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25, March 2019

Côte d’Ivoire: A beacon of hope ⁰

While many people across the globe hold that French-speaking countries in Africa may never make giant economic development strides because of their affinity to France, Côte d’Ivoire is debunking that myth one project at a time. The country that many had written off in the mid-nineties due to its political conflict is gradually positioning itself as a leader in the West African sub-region.

Sound policies and commitment to reforms have helped the country secure good terms on its Eurobonds issued in 2017 and 2018. External public debt is projected to reach nearly 30 percent of GDP in 2018 and is currently assessed to be sustainable in the medium-term. However, higher reliance on international market financing may raise rollover risks and reduce policy space to buffer future shocks.

Over the last six years, this West African country has undertaken major development projects and infrastructure development seems to be the government’s focus. The government is currently working with the private sector to modernize the country’s infrastructure and this has caught the attention of foreign investors who want to be part of this success story that is being written with a golden pen and which is making the country a beacon of hope.

The government is working on improving market access for crops by upgrading transportation infrastructure, extending electricity provision, and developing strategies to enhance value-added from cocoa and cashews.

Today, the country’s capital, Abidjan, has become a vast construction site with storey buildings popping up like mushroom in all the city’s neighborhoods. Côte d’Ivoire has made significant progress in reducing processing time for building permits and has introduced a new system for electronic payment of taxes and a credit bureau. There is scope for catching up with sub-Saharan African frontier market countries by improving credit access through stronger legal rights for borrowers and creditors and deeper credit information on borrowers.

Foreign capital is heading to Cote d’Ivoire and the government’s determination to place the country on the map as the most modern in West Africa is paying off big time. Even international organizations are noticing the efforts by the country’s government and their reports on the country are boosting the country’s image.

According to the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, the country’s macro-economic performance has been encouraging. The continent’s leading development finance institution reported that despite many and major economic challenges in 2018, the country’s real GDP growth reached an estimated 7.4% in 2018, down from 7.7% in 2017, supported by external demand for agricultural and oil products and stronger domestic demand resulting from major investment projects and households consumption.

The AfDB report points out that the country’s economy faced several shocks in 2017, including a sharp decline in cocoa prices, higher oil prices, and social tensions. As a result, the budget deficit increased to 4.2% of GDP, but it improved to an estimated 3.8% in 2018. Public debt increased to 48.2% of GDP in 2018, driven by Eurobond issuances in 2017 and 2018. The risk of debt distress remains moderate. Inflation was low, at an estimated 0.5% in 2018, down from 1.0% in 2017. The current account deficit widened to an estimated 2.7% of GDP in 2018 from 1.8% in 2017.

The AfDB holds that the country’s economic outlook remains favorable, with real GDP growth projected at 7.0% in 2019 and 6.9% in 2020. A good performance in the agricultural sector will keep inflation below the 3% convergence threshold for the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The current account deficit is projected to stabilize at 2.8% in 2019, in connection with sustained imports of capital goods related to infrastructure projects.

The economy remains vulnerable to external shocks that may stem from unfavorable evolution of commodity prices (mainly cocoa and oil) and adverse climate conditions. Another pressing challenge is to sustain economic growth and ensure a more balanced distribution across sectors, with a view to achieving a structural transformation of the economy. This would require improving the quality of agricultural products and upgrading the industrial sector toward higher value added and high–job creation activities.

Regarding reforms, Côte d’Ivoire has implemented many reforms as part of its 2016–2020 National Development Plan. In energy, reforms have focused on ensuring the sector’s financial sustainability, clearing arrears for independent producers, and investing in supply capacity. As a result, installed capacity increased by 56% between 2011 and 2018 to 2,200 MW. Rural electricity coverage has also expanded from 33% of the rural population to 54%. In agriculture, reforms have focused on accelerating the development of value chains and increasing local processing for major agricultural products, including cocoa, cashew nuts, palm oil, and rubber. Investment has also improved the quality of and access to basic education and health services. But poverty and inequality reduction remain a challenge.

