed and the misunderstandings cleared up,” the envoy said, suggesting that the situation was already under control. On May 11, 2023, the Cemac Competition Council gave the green light for the deal between SHT and Petronas, thus confirming that Cameroon had finally issued a no-objection. Four days later, the then President of the Cemac Commission, Daniel Ona Ondo, signed the decision authorizing the deal.

However, the Cemac authorities’ approval is subject to a series of commitments to be made by the Chadian party to ensure that its dominant position does not harm the interests of the other parties involved. Indeed, Cemac authorities demand that part of the Chadian shares in Cotco be transferred to Cameroon. According to reliable sources, the details of this transaction were discussed during a recent mission to Yaoundé led by Gali Ngothé Gatta, Minister Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Chad. The mission focused on the deal between SNH and Savannah Energy and ways to avoid triggering a new crisis with Chad, whose intention is to expel Savannah Energy completely from Cotco’s shareholding.

Source: Business in Cameroon

7, June 2023

Football: Messi announces move to Inter Miami after exit from PSG ⁰

Lionel Messi will sign for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, the player said Wednesday in interviews with Spanish media, choosing the United States as his next destination over a Barcelona reunion or blockbuster deal to play in Saudi Arabia.

The Argentine forward, 35, has spent the last two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, playing his final game for the club on Saturday, after moving from Barcelona in 2021, where he spent the majority of his career.

Messi said that he did not want to have to wait for Barcelona to find a formula to be able to sign him given their financial situation — they were unable to keep him before his move to PSG, leading to a tearful departure.

“I was afraid that it would happen again,” Messi told Spanish newspapers Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo.

“I’ve taken the decision that I am going to Miami, I don’t have (the deal) 100 percent sealed or maybe there’s something left to do, but we decided to continue our path there.

“(I decided) to leave Europe, it’s true that I had offers from another European team but I didn’t even think about it because in Europe, my idea was only to go to Barcelona.

“After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it’s time to go to MLS to live football in a different way and enjoy my day to day life more.

“Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to win, and to do things well, but with more calm.”

Messi is a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and is expected to earn the individual accolade once more after leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in December 2022.

The football world was eagerly awaiting Messi’s decision after PSG confirmed this week the playmaker, widely considered the best player in the history of football, was departing.

Inter Miami, co-owned by former England international David Beckham and founded in 2018, sacked coach Phil Neville last week with the team bottom of the Eastern Conference — with Argentine Javier Morales taking over on an interim basis.

The romance of a Barcelona return and prospect of eye-watering riches in Saudi Arabia fell by the wayside as Messi opted to join MLS, with sun-soaked Miami a city he has holidayed in on previous occasions.

Some reports say key MLS sponsors including sportswear brand Adidas and Apple TV, who own the league’s domestic broadcasting rights, may be contributing to his deal.

Source: AFP

7, June 2023

Cameroon: Banana exports hit lowest point in May, since January 2023 ⁰

Cameroonian banana exporters shipped 12,558 tons of fruits in May 2023, according to data provided by the sector group Assobacam. This is the worst level since the beginning of the year, after the 18,101 tons in January, 16,185 tons in February, 19,227 tons in March, and 13,928 tons in April.

The situation is mainly due to Plantations du Haut Penja (PHP), whose banana exports fell by 16% from 11,336 tons in April 2023 to 9,761 tons in May. But despite this sharp drop, the local subsidiary of Compagnie Fruitière de Marseille remains the market leader, with 77.7% of the overall exported volumes.

On the other hand, the state company Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) saw a slight improvement with shipment reaching 1,968 tons in May compared to 1,803 tons the previous month (+8%). Minor player Boh Plantations’ volumes also grew by 5% over the period, official data showed.

Source: Business in Cameroon

7, June 2023

US: Former Vice President Pence announces presidential run ⁰

Mike Pence announced Wednesday his entry into the 2024 United States presidential election, as the former vice president goes up against his ex-boss Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

The evangelical Christian is scheduled to appear at a campaign launch event the same day in the early-voting state of Iowa — joining an already crowded field that includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest competition.

“Today, before God and my family, I’m announcing I’m running for president of the United States,” he said in an online campaign video.

