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27, June 2023

Myth or Reality: BEAC speaks of consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war on Cemac countries ⁰

The Bank of Central African States (Beac) has presented its view on how the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has impacted the Cemac economies in 2022. In a recent economic and statistical bulletin, the institution observed a V-shaped impact resulting from the conflict.

On a good note, “the economic growth went from 1.8% in 2021 to 2.9% in 2022 thanks to a good impetus in the oil and gas sector in the region, despite a slight decline in the non-oil sector”. However, before the war started, Beac was expecting a 3.2% growth, meaning the war caused a loss of 0.3pts.

Although there has been an improvement in the prices of crude oil and natural gas on the international market, with positive financial repercussions for Cemac countries, demand was less vigorous. Beac points out that gross domestic demand has made a smaller contribution to Cemac growth in 2022, even though it remains the main driver of real growth in the region (2.1 points in 2022, against 7.4 points in 2021), with a slight decline in the contribution of private consumption (3.5pts in 2022, against 4.0pts in 2021) and that of public consumption and gross investment (- 1.1 points and – 0.4 points respectively).

The Russia-Ukraine war has also triggered strong inflationary pressures in the Cemac, as many countries in the region depend on Russian wheat and construction raw materials from Ukraine. In 2022, due to higher food prices, inflation rose to an annual average of 5.6% and 6.7% year-on-year, compared with 1.7% and 2.6% respectively a year earlier. Before the outbreak of the war, Beac forecasted inflation to be 2.1%.

A good point of the conflict, Beac found, is an improvement in the public finances of Cemac countries as a result of “the upward trend in the prices of exported products (…), particularly crude oil”. Overall, the budget balance, including grants, reached 2.5% of GDP in 2022, compared with -1.2% of GDP in 2021. Before the start of the crisis, it was forecast at 0.5% of GDP, an increase of 2.0 percentage points.

About money supply and its counterparts, the Beac noted “a surge in the monetary system’s net foreign assets, which doubled to CFA2,863.8 billion; a 4.7% deceleration in the monetary system’s net claims on CEMAC countries, to CFA8,585.1 billion; a 7.7% rise in loans to the economy, to CFA9,912.3 billion; and a currency coverage ratio of 73.1% (against 64.0% in 2021), up 6 basis points on the level projected before the war”.

Source: Business in Cameroon

27, June 2023

Dignity: Not a currency for Fru Ndi’s family ⁰

The begging-bowl disorder which has engulfed the Cameroon community in the Diaspora is now a pandemic which requires urgent attention with a view to eradicating it.

This disease is always visible when someone dies, and the family creates a WhatsApp forum to beg and pester friends and acquaintances for resources to celebrate the late person’s life.

This week in the United Kingdom, it is the turn to do the honours for the fallen hero of Anglophone Cameroon, Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi who sadly passed away at his residence in Yaoundé on Monday the 12 June 2023.

Chairman John Fru Ndi founded the Social Democratic Party in Cameroon in 1990 and has been widely credited with the advent of multi-party politics in Cameroon.

However, for the last twenty-five years, the Chairman has formed a profitable political business with the CPDM regime. His scandalous association with Paul Biya has earned him over US$12.5 million in the process and made him a very rich man.

Why then are his children and family in the UK about to engage in the laborious activity of petitioning for funds in his name?

Habit and Greed, I guess!

John Fru Ndi’s family is demonstrating the same traits he possessed. He was selfish, self-centered, stingy and devoid of emotions.

The actions of his children and family in England are consistent with the personality of the fallen man. So, over the next few weeks, security officers, health-care assistants, nurses, container loaders and the unemployed within the Cameroon community in England will be harassed and shamed to make contributions to celebrate the life of a man who earned more than US$12.5 million from politics and possesses a few foreign bank accounts where some of his stolen treasure and loot are hidden.

This publication has gathered that some friends have advised the family in the UK not to engage in this public begging disgrace but like the Chairman, his children were not persuaded by such genuine attempts to make them see sense in their looming foolishness. Dignity, a rare currency, is not what they possess and care about.

