Africa

17, January 2018

Unrest in Ambazonia fuels cocoa smuggling to Nigeria ⁰

Unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, the central African nation’s cocoa-growing heartland, is fuelling bean smuggling into neighbouring Nigeria, farmers and buyers said on Tuesday.

EKOK, Cameroon: Unrest in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, the central African nation’s cocoa-growing heartland, is fuelling bean smuggling into neighbouring Nigeria, farmers and buyers said on Tuesday.

Cameroon has been gripped by spiralling violence since November 2016, when government forces crushed a peaceful movement of Anglophone teachers and lawyers protesting against their perceived marginalisation by the French-speaking majority.

Violent clashes between separatists and security forces have cut many Cameroonian buyers off from parts of the Southwest region, source of roughly half of Cameroon’s total production which reached around 240,000 tonnes last season.

“Our usual buyers are scared. Some come, but they stop in towns like Mamfe and do not dare to venture further into villages that produce more cocoa,” said Takor, a cocoa farmer in Mamfe, who did not give his surname out of fear of retribution.

“Now we have buyers that come from Nigeria,” he said.

A Reuters reporter in the south-western town of Ekok saw bags of cocoa beans loaded on to pick-up trucks and into cars registered in Nigeria’s Cross River State.

Cocoa smuggling has long been an issue along the border. But Cameroonian farmers and buyers told Reuters that the crisis has aggravated the practice.

Smugglers, they said, are now paying higher prices for beans and venturing deeper into Cameroon, the world’s fifth biggest producer, to scoop up more of farmers’ output.

One farmer in the south-western village of Eyang Ntui said Nigerians paid between 850 and 1,000 CFA francs (£1.1-£1.3) per kilogram of beans. Cameroonian buyers were, meanwhile, paying around 600 CFA francs/kg, he said.

“The crisis has brought us closer together. It is easier to sell to the Nigerians who are near us,” said Mbeng, who farms 12 hectares of cocoa near Mamfe and also withheld his surname.

No estimate was available for the smuggled volumes, but Cameroonian farmers and buyers said the amounts were significant.

Farmer Georges Eyong said his cooperative had sold 53 tonnes of beans to Nigerian buyers this month.

A senior official with Cameroon’s sector regulator, the National Office for Cocoa and Coffee (ONCC), said it plans to curb cocoa smuggling by setting up check points along the Nigerian border.

“This is an illegal trade. We are not opposed to exporting Cameroonian cocoa, but exporters need to meet all the necessary terms and conditions,” said the official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

www.channelnewsasia.com

11, January 2018

Ambazonia risks wider destabilization as Cameroon army begins operation to crackdown businesses ⁰

With the arrest and killing of hundreds of Ambazonians in the Manyu County this week, the Biya Francophone regime has taken a step closer to provoking a violent insurgency in the Southern Cameroons territory by embarking on an economic crack down. As tensions rise, both the Cameroon administration and the Interim Government of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia have succeeded to push Nigeria further into the British Southern Cameroons conflict

After the massive seizure of cocoa, rice and the destruction of fuel largely imported from Nigeria, Tuesday the 9th of January 2018 witnessed the Cameroon armed forces intensified their actions on motorbikes. More than 200 motors bikes were confiscated in Mamfe Central sub constituency.

Cameroon Concord News learned that road blocks were erected from the High Court Junction in Mamfe town right to the Customs office. All the bikes that were forcefully collected from their riders were transported using an army truck to a military camp in Besongabang.

The leadership of the Francophone dominated army reportedly auctioned some of the bikes to raise money for the purchase of food stuffs and drinking water for the starving soldiers. The Manyu constituency in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia now risks wider destabilization with this current Cameroon army economic crackdown on Southern Cameroonians.

By Judith Fon

10, January 2018

Unauthorised gold mining in Cameroon reaps deathly toll ⁰

Forty-three gold diggers died in abandoned mines in Cameroon in the first 10 months of last year, a watchdog group said Wednesday.

“The toll of people who died in mining holes… reached 43 in the first 10 months” of 2017, said Foder, a local NGO whose full name in English means Forest and Rural Development.

The group said much of the blame lay with corporations, many of them Chinese, which abandon open-cast gold mines after profitable seams run out.