Pence’s announcement comes two days after papers filed with the US Federal Election Commission showed he had formally entered the race.

“I believe in the American people, and I have faith God is not done with America yet,” the 64-year-old wrote in a tweet accompanying the video.

“Together, we can bring this Country back, and the best days for the Greatest Nation on Earth are yet to come!”

Pence honed his reputation as an unstintingly loyal vice president who stuck with Trump throughout a scandal-plagued four years in the White House, and brought the religious right into the tent.

But he became a pariah in Trumpworld after rejecting the Republican leader’s demands that he overturn the 2020 election in his role as president of the Senate.

Berated constantly by Trump after Joe Biden’s election victory — and even heckled at a conservative conference with chants of “traitor!” — Pence continued to praise the tycoon in public.

That changed after Trump’s torrent of false claims of election fraud led to a mob chanting for Pence to be hanged at the US Capitol.

Pence announced his presidential run a day after former New Jersey governor Chris Christie joined the contest.

Former governors Nikki Haley and Asa Hutchinson are also in the race, while North Dakota’s chief executive Doug Burgum is also due to announce on Wednesday.

Polls show Trump as the overwhelming early front runner, regularly posting leads on DeSantis in excess of 30 points. None of the other candidates is achieving double figures.

But the former president is facing multiple criminal investigations into his personal and professional conduct that have already yielded dozens of felony charges in New York.

Source: AFP

7, June 2023

Yaoundé: Journalists Say Suspensions Are Sign of Government Crackdown ⁰

Journalists in Cameroon say the government’s indefinite shutdown of a radio station and suspension of four reporters is a sign of a growing crackdown on the country’s news media. The government says it is trying to stop the spread of hate speech, while journalists say officials want to retaliate against criticism of President Paul Biya.

Bruno Bidjang, host of the popular program on Vision 4 TV called “Club d’Elite” has said on his program that he will continue exercising his profession to the best of his ability without fear.

However, Cameroon’s National Communication Council, an organ created by the government to regulate the media, imposed a one-month suspension on Bidjang for hosting guests who the government says used hateful language on his program.

The NCC said Bidjang was warned several times, but he continued inviting such guests on the program.

The council this week also imposed suspensions on a radio station and three other media practitioners for broadcasting offensive or hateful content.

NCC President Joe Chebongkeng Kalabubse said these journalists and media outlets propagated hate speech and xenophobic language.

“We have noticed that we can nip the problem in the bud by encouraging journalists to be more professional,” Kalabubse said. “We want to encourage journalists to be as professional as possible. We will not hesitate to sanction them if they falter.”

Kalabubse said he has informed Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, to make sure that journalists who do not respect the order are punished, and media organizations that continue to broadcast are permanently closed.

Nji said he has instructed police and local government officials to force the journalists to respect the sanctions.

“The media men should know that they have the moral obligation to comply by respecting these decisions taken for the common good,” Nji said. “Because if we are in a state of law and we don’t respect the laws of the republic, then we are walking towards a jungle, and Cameroon is not a jungle. We should use liberty of expression to construct and not to destroy. So, I want to tell the media men that they have the obligation to comply. If they don’t comply, we will accompany them to comply by force.”

But journalists in Cameroon say they are victims of increasing oppression. They say the government clamps down on media that hold contrary opinions to state actions.

The Cameroon Journalists Trade Union said the NCC was set up by Biya to defend his interests and crack down on journalists who oppose his rule.

The trade union said senior state functionaries and military officials who are accused of corrupt practices ask the NCC to suspend reporters — a charge the NCC denies.

The government said hate speech propagated through the media has become rampant since the disputed 2018 presidential election.

In addition, some French-speaking host communities accuse English speakers displaced by the separatist conflict in the west of being separatist fighters or sympathizers.

Cameroon’s minister of territorial administration said local media that do not stop guests in debate programs from asking communities to rise against one another will be punished. Journalists who anchor such programs will also be punished, the government said, though it has not outlined any punishment.

Cameroon has more than 600 newspapers, about 200 radio stations and 60 TV networks, yet producing independent and critical reporting is still challenging, according to Reporters Without Borders.

In its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, the organization said Cameroon is one of Africa’s most dangerous countries for journalists, since they operate in a hostile and precarious environment.