Self-awareness is evidently not this family’s forte, and it is no surprise that a WhatsApp forum has now been set up to achieve their questionable and disgraceful aims.

Money is needed to bury the dead, but to go about it by compelling the poor to pay for the celebration of the life of a rich man like John Fru Ndi is plain wrong and despicable.

As the apple never falls far from the tree, the descendants are doing what they inherited from their master—financial greed!

It may be normal for the families of people with humble and modest bank balances to seek community support after they die, but there is nothing normal for a very rich man’s family to do so.

Fru Ndi’s family is not poor financially, but it is poor mentally. Their mental poverty is robbing them of the dignity they are supposed to have given their late father’s political status in Cameroon.

In a descent society, a man of Fru Ndi’s status should be given a state burial, making it possible for the poor to have a break.

But Cameroon’s poor, many of whom have fled poverty and are hiding in England, will not know any respite as Mr. Fru Ndi’s family engages in a humiliating game of overt begging and desperation.

Fru Ndi, a man who triggered a wave of hope and optimism in the early 90s when he challenged Paul Biya, Cameroon’s current and sit-tight president, has quit the political stage with very negative ratings due to his incestuous relationship with the ruling party.

He will however be remembered for the courage and charisma he demonstrated in the 90s. May his soul rest in peace!

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman and Editor-In-Chief

24, June 2023

Fécafoot: Threats hanging over Samuel Eto’o ⁰

The next few months are likely to be turbulent for Samuel Eto’o, the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, with the CAS proceedings concerning the vacancy in his post, suspicions of a breach of the FIFA Code of Ethics and the legal battle being waged by professional clubs.

The future of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fécafoot) looks uncertain. The next few months promises to be tumultuous, particularly for Samuel Eto’o. Various threats are hanging over his mandate, jeopardising his position at the head of Cameroon’s football governing body.

Proceedings underway before CAS

Legal proceedings are currently underway before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). It follows a challenge to the resolutions of the General Assembly of 27 August 2022. The main issue is the legitimacy of Samuel Eto’o as president of Fécafoot, calling into question the convening of the meeting. According to his opponents, Eto’o “ceased to be president of Fécafoot on 20 June 2022, the date on which he was sentenced in Spain to 22 months in prison for tax fraud”.

The case was brought before CAS by Guibaï Gatama and certain members of the General Assembly. A hearing was held on 7 June 2023. CAS now has 120 days to render its verdict. If Samuel Eto’o is declared unfit to lead Fécafoot, this should result in a power vacuum.

Eto’o targeted by FIFA investigation?

There is a second threat hanging over Samuel Eto’o. It relates to questions of ethics and integrity. Sport News Africa has learned that a number of cases have been brought against the Cameroonian football boss before the ethical jurisdictions of CAF and FIFA.

One of these cases relates to the contract that the president of Fécafoot recently signed with a sports betting company, appointing him as the company’s ambassador. “This investigation is being conducted in confidence and the results could have far-reaching consequences if the facts exposed are proven to be in breach of FIFA’s Code of Ethics,” warns a former Fécafoot employee.

Tussle between Fécafoot and professional clubs

Internally, the Fécafoot presidency is facing a poisonous atmosphere. Unfulfilled promises, poor performances by national teams, dysfunction at federal level and suspicions of wheeling and dealing denounced by club presidents and other players are all causing anger. Most of the clubs in the professional leagues have launched a protest movement.

The problems raised concern refereeing, manoeuvres favouring certain clubs, and the non-payment in full of the subsidies announced. “Of the 48 million CFA francs earmarked for each club in the first division this season, for example, only 33 million have been paid,” says a club president from Elite One. He also points to the “incompetence of the championship organisers”.