When the companies leave, individual gold hunters move in, digging holes into a site that in some cases have already been excavated to a depth of 200 metres (650 feet).

Nine died last year after the walls of their hole collapsed on top of them, Foder said. In September, a 12-year-old boy drowned in a lake that had formed in an abandoned pit.

Foder said the problem is worst in eastern Cameroon, where from 2012 to 2014, 250 mines were opened and then abandoned by their operators. It is campaigning for mining companies to cover over open-cast operations with earth when they pull out.

Source: The Citizen

5, January 2018

Border Shutdown Hurts Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea Business ⁰

The border between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea has been sealed for nearly two weeks due to the alleged coup attempt against Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Merchants on the border say the closure is costing them business.

It is a relatively quiet atmosphere here at Kiossi, a town in southern Cameroon that borders Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The town is normally a conduit for farm produce, beverages and other goods being trucked across the borders.

But Cameroonian businessman Fidele Kemmengne says activity has been at a standstill since the border was sealed. And Kemmenge himself has been stuck in Equatorial Guinea for nearly two weeks.

He says when they were returning from work on December 24 at about 4 pm, they discovered that the military from Equatorial Guinea had blocked entry into their country. He says they thought it was a temporary move to control the huge number of people crossing over for end of year festivities, but adds that authorities have not reopened the border since then.

Cameroonian food merchant Abdou Fayou is waiting for the border to reopen so his trucks can come back for more supplies.

“There is nothing coming [from] the Equato Guineans because they have the problem of security. No passengers from the 23rd [of December] to now,” Fayou said.

Equatorial Guinean businesswoman Falamu Fatouma says the border closure is preventing her from making deliveries.

She says since the border was sealed on December 24, she has not been able to do business and the goods she provides to her customers are perishing and she will not be able to refund their money.

FILE -This file photo taken on June 24, 2013 shows Teodorin Obiang Nguema, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president, arriving at Malabo stadium for ceremonies to celebrate his 41st birthday.

Coup fears

On December 29, Equatorial Guinea said it had arrested people on the border in possession of rocket launchers, rifles and a stockpile of ammunition. It said the men planned to destabilize the government of President Theodoro Obiang, who has led the country since 1979 and is the longest-serving leader in Africa.

Cameroon said it arrested 40 heavily-armed men on the border and has strengthened security along the 290-kilometer boundary.

Felix Nguele Nguele, governor of Cameroon’s south region, says Cameroonians should be vigilant as soldiers are there to assure their security and safety in case of any attacks.

He says the military has taken measures to rigorously check movements on the border between Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea and surveillance measures have been intensified. He says there is an alert of insecurity from neighboring Equatorial Guinea but that authorities are assuring the population that the situation is under control.

Obiang, who is 75, was elected to a fifth seven-year term in 2016 in polls the opposition said were rigged in his favor.

His country is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest oil producers, but a large proportion of its 1.2 million people live in poverty. In 2004, mercenaries attempted to overthrow Obiang in a coup thought to be largely funded by British financiers. Last week, Obiang said a war is being prepared against his regime, allegedly because of his length of time in power.

Source: VOA

3, January 2018

9 killed in Cameroonian gold mine collapse ⁰

9 people have been killed following the collapse of a gold mine in the East region of French Cameroun. The tragedy occurred in Ngoura, a district in the Lom-and-Djerem Division headquartered in Bertoua.

The commune of Ngoura, bordering the Central African Republic is hosting a sea of gold prospectors mainly of Cameroonian and Central African nationalities.

According to the Francophone dominated security service in Bertoua, the bodies of the 9 victims were found, identified and handed over to their respective families. They will be buried in the coming days.

Culled from Cameroon Intelligence Report

12, December 2017

Ambazonia Crisis: Fire razes down Mamfe Main Market ⁰

Flames razed down the Mamfe Main Market last night in an attack which the local residents say was staged by Francophone security forces stationed in the town.

We gathered that electronic shops, barber shops, groceries and butcheries were burned down in the inferno. Although the cause of the fire is not known, traders have added their voices to those who claim the fire was manmade and a deliberate action to stifle the Manyu economy.