Côte d’Ivoire is party to most of the relevant continental institutions dedicated to regional integration. The country has historically been an important destination for immigration and remains at the center of one of the continent’s most dynamic migration routes. Côte d’Ivoire is also an important transit corridor for its landlocked neighbors, thanks to its ports in Abidjan and San Pedro. It is a key partner in the regional electricity market and is part of an electricity interconnection network with Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and soon Mali, as well as to the Mano River Union countries (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone). Côte d’Ivoire is the major player in WAEMU’s financial markets and hosts the regional securities exchange. Côte d’Ivoire has also increased investment in regional energy, road, and air infrastructure and telecommunication networks.

For the seventh consecutive year, the country’s economic growth was projected to exceed 7% and reach 7.4% in 2018, despite the country’s vulnerability to external shocks and political uncertainty in the run up to the presidential elections in 2020. This was the verdict of the Eighth Economic Update for Côte d’Ivoire published today by the World Bank. The country, therefore, continues to have one of the most dynamic economies in the world, boasting the highest growth rates in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), despite a slight drop of 0.3% in relation to its performance in 2017 (7.7%).

According to a World Bank report entitled “Que la route soit bonne, améliorer la mobilité urbaine à Abidjan,”the country has witnessed some decline because of the fact that the public and external sectors have been less supportive of growth and the contribution of the private sector has been more uneven.

The short- and medium-term outlook however remains favorable. The growth rate over the next few years is expected to be roughly 7%, provided that the global environment remains fairly stable and the Government continues its efforts to promote the private sector and foster more inclusive growth.

The report also devotes an entire section to the challenges of urban mobility in this country where the rate of urbanization soared from 17.7% in 1960 to over 50% in 2018. Today, 80% of economic activity in the country is concentrated in Abidjan, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire and home to over 5 million people.

“Urbanization, once it is well planned and managed, can help the country’s businesses become more productive and improve households’ living conditions by offering them jobs, schools for their children, and better health care than in rural areas,” explains Jacques Morisset, World Bank Program Leader in Côte d’Ivoire and lead author of the report.

Given that by 2050, nearly two out of three Ivorians will be living in an urban center, over 10 million of whom will settle in Abidjan, urban mobility challenges will intensify if no action is taken, and solutions will become increasingly difficult to implement. The report analyzes the daily mobility constraints faced by commuters and proposes several avenues for improving urban transport and ensuring the success of the Greater Abidjan project adopted in 2016.

“There are approximately 10 million trips taken every day in Abidjan and each household spends close to CFAF 1075 (about US$1.80) and loses over three hours a day in commuting time,” explains Anne Cecile Souhaid, Senior Transport Specialist and co-author of the report. “That is equivalent to nearly 5% of the national GDP in 2017. However, a 20% improvement in urban mobility in Abidjan could generate gains of almost 1% of annual GDP growth.”

Since achieving independence in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire has managed to maintain broadly friendly relations with its neighbours, its French former colonial ruler, and within a continental and multilateral context. Côte d’Ivoire has long been a player in ECOWAS, which ties the country to 14 other nations in the region. Eight countries also share membership of the West African CFA franc zone, the central bank of which is headquartered in Abidjan.

Recently, after a decade-long political crisis ended in 2011, Côte d’Ivoire’s economy has bounced back to become one of the fastest-growing in Africa. Between 2012 and 2016 the country’s GDP grew by an annual average of 9%, with the IMF forecasting annual GDP expansion of at least 6.5% through to 2023. This recovery was supported by rising international commodity prices, as well as substantial public sector funding to rebuild and upgrade infrastructure that had suffered from years of under-investment. At the same time, the country has sought to diversify its agriculture-focused economy by developing the mining and oil and gas sectors.

The IMF recently completed its annual health check of the Ivoirian economy. Political normalization and good implementation of reforms have contributed to the country’s strong economic performance since 2012. Going forward, bold structural reforms are needed to sustain the pace of development, and ensure that the benefits are shared by all. The current government is committed to keeping the economy dynamic while ensuring that growth is shared and pro-poor.