Clubs call for an audit

Faced with these problems, some clubs have expressed their desire to leave the championship organised by Fécafoot and are calling for the Professional Football League (LFPC) to be rehabilitated. They are also demanding an audit of the funds granted to Fécafoot by the top sponsors of professional leagues. They are also demanding an audit of the state subsidy. The latter are reportedly ready to boycott the next season if their demands are not met. Given their considerable numbers, Fécafoot and Samuel Eto’o find themselves in a delicate situation.

Source: Sports News Africa

24, June 2023

Football: In days, Man Utd will make official £34m-£43m offer to sign 27-year-old Onana ⁰

Another day, another story linking Inter Milan goal keeper, Andre Onana, with a move to Manchester United.

If reports in the Italian media are anything to go by then in the coming days, Man Utd will make an official move between £34m-£43m to sign the Serie A star.

As per today’s version of La Gazzetta Dello Sport, Man Utd have ‘decided’ to make a big offer to sign the Cameroonian international in the summer transfer window.

The Italian media source have mentioned that the Red Devils have decided to leave the negotiation table for the renewal of David De Gea.

Now, they are set to strongly bet to hire the services of Onana.

Yesterday, there was a meeting between the representatives of United and the 27-year-old star’s agent. In the discussion, the Old Trafford outfit communicated their decision to make an official offer by the end of the month.

The bid should be between 40 million euros (£34m Man Utd’s will) and 50 million euros (£43m Inter’s request).

GdS claim such an offer could convince the Nerazzurri president to endorse the sale of Onana in the summer transfer window.

After serving the club for twelve years, it seems that David De Gea’s time at Manchester United is finally coming to an end.

Source: The Faithful MUFC

24, June 2023

Yaoundé moves to protect children Online as exploitation, abuse worsen ⁰

Last Tuesday, Cameroonian parliamentarians and META experts met to proffer ways to protect children from cyberbullying. This was spurred by several cases of minors in the country being exposed to harm on social media.

The most recent case involves the posting of a video recording of two young girls saying they were raped by a police officer in Beau, in the southwestern region of the country.

The girls said the man raped them in a taxi and threatened to harm them if they told anyone.

It is not clear who recorded the video, but when it was being shared online, attempts were not made to blur or hide the faces of the girls in any way to protect their identities even though they are minors. This has subjected them to even more attacks on social media. Many social media users have been evaluating the victims’ facial expressions, and the grievous nature of the crime committed against them is not getting as much attention.

The young girls have received more insults and attacks online than sympathy and support.

As the case is being followed by civil society actors at the police station in Buea, others took turns on social media to condemn this act, blaming those who filmed the video for deliberately exposing the victims to public scrutiny.

Taryang Tabe, a women’s rights activist, said those who created the content possibly did not understand the implications of showing the faces to these young girls.

“When I saw it on Facebook, I knew it had gone out of control. We must now only use the anger in advocating for the perpetrator to face the law. This may reduce the trauma in both girls when justice is served,” he said.

Children’s agency, UNICEF, says more than a third of young people in 30 countries report being cyberbullied, with 1 in 5 skipping school because of it.

“Children may be victimized through the production, distribution and consumption of sexual abuse material, or they may be groomed for sexual exploitation, with abusers attempting to meet them in person or exhort them for explicit content,” it added.

Similar cases

Some Cameroonian TV stations last year exposed the faces of children who were caught up in a group sexual act in Yaoundé last year. Women’s rights activists condemned the media organisations as well.

Pictures of children who go through domestic violence have been shared often on social media platforms and media outlets as well.

The meeting

The meeting between parliamentarians and META experts on Tuesday was meant to build capacities on best practices of child safety online and seek proper legislation to protect children in Cameroon.

Zondol Hersesse, President of the Committee on Constitutional Law, Human Rights, and Freedoms at the National Assembly said there is a growing need to protect children on the internet. Children, he said, are the most vulnerable on social media.

META experts present at the meeting said it has become very easy for children to be exploited online and are now trying to put measures in place to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse on the internet.

Source: Humangle media

24, June 2023

Olembé Stadium: Italian Construction Company files claim ⁰

The building of the ill-fated Olembé Stadium is the source of a new investment arbitration claim.