Source: VOA

6, June 2023

World Bank says global economy on precarious footing amid high interest rates ⁰

Global growth has slowed sharply and the risk of financial stress in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is intensifying amid elevated global interest rates, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report.

Global growth is projected to decelerate from 3.1% in 2022 to 2.1% in 2023. In EMDEs other than China, growth is set to slow to 2.9% this year from 4.1% last year. These forecasts reflect broad-based downgrades: growth projections for 70 percent of EMDEs and nearly all advanced economies have been downgraded.

“The surest way to reduce poverty and spread prosperity is through employment—and slower growth makes job creation a lot harder,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. “It’s important to keep in mind that growth forecasts are not destiny. We have an opportunity to turn the tide but it will take us all working together.”

Most EMDEs have seen only limited harm from the recent banking stress in advanced economies so far, but they are now sailing in dangerous waters. With increasingly restrictive global credit conditions, one out of every four EMDEs has effectively lost access to international bond markets. The squeeze is especially acute for EMDEs with underlying vulnerabilities such as low creditworthiness. Growth projections for these economies for 2023 are less than half those from a year ago, making them highly vulnerable to additional shocks.

“The world economy is in a precarious position,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. “Outside of East and South Asia, it is a long way from the dynamism needed to eliminate poverty, counter climate change, and replenish human capital. In 2023, trade will grow at less than a third of its pace in the years before the pandemic. In emerging markets and developing economies, debt pressures are growing due to higher interest rates. Fiscal weaknesses have already tipped many low-income countries into debt distress. Meanwhile, the financing needs to achieve the sustainable development goals are far greater than even the most optimistic projections of private investment.”

The latest forecasts indicate that the overlapping shocks of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the sharp slowdown amid tight global financial conditions have dealt an enduring setback to development in EMDEs, one that will persist for the foreseeable future. By the end of 2024, economic activity in these economies is expected be about 5% below levels projected on the eve of the pandemic. In low-income countries—especially the poorest—the damage is stark: in more than one-third of these countries, per capita incomes in 2024 will still be below 2019 levels. This feeble pace of income growth will entrench extreme poverty in many low-income countries.

“Many developing economies are struggling to cope with weak growth, persistently high inflation, and record debt levels. Yet new hazards—such as the possibility of more widespread spillovers from renewed financial stress in advanced economies—could make matters even worse for them,” said Ayhan Kose, Deputy Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. “Policy makers in these economies should act promptly to prevent financial contagion and reduce near-term domestic vulnerabilities.”

In advanced economies, growth is set to decelerate from 2.6% in 2022 to 0.7% this year and remain weak in 2024, the report says. After growing 1.1% in 2023, the U.S. economy is set to decelerate to 0.8% in 2024, mainly because of the lingering impact of the sharp rise in interest rates over the past year and a half. In the euro area, growth is forecast to slow to 0.4% in 2023 from 3.5% in 2022, due to the lagged effect of monetary policy tightening and energy-price increases.

The report also offers an analysis of how increases in U.S. interest rates are affecting EMDEs. Most of the rise in two-year Treasury yields over the past year and a half has been driven by investor expectations of hawkish U.S. monetary policy to control inflation. According to the report, this particular type of interest rate increases is associated with adverse financial effects in EMDEs, including a higher probability of financial crisis. Moreover, these effects are more pronounced in countries with greater economic vulnerabilities. In particular, frontier markets—those with less developed financial markets and more limited access to international capital—tend to see outsized increases in borrowing costs; for instance, sovereign risk spreads in frontier markets tend to rise by more than three times as much as those in other EMDEs.

In addition, the report provides a comprehensive assessment of the fiscal policy challenges confronting low-income economies. These countries are in dire straits. Rising interest rates have compounded the deterioration in their fiscal positions over the past decade. Public debt now averages about 70% of GDP. Interest payments are eating up a rising share of limited government revenues. 14 low-income countries are already in, or at high risk of, debt distress. Spending pressures have risen in these economies. Adverse shocks such as extreme climate events and conflict are more likely to tip households into distress in low-income countries than anywhere else because of limited social safety nets. On average, these countries spend just 3% of GDP on their most vulnerable citizens—well below the 26% average for developing economies.