By Bamba Gaoussou

Cameroon Concord News Group correspondent in Abidjan

25, March 2019

Disease fears mount for Southern Africa cyclone survivors ⁰

Disease is threatening to aggravate the already dire conditions facing millions of survivors following the powerful tropical cyclone that ravaged southern Africa 10 days ago, officials warned on Sunday.

Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique’s coast unleashing hurricane-force wind and rain that flooded swathes of the poor country before battering eastern Zimbabwe — killing 705 people across the two nations.

“It is inevitable that cases of cholera and malaria will arise. In many areas we are already fighting with malaria cases,” said Land Minister Celso Correia at a briefing in Beira, 1,000 kilometers northeast of the capital, Maputo.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, also at the briefing, warned that disease outbreaks in inaccessible areas could be “really problematic.”

The World Food Programme said Friday that the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Mozambique is on a par with the situation in Yemen and Syria.

Aid workers from across the world are continuing to arrive in the region to bring help to more than two million affected people across an area of roughly 3,000 square kilometers.

Survivors are struggling in desperate conditions with some still trapped on rooftops and those rescued in urgent need of food and medical supplies.

“The government is already setting up a cholera treatment center to mitigate cholera. We should not be frightened when cholera issues arise,” added Correia, describing efforts to control the emerging humanitarian crisis. “It is normal. It’s almost inevitable. Malaria, we know how it arises. We have lots of wetlands and we’re going to have malaria that is sure to come up (there).”

People stay in shelter at a local school in Buzi, Mozambique, on March 23, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

Wilfried Deloviare, a 19-year-old resident of Beira, which was caught in the eye of the storm, said he felt “sorry for our town, our city, because we suffered a lot to build it.”

“Houses are completely destroyed, and some people don’t have money to rebuild their businesses — and many businesses are going to fail,” he told AFP.

‘People don’t know what to do’

More than two million people have been affected in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, where the storm started as a tropical depression causing flooding, which killed 60 and displaced nearly a million people. Hundreds are still missing in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had recorded two cases of cholera so far but the UN was unable to confirm the reports.

Stampa described efforts to re-open the main access road to Beira as a “big victory.”

“We will be able to bring more help to families living in this affected area,” he said.

Those living in affected areas of Mozambique began to trickle back to church over the weekend.

The Ponta Gea Catholic Cathedral in Beira was miraculously undamaged by the storm while the church next door was leveled.

“The people don’t know what to do because they lost their houses, they have no food, they don’t know where to sleep — this brings sadness and anxiety,” said Father Pedro, who conducted a mass in darkness late on Saturday.

Much of the area hit by the cyclone remains disconnected from electricity supplies, complicating rescue efforts at nightfall.

As many as 109,000 people are living in shelters across central Mozambique, many of them located in and around Beira.

One survivor was six-year-old Elena Joaquin, who clutched a coconut as she sat surrounded by pots and pans at a shelter in Buzi, southwest of Beria, where she had sought refuge along with her parents.

But life had slowly begun to return to normal in central Beira, where traffic was flowing more than in recent days and businesses were resuming trade.

(Source: AFP)

25, March 2019

The AGC, the Audit Report and the Dublin Declaration: What the timing reveal ⁰

Cameroon Concord News Group has persistently warned Southern Cameroonians in ground zero and in the diaspora that Cho Ayaba and his AGC recently rebranded AgovC constitute a serious threat to the Southern Cameroons liberation quest. His every action in the struggle justifies this. His most recent actions among many elevates this warning to an emergency.

The so-called Dublin Declaration calling for armed attacks in French Cameroun and the persistent call by Cho Ayaba and his surrogates for the release of the audit report conducted on the orders of the Interim Government are matters which Ambazonians in ground zero and in the diaspora must consider with great suspicion. These actions are intended to help the enemy. They are not intended to contribute to the self-defence efforts for the liberation of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia from the terrorist genocide war of French Cameroun.