Italian construction company Piccini Group has made a claim against the government of Cameroon in a dispute that appears to relate to the troubled construction of the Olembé football stadium in Yaoundé.

The stadium was built between 2018 and 2021 for the hosting of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, when it was the site of a tragic crowd crush which killed eight people.

Perugia-headquartered Piccini was the construction contractor until 2020, when the government withdrew the project from the Italian company and handed it to Canadian company Magil. Earlier this year, Magil warned of non-payment by the Ministry of Sport and Physical Education and threatened withdrawal and legal action if the matter persisted, while reiterating its hope that it could complete the second stage of the project – involving the construction of facilities surrounding the stadium.

The case was filed on 8 June at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the World Bank’s investor-state dispute settlement body, under the auspices of the 1999 Italy-Cameroon bilateral investment treaty, against the Cameroonian President Paul Biya, Prime Minister Joseph Ngute, the minister of state and ministers for external relations, justice, sports and public projects.

The Italian company has enlisted Withers to represent it. The London-headquartered law firm declined to comment, while Piccini has not responded to an enquiry, but media reports from Cameroon suggest the dispute relates to the stadium and the ICSID filing refers to a “construction project”.

The Cameroonian government has also been contacted for comment. In 2021, Piccini was reported to have taken Cameroon to the ICC International Court of Arbitration, although the status of that case is currently unclear.

Source: African Law and Business

23, June 2023

Titanic sub crew: Who were the five people on board the vessel ⁰

The submersible that went missing during a tourist expedition to the Titanic imploded near the wreckage, killing all five people on board, the US Coast Guard said Thursday, bringing a grim end to a massive international search for the vessel.

Among those on board the vessel was the tour operator’s boss, a French submarine operator known as “Mr Titanic”, a British aviation tycoon and a wealthy Pakistani businessman and his son.

Stockton Rush

Stockton Rush was the chief executive of OceanGate Expeditions, a company based in Washington state which operates the tourist dives and was founded in 2009.

According to his company website, Rush began his career in 1981 as the youngest jet transport rated pilot in the world, aged 19.

In 1984, Rush became a flight test engineer on the F-15 fighter jet program for the McDonnell Douglas company.

But over the last two decades, he threw himself into several ocean-related tech ventures including Seattle’s BlueView Technologies, which makes small, high-frequency sonar systems.

After a long period when trips were postponed after Rush failed to get the proper permits for the project’s support vessel, OceanGate Expeditions started taking paying customers to the Titanic’s wreck in 2021.

Paul-Henri Nargeolet

Nicknamed “Mr Titanic”, French submarine operator Paul-Henri Nargeolet was one of the vessel’s crew.

The 77-year-old, who served in the French navy for 25 years, has dived all over the world and spoken openly about the risks of his exploits in the most inaccessible waters of the world’s oceans.

Connecticut-based Nargeolet had already undertaken more than 30 dives to explore the Titanic and had supervised the recovery of around 5,500 objects, including a fragment weighing 20 tonnes that is displayed in Los Angeles.

His research produced a 2022 book where he questioned the findings of British and American enquiries into the 1912 disaster, arguing that five smaller holes were to blame rather than a 100-metre gash that followed Titanic’s collision with an iceberg.

Hamish Harding

Harding, 58, was a British aviation tycoon with three Guinness World Records and had a history of thrill-seeking adventures.

A year ago, he became a space tourist through Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin company.

He founded Action Aviation, a company that buys and sells aircraft with offices in Dubai and London’s Stansted airport, with UK media reporting that the UAE-based businessman is a billionaire.

He was based in the Indian city of Bengaluru for five years, as managing director of a logistics company, before establishing Action Aviation in 2004.

His Guinness records are for longest duration and distance traversed at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel, and the fastest circumnavigation via both poles by plane.

Shahzada and Suleman Dawood

Prominent Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, was the vice chairman of Karachi-headquartered conglomerate Engro.

His son Suleman, 19, was a university student, and both had British citizenship.