Cameroon Concord News contacted the Mamfe police commissioner who hinted that authorities have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the fire in the market where traders lost property worth millions of Francs CFA.

An aide to the mayor of Mamfe told Camcordnews that “We cannot establish the exact value of property burnt down but the traders have lost goods worth millions.”

The fire which began around 12:00 midnight affected over 100 business persons. Some traders have reportedly blamed the security forces who have been deployed to the town center for not responding quickly to the emergency.

By Peter Ndip in Mamfe

28, November 2017

La Republique: Government lifts ban on General Express Voyage ⁰

The Minister of Transport, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o has authorized the General Express Voyage interurban transport bus company to resume its activities. The information is contained in a press release made public on Monday, 27th November 2017. According to the document, the three months suspension of transport activities imposed on the company following a ghastly accident on October 25th 2017 has been exceptionally reduced to one month.

The reason for the reduction of the administrative sanction as justified by the document is that fact that the Ministry of Transport is satisfied with corrective measures taken by General Express Voyage following a general audit carried out in the various terminals of the company that revealed several short comings.

The release indicated that the company acknowledged the existence of deficiencies and immediately proceeded with corrective measures as prescribed by the Ministry of Transport. The promptitude and compliance lead to the reduction of the sanction.

As the interurban transport company resumes, business as usual, the Minister of Transport has warned its officials to be more rigorous and vigilant in the management of their activities. He insisted that all transporters of good and persons should strictly respect traffic regulations.

Government’s commitment to tirelessly fight against road insecurity was reiterated with a call for civic behaviour and high sense of responsibility of all road users to sustainably curb road accidents in Cameroon.

Minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o lauded the spirit of dialogue and franks collaboration that prevails between the Administration and professionals of the transport sector. The lifting of the ban comes at the eve of the end of year festive season marked by massive movement of people between regions which is one of the biggest business seasons for interurban transport companies.

Source: CRTV

15, November 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis costs Fako tourism industry 15 billion FCFA ⁰

Hotels and restaurants in the Fako State that are usually sold-out during this festive period are barely running at 1% since the beginning of the Southern Cameroons crisis.

The French Cameroun Ministry of Tourism recently reported that the tourism sector in the Fako constituency has lost 15 Billion CFA francs due to the socio-political crisis.

This is explained by the fact that tourism structures like hotels and restaurants are experiencing a drastic drop in patronage. Typically, more than 300,000 tourists visit Fako annually. But with the crisis, the figure has barely reached 2,000.

The situation is true for the entire Southern Cameroons tourism industry with employers forced to put their staff on technical leave.

By Fru James, CCN

2, November 2017

French Cameroun: Douala to host CEMAC regional stock exchange ⁰

During a forum that was boycotted by the Heads of State of Gabon and Congo-Brazaville recently in Chad, the CEMAC zone leaders decided that Douala, the economic metropolis of Cameroon will now host the headquarters of the regional stock exchange of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

This is one of the main decisions taken by the heads of state of the subregion, gathered at N’Djamena in Chad at the recent extraordinary summit of CEMAC.

“Considering the issue of the merger of regional and national value exchanges, the conference decided to set the headquarters of the regional financial market regulator in Libreville and that of the regional stock exchange in douala,” read the final statement.

The Conference of Heads of State designated the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) as Central Depository.

In addition, the heads of state decided to unlock 1.7 billion CFA francs. This money will finance a police force to monitor the borders follwoing the lifting of all border checks for all citizens of the 6 countries.

By Chi Prudence Asong, CCN

28, October 2017

Ban on General Express Agency: French Cameroun doing their thing ⁰

The General Express travelling agency suspended for three months is now attempting to change its name.The intercity travel agency was suspended by the Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, following a traffic accident on the 23^rd of October 2017 on the Yaoundé-Douala Highway that claimed the lives of 15 people and injured several others.

Barely some few days after the decision to ban the company was made public, images have emerged from the Douala bureau of two workers, one of whom is on a General Express bus, posting a new inscription “Defotso”.

Observers have concluded that the management of General Express have decided to rename their agency- a common practice among travel agencies suspended by the Francophone dominated government.

By Sonne Peter with files from Cameroon Info.Net