Cameroon Concord News Group strongly urges the Restoration Council of the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia for the purposes of mitigating the damage intended by Cho Ayaba, to withhold the public release of the audit report that was submitted recently by the Interim President Samuel Sako. The Interim Government should distance itself from the Dublin Declaration and the planned attacks against targets in French Cameroun.

Attacking targets in French Cameroun may be used to transpose French Cameroun teleguided attacks, the actions of Boko Haram, French Cameroun opposition and insider attacks as attacks by the liberation forces of Ambazonia. Atanga Nji and the criminal government of French Cameroun, will organize targeted attacks against French Cameroun civilian population, protected settlements such as schools, palaces, markets, museums and hospitals and blame on the restoration forces. All they needed was this public announcement by Cho Ayaba that the attacks will be carried out by Southern Cameroons liberation forces under his command. Whether he in fact carries out the attacks will not matter. They just need this announcement to do the rest in order to criminalise all our restoration forces and inviting the international community to characterise them as terrorists, which they are not, French Cameroun has an extraordinary propaganda capacity by themselves and their lobbies abroad to rely on the Dublin Declaration to mount this campaign. Cho Ayaba will not be targeted as indeed he has not been targeted at any time by French Cameroun and its agents, even though his actions have been acted upon by French Cameroun to target many who are in the diaspora legitimately exercising their protected rights to mount a defence of their ancestral fatherland, their civilian population and their freedom afforded by international law.

A key strategy by French Cameroun in the war of genocide against Southern Cameroons is the targeting of the civilian population and foreigners within the territory of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. This strategy has backfired partly because the United States whose forces are in North French Cameroun supporting the multinational force against Boko Haram has through its independent intelligence gathering capability monitored the crimes committed by French Cameroun terrorist forces against Ambazonians and foreigners among whom are missionaries. Providing a public open cheque admitting in advance crimes committed within the enemy scheme to criminalize the legitimate war of self-defence by the restoration forces of Ambazonia is indeed reckless. Lest we forget, French Cameroun is a territory where the multinational forces are conducting legitimate internationally sanctioned military operations against Boko Haram and international terrorism. Interjecting into the Ambazonia liberation struggle within this sphere, will bring negative focus on the Ambazonia armed struggle. It ill subsumes the Ambazonia liberation struggle into a French Cameroun internal security problem rather than and Ambazonia problem which is an international problem for which there is overwhelming international support for all-inclusive negotiation without pre-conditions with international participation. The Dublin Declaration aims at changing the nature of the conflict. Who stands to gain with the new factor and dynamic introduced by Cho Ayaba? The answer is that the enemy stands to gain. As if the killing of the military commanders of Ambazonia defence units fighting against the enemy French Cameroun terrorist forces is not enough, Cho Ayaba wants to provide the enemy with a defence which it sought unsuccessfully to make through the Bangorain staged attacked.

While in warfare, taking out enemy operational, support, strategic and tactical command capability, even in its own territory may be legitimate. But then these are often done in covert operations. This is not what Ayaba intends to do with his Dublin Declaration. Making this public as Cho Ayaba has done is wholly intended to propagate the strategy which the enemy is relying on him to subvert the legitimate self-defence liberation efforts of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia.The enemy strategy through Ayaba is unfolding in through the Dublin Declaration.

Also, Ayaba and his surrogates over the past several months embarked on a social media campaign of blackmail to force the IG to release a legitimate audit that was conducted furtherance to the Ambazonia quest for accountability. The clear intention by Cho Ayaba and his surrogates was to ride on the popular request for accountability made in good faith by Cameroon Concord News Group and a sizeable component of the Ambazonia people in furtherance of the accountability quest. Cameroon Concord News Group wants to place it on record, that the aims of Cho Ayaba and reneged forces in seeking the release of the audit now is not for the public good. He and his surrogates never recognized the IG and never contributed to the treasury whose audit they are requesting. His intentions on the release of the budget report, the so-called Dublin Declaration judged against his destabilizing actions in ground zero, as a matter of urgency, strongly call for the audit report not be released now. That will not be in the public good nor that of the liberation war of self- defence. He and renegade forces will use it to undermine the self-defence war efforts, the county by county and local government by local government defence strategy and discourage diaspora, ground zero and international support for our refugees, our internally displaced and our ground zero self-defence operations.