A statement by the family-run holding group Dawood Hercules described Shahzada as a “loving father” to two children with a keen interest in “photography, especially wildlife photography, and exploring different natural habitats”.

Engro had an array of investments in energy, agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunications. At the end of 2022, the firm announced revenue of 350 billion rupees ($1.2 billion).

Shahzada’s father Hussain Dawood is regularly listed among Pakistan’s richest men by the domestic press.

Shahzada’s profile on Engro’s website said he also serves as a trustee on the board of The Dawood Foundation – a high-profile family education charity founded in 1960.

He was educated in the United States and Britain, the profile said.

Source: AFP

23, June 2023

Titan craft suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard ⁰

A U.S. Navy acoustic system detected an ‘anomaly’ Sunday that was likely the Titan’s fatal implosion, according to a senior military official.

The Navy went back and analyzed its acoustic data after the Titan submersible was reported missing Sunday. Coast Guard officials on Thursday announced that the craft suffered a catastrophic implosion, killing all five aboard.

That anomaly was “consistent with an implosion or explosion in the general vicinity of where the TITAN submersible was operating when communications were lost,” according to the senior Navy official.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive acoustic detection system.

The Navy passed on the information to the Coast Guard, which continued its search.

The Wall Street Journal on Thursday first reported the Navy’s involvement.

A submersible carrying five people to the Titanic imploded near the site of the shipwreck and killed everyone on board, authorities said Thursday, bringing a tragic end to a saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel.

Coast Guard officials said during a news conference that they’ve notified the families of the crew of the Titan, which had been missing since Sunday.

The sliver of hope that remained for finding the five men alive was wiped away early Thursday, when the submersible’s 96-hour supply of oxygen was expected to run out and the Coast Guard announced that debris had been found roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic in North Atlantic waters.

“This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” said Rear Adm. John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the submersible, said in a statement that all five people in the vessel, including CEO and pilot Stockton Rush, “have sadly been lost.”

The others on board were: two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

“These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world’s oceans,” OceanGate said in a statement. “We grieve the loss of life and joy they brought to everyone they knew.”

OceanGate has been chronicling the Titanic’s decay and the underwater ecosystem around it via yearly voyages since 2021.

Rescuers rushed ships, planes and other equipment to the site of the disappearance.

Authorities were hoping underwater sounds detected Tuesday and Wednesday might help narrow their search, whose coverage area had been expanded to thousands of miles — twice the size of Connecticut and in waters 2 1/2 miles (4 kilometers) deep.

But the Coast Guard indicated Thursday that the sounds were likely generated by something other than the Titan.

“There doesn’t appear to be any connection between the noises and the location (of the debris) on the seafloor,” Mauger said.

Mauger said it was too soon to say whether the implosion happened at the time of the submersible’s last communication on Sunday. But it was not detected by sonar buoys used by search crews, he said, which suggests it happened before they arrived several days ago.

“We had listening devices in the water throughout and did not hear any signs of catastrophic failure from those,” he said.

The Coast Guard will continue searching near the Titanic for more clues about what happened to the Titan. Efforts to recover the submersible and the remains of the five men who died will also continue, Mauger said.

The White House thanked the U.S. Coast Guard, along with Canadian, British and French partners who helped in the search and rescue efforts.

“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives on the Titan. They have been through a harrowing ordeal over the past few days, and we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers,” the statement said.

The Titan launched at 6 a.m. Sunday and was reported overdue Sunday afternoon about 435 miles (700 kilometers) south of St. John’s, Newfoundland, as it was on its way to where the Titanic sank more than a century ago. By Thursday, when the oxygen supply was expected to run out, there was little hope of finding the crew alive.

Broadcasters around the world started newscasts at the critical hour Thursday with news of the submersible. The Saudi-owned satellite channel Al Arabiya showed a clock on air counting down to their estimate of when the air could potentially run out.

‘Technology can fail’

At least 46 people successfully traveled on OceanGate’s submersible to the Titanic wreck site in 2021 and 2022, according to letters the company filed with a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia, that oversees matters involving the Titanic shipwreck. But questions about the submersible’s safety were raised by former passengers.

One of the company’s first customers likened a dive he made to the site two years ago to a suicide mission.

“Imagine a metal tube a few meters long with a sheet of metal for a floor. You can’t stand. You can’t kneel. Everyone is sitting close to or on top of each other,” said Arthur Loibl, a retired businessman and adventurer from Germany. “You can’t be claustrophobic.”

During the 2 1/2-hour descent and ascent, the lights were turned off to conserve energy, he said, with the only illumination coming from a fluorescent glow stick.

The dive was repeatedly delayed to fix a problem with the battery and the balancing weights. In total, the voyage took 10 1/2 hours.

The submersible had seven backup systems to return to the surface, including sandbags and lead pipes that drop off and an inflatable balloon.

Nicolai Roterman, a deep-sea ecologist and lecturer in marine biology at the University of Portsmouth, England, said the disappearance of the Titan highlights the dangers and unknowns of deep-sea tourism.

“Even the most reliable technology can fail, and therefore accidents will happen. With the growth in deep-sea tourism, we must expect more incidents like this.”

Source: AP

22, June 2023

Biya is in Paris ⁰

Paul Biya is in the French capital, Paris this Thursday 22 June 2023 to attend the opening ceremony of the summit for new global financial pact at the Palais Brongniart in Paris. The 90-year-old Cameroonian dictator was received at the summit venue by Madam Catherine Colonna, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed all participants and praised their determination to fight against poverty and to safe planet earth. Macron highlighted the efforts of youths and civil society organisations in the preparation and orientation of the summit.

For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said the global financial architecture is outdated, dysfunctional and unjust. He urged participants at the summit for a new global financial pact to take action to meet the urgent needs of developing countries.

Work at the summit is divided into six workshops such as rethinking the multilateral banking model to meet new challenges, adopting a new method/partnerships for green growth or showing solidarity to break free from the debt trap, etc. The conclusions will be presented at the closing session of the summit tomorrow.

Mr. BIYA and his wife Chantal will later this evening attend a working dinner offered by French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.

Culled from the PRC

22, June 2023

Orphan Kids Help Foundation to fund annual scholarships to 100 secondary school students ⁰

As part of its 10000 Kids Education Project, the board of directors of the Orphan Kids Help Foundation has announced plans to provide annual scholarships to poor and needy secondary school students in the Republic of Cameroon.

Cameroon Concord News understands the scholarships will pay for 100 school students to study science, technology and global health.

A statement released by the Orphan Kids Help Foundation revealed that the students will be given enough money to cover the costs of tuition and accommodation throughout the period of their studies.

The money will come from the Orphan Kids Help Foundation that has for the past thirteen years provided resources to orphanages in Africa enabling children to sustain their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

The scholarships are expected to be formally announced in Cameroon next week by Dr. Ngasu Betek Etengeneng– a senior Lecturer at the University of Douala. Dr. Ngasu has also been tasked to actively recruit qualified students and to make sure that all candidates must be orphans or poor and needy individuals. In addition, the students must be of good moral and academic standing and above all, must be of Cameroonian nationality.

Orphan Kids Help Foundation is known in Cameroon and beyond as one of the philanthropic foundations based in the United States of America supporting orphans all over Africa. Some of the orphanages that have benefitted from the Orphan Kids Help Foundation in Africa include Love kids orphanage (Ghana), Little Saints Orphanage (Nigeria), Footprints Orphanage (Kenya), Mission of Hope Orphanage (Uganda), Hoptec Orphanage (Cameroon), Wellington Orphanage (Sierra Leone), Rainbow Orphanage (Cameroon), Amity Social Assistance Family (Cameroon) and St. Arnile Orphanage in Cameroon.

The donation to fund the scholarships in Cameroon will be the largest given by Orphan Kids Help Foundation for any single cause.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from our US Bureau