The timing of the Dublin Declaration and the seeking of the release of the audit report to discredit the IG no matter how sincere and forthright the audit report may be, at a time when international action is closing in on French Cameroun is highly suspicious. Coming at a time when every lie told by French Cameroun against the restoration forces of Ambazonia have been exposed, the public declaration through the so-called Dublin Declaration and attempts to blackmail and weaken the IG are a welcome relief to French Cameroun criminal government and its terrorist armed forces. This strategic change of policy that benefits the enemy must be opposed vigorously.

The question which must be asked is why now? Why now when the international community is putting the required pressure on French Cameroun sinking crime syndicate? Why validate the abduction and extermination of thousands of internally displaced Ambazonians seeking refuge within vulnerable French Cameroun civilian areas who will be falsely accused for the actions of Ayaba, Atanga Nji and members of the crime syndicate? Why now that French Cameroun has failed to paint the restoration forces as terrorists and has been forced to call Ambazonia liberators simply as separatists, a tacit recognition of the liberation rationale for the self-defence war of independence? Why now, when Ayaba has a legitimate option to attack and take out the occupation war loot of French Cameroun within the territory of Ambazonia and has failed to do instead resorting to kidnapping and taking ransoms or killing liberation forces and commanders in ground zero?

Over the past fifty-seven years, French Cameroun and its colonial administrators, military commanders and politicians through extortion, claimed Ambazonia prized lands, farms, natural resources and built mansions and businesses in every county of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Why not join the rest of the restoration forces to take out the stolen resources, investments and wealth and weaken the enemy rather than stretch limited war resources to attack targets in French Cameroun when the resources of colonial rule are within Ambazonia?

The problem with Ayaba and other renegade forces within Ambazonia is greed. Prior to this stage of the revolution the struggle stagnated because rather than mobilizing the diaspora resources to liberate Ambazonia, Cho Ayaba and many others who are opposed to new ideas and leaders in the liberation struggle exploited them for personal gain. This is one reason why the same diaspora who were exploited through the asylum process have rejected these same so-called front-line leaders exploiting the self-defence struggle for personal gain.

Most Ambazonians agree with Cameroon Concord News Group that a cancer that has afflicted the struggle for many years was the commercialisation of the struggle for pecuniary interest through the asylum process, even though most Ambazonians who fled the homeland had legitimate fears of persecution and harm to their precious lives. For his more than two decades in Europe, Cho Ayaba sustained himself on exploiting the asylum vulnerabilities of Ambazonia victims fleeing from the murderous colonial rule of French Cameroun. This cancer ran so deep in many of the so-called frontline leaders of the Ambazonia independence struggle to the extent that with the advent of a new dawn of the Ambazonia popular revolution, they have vigorously resisted the emergence of the new leadership outside the cancerous cartel as a threat to their pecuniary interests. The time to shred pecuniary interests to unite to confront a common enemy is now.

Cameroon Concord News Group called out to Acting Interim President Samuel Sako to step-down due to what Cameroon Concord News Group identified as his ineffective leadership in some areas. That call was not intended to be abused or misinterpreted to support a misdirected campaign to subvert the cause. It was done in good faith. Cameroon Concord News Group called for full accountability of the IG for the purpose of public interest. That action is expected by all democratic governments. Ambazonians have a culture of accountability which that call echoed. Cameroon Concord News Group is pleased that its call and that of many Ambazonians was heeded to and an audit was conducted as the IG promised. Cameroon Concord News Group hopes that this audit should be a first step to reforming the IG and the restoration council for the purpose of strengthening it to carry out urgent ground zero operations, protection and sustaining our refugee population and diplomatic initiatives.

Cameroon Concord News Group is strongly opposed to renegade forces and French Cameroun riding on these citizen requests for an audit to harm the cause. Classified information of an operational and diplomatic nature should not be provided to hostile forces through an unrestrained public disclosure of the audit report now. Cameroon Concord News Group also urges Ambazonians and friends of Ambazonians worldwide to reject and distance themselves from the announced Dublin Declaration which plays into the enemy strategy. The Dublin Declaration and pressure to release the audit report to the public now are aimed at feeding the enemy with the ammunitions to delegitimize the Ambazonia war of liberation and subvert international support and efforts to protect and free Ambazonia. It undermines worldwide campaigns to hold the crime syndicate in French Cameroun to account in an international criminal court and targeted sanctions. Cameroon Concord News Group calls on Ambazonians to choose their priorities and timing wisely and to build on the many diplomatic and ground zero successes to expedite the movement to Buea and a free homeland. For this to occur, Ambazonians should rise to the occasion and contribute massively to match their comment to the unfolding international and ground zero response to their just cause. Let all remember that timing in every revolution is crucial to positive outcomes. The time is now to make the final push.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Chairman/Editor-in-Chief

25, March 2019

Donald Trump administration to sanction 27 members of the Biya regime ⁰

Following the recent visit of Tibor Nagy, the white house policy chief for African Affairs to Cameroon, the US government is now beefing up drastic measures against the Biya regime in Yaounde.

In a report drafted in Le monde newspaper, the Trump administration plans to take drastic financial sanctions against some 27 personalities of this regime who will be banned from staying on American soil or returning to it. This report opines that their assets will also be iced. The 27 Cameroonians to be penalized with these sanctions have their names already drafted by the US State Department.

Some European countries are flexing muscles to follow suit with similar measures under the diadem of the European Union. This will be a huge blow to the French government which has provided a safe haven for Biya and his cronnies in the last 57 years.

In pursuit of a lasting solution according to the report, western countries are drumming up for an inclusive dialogue to stop the ongoing Anglophone crisis that has left hundreds of thousands homeless’ more than 210 villages razed by French Cameroun soldiers and thousands massacred in the two English speaking regions of the country. Its concluding lines reads that a meeting could be organized to begin negotiations between the Yaoundé regime and the ‘secessionists’ on a neutral ground.

24, March 2019

Ambazonia Restoration Forces erect “Berlin Wall” in Bafut ⁰

Southern Cameroons Restoration Forces in Bafut in the Mezam County have erected a wall preventing soldiers serving with the mechanized division of the Cameroon army from invading Ambazonian villages in the Northern Zone.

Images of the wall surfaced on social media on Thursday after heavy gun battles in the area on Wednesday.

Locals say it has been difficult for cars get into and out Bafut due to frequent clashes in the area and the erection of the wall has made matters worse.

The Francophone dominated military often used secondary roads to counter the Ambazonian fighters ever since the Southern Cameroons war started.

Source: Journal du Cameroun

24, March 2019

Algeria: Hundreds of thousands battle rain to protest President Bouteflika ⁰

Hundreds of thousands of Algerians took the street of the capital Algiers on Friday, to demand the immediate resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Algerians take part in a demonstration against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the capital Algiers on March 22, 2019. (AFP)

The protesters are taking a stand after the country’s president announced that he would withdraw his bid for a fifth term in office but stopped short of stepping down, delaying the country’s presidential elections slated for April 18.

Bouteflika’s announcement came following weeks of mass demonstrations against his re-election bid and alleged plans to extend his 20-year rule.

Presstv

24, March 2019

Choupo-Moting, Bassogog, Njie send Cameroon to 2019 Africa Cup of Nations ⁰

Despite being stripped of the tournament’s hosting rights, the Indomitable Lions booked their place in Egypt with a crucial win in Yaounde

Eric Choupo-Moting, Christian Bassogog and Clinton Njie found the back of the net as Cameroon thrashed Comoros in their final qualifying match for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Saturday’s victory secured the Indomitable Lions’ place in Egypt as they will be looking to retain the continental title they won in Gabon two years ago.

Choupo-Moting sent fans at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo into ecstasy after breaking the deadlock with his effort in 36th minute.

The PSG star who clocked 30 on Saturday finished off a collective team effort with a tap-in before goals from Bassogog and Nije in the 53rd and 89th minutes sent Clarence Seedorf’s charges to the Afcon finals scheduled for June.

Cameroon ended their qualifying campaign as the second best team in Group B behind Morocco with 11 points from six games.

Goal.Com

24, March 2019

2 Cameroon nationals arrested with counterfeit US dollars ⁰

According to the Myanmar Police Force, two Cameroon nationals staying at Chan Myae guest house in Maha Bandoola Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon were arrested with counterfeit US currency and equipment used in counterfeiting currencies in their possession.

On March 21, a joint team of police personnel from Bahan Myoma Police Station, Yangon Region, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Western District Police Officer office, Special Branch (SB) of Police and Tourist Security Police investigated a news tip-off they received about possession of counterfeit foreign exchange. They found two Cameroon nationals, Mr. Guillaume Nekndo Tchoungang (33) and Mr. Charles Abe Etounit (46), who were then interrogated.

The joint team found 3,471 notes of US currency believed to be counterfeit from Room No. 716 where Mr. Tchoungang was staying and equipment and accessories totaling 20 numbers used in making counterfeit notes from Room No. 715 where Mr. Etounit was staying.

The police charged the men under sections 489 (a), (b), (c), and (d) of the Penal Code.

Mizzima.com

23, March 2019

CPDM Crime Syndicate: No more takeoff for Camair Co, all aircrafts out of order ⁰

Cameroon’s airline Camair Co has been in big trouble since the beginning of this year. After the company announced in January that 4 aircrafts of its fleet of 6 got out of order, the remaining two also broke down.

On March 19, the aviation authority instructed Camair Co to stop operating its Chinese MA 60 due to a “Tail Strike” (when the plane’s tail hit the ground) that occurred March 10 at Bafoussam Airport, Western Region. A few days earlier, it was the company’s Bombardier Q400 that broke down, after hitting a stepladder in the parking following a violent storm, sources said.

However, in order to continue ensuring regional and domestic services (with a rate of 100 flights a week), Camair Co is now only using a small aircraft from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. The aircraft was rented from Equatorial Guinea, we learnt. This situation, let’s recall, occurred when the airlines’ top management was aiming for a soon resumption of flights to Paris, France.

2019 is on the path to be a tough year for Camair Co with serious underperformances. Yet, the company performed well last year, after more than 6 years of difficulties. In January this year, it posted a turnover of XAF1.4 billion, compared to an average monthly revenue of XAF2.4 billion throughout 2018. Executives, who projected figures to further fall to XAF700 million in February due to the suspension of 4 aircrafts, now see a much wider gap for this month and the rest of the year.

Such a drastic underperformance cannot be cushioned unless the government backs Camair Co but the government itself has been facing treasury tensions for the past two years due to increasing security expenses (Boko Haram, Anglophone crisis, unrest in Adamaoua etc.). According to reliable sources, fixing the engines of its two Boeing 737 alone will cost Camair Co a minimum of XAF14 billion.

Source: Business in Cameroon

23, March 2019

Yaounde: Comoros Island eye win, Cameroon need tie to qualify for AFCON ⁰

The Comoros national soccer team arrived here Thursday evening ahead of the final round of qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Comoros will clash with Cameroon on Saturday at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde.

Officials of the football federation of the Comoros said the team is coming with the ambition to win the game and qualify for their first Africa Cup of Nations.

Comoros, sitting third behind Cameroon and Morocco in Group B, require a win to advance.

Cameroon, standing second, need just a tie to survive.

On Tuesday, Clarence Seedorf, head coach of the Cameroon national football team Indomitable Lions, said his team is in top form to “make it through”.

Source: Xinhuanet