Cameroonian authorities say record flooding on its western border with Nigeria has killed at least six people, washed away homes, and destroyed thousands of tons of food meant for export.

In a video circulated on social media platforms by Widikum council officials, civilians asked the Cameroon government to help clear the road of earth, mud and stones to enable them to leave Widikum.

Among the merchants is Paul Okafor, a Nigerian who buys palm oil and vegetables from Widikum to sell in his country. He said floods and landslides have blocked him in Widikum for five days, and no vehicle has been able to leave or enter because flood waters have covered roads and landslides are pulling down hills on roadsides.

Okafor said the vegetables and tomatoes he bought are beginning to rot, and Widikum vegetable farmers are complaining that their harvest is decaying.

Andoh Stanilos, the mayor of Widikum district, acknowledged that his council staff shared the videos. He said floods that triggered landslides killed six people, left hundreds homeless, and destroyed homes and warehouses.

“The floodplains overflooded and completely swept off houses,” he said. “At the moment I speak, there are over 55 people who are without something to eat. The council is trying to mobilize some resources, so I send this SOS to the government and people of goodwill to come to the assistance of persons who are destitute now.”

The floods destroyed a 36-meter-long bridge on the River Momo, keeping hundreds of merchants and commuters stranded on both sides of the river. Momo, an administrative unit where Widikum is found, is a production basin for palm oil, maize, potato, tomatoes and vegetables.

Cameroon’s National Observatory on Climate Change last month predicted that floods and landslides would hit many Cameroonian towns and villages including Widikum.

Forghab Patrick, deputy director general of the observatory, said homes built in flood-risk areas made the situation even worse.

“People build in marshy areas,” Patrick said. “What happens? Water cannot circulate correctly because the houses block even the waterways and at the end of the day, those living in those homes are all exposed.”

The government said it is educating people to stop settling on risk zones, but has not said if it will provide the food and water-hungry victims are asking for.

Source: VOA

Yves Michel Fotso, the son of the late Cameroonian billionaire, Victor Fotso doubly sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds during his time as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Camair-Co, the national airline may soon be a free man, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt from reliable sources in Etoudi.

He was arrested on December 1, 2010 and sentenced to life after it was revealed that a report of the judiciary inquiry, which was ordered by the Mfoundi High Court in Yaoundé, into the racket of acquisition of the ill-fated Presidential plane “Albatross”, had incriminated him.

Fotso was appointed the Administrator-General Manager of CAMAIR in 2000.

By Rita Akana with Intel files

The Cameroonian government announced it will approve CFA780 billion in fuel subsidy to keep pump prices unchanged in this harsh period marked by rising global prices. This new figure was revealed by the Director General of the Treasury, Sylvester Moh, in an interview with the state-owned Cameroon Tribune.

It is way higher than the CFA480 billion initially approved in the collective budget, and the CFA672 billion projected by the Minister of Commerce, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, during a press conference held on March 30, 2022, in Yaoundé. In a July 11 statement, the Minister of Water and Energy (Minee), Gaston Eloundou Essomba, revealed that fuel subsidy has already cost the treasury CFA317 billion in the first half of 2022.  

This makes a monthly average of CFA52.8 billion, or CFA634 billion over 12 months, not taking into account that in June 2022, for example, this subsidy peaked at CFA80 billion, according to Minee figures. Not only does the new subsidy figure exceed all the official figures announced so far, but above all, it could prove unsustainable for the Treasury in the medium or even short term. The country has recently experienced a fuel shortage.

“The disruptions are the consequence of the large resources subsidized pump prices that must be mobilized in real time to ensure the import of petroleum products,” the Minister of Water and Energy said on July 11, 2022, to justify the scarcity of fuel in the country’s main cities.

In this situation, the government could, instead of gradually reducing fuel subsidies from 2023 as announced, suspend the subsidy before the end of the current year 2022 given its unsustainability.

Source: Business in Cameroon

A Cameroonian business delegation headed by Professor Kenneth Ojong called on Ambassador Henri Etoundi Essomba on Friday July 15, Cameroon Concord News US Bureau reported.

During the meeting, the delegation and the head of Cameroon diplomatic mission in the US examined the difficulties encountered by importers at the port in Douala, the prolonged strike action by clearing agents, hike in import duty, and harassment by custom officials in the port.

Ambassador Etoundi Essomba assured to support the US based Cameroonian businesses on a priority basis and promised to raise the issues with the authorities concerned to facilitate imports from the US by pushing for the creation of a section at the Douala port that will be responsible for evaluating containers from the United States.

The Cameroonian top diplomat said he was grateful to the business delegation for their keen interest in accelerating their investment in Cameroon.

Speaking after the meeting, Professor Kenneth Ojong said the delegation requested the ambassador to invite the Minister of Finance and the Director of Customs to the United States to meet with over 300 businessmen and women who do business with Cameroon in a bid to encourage others to make investments.

Kenneth Ojong also revealed that Cameroonian business community in the US want a review of the CEMAC taxation policy which does not favour Cameroon and has been reducing the potential of Cameroon becoming an economic hub.

By Enowtaku Ebanghatabi Christelle in Washington

Beverage company Diageo DGE.L has agreed to sell its Guinness Cameroon brewery to France’s Castel Group for £389 million, the company has said in a statement.

Details

Castel will take over the production and nationwide distribution of Guinness in Cameroon under a licence and royalty agreement, it said.

“Under this new agreement, the brand will have both expanded brewing capacity and distribution. It will remain part of the global Guinness family through direct marketing oversight,” Dayalan Nayager, president of Diageo Africa, said in the statement.

The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of fiscal 2023, subject to regulatory clearances. When completed, the transaction will result in an exceptional gain on disposal of approximately £250 million after tax, Diageo said.

Source: Hospitality Ireland

The Cameroonian government planned to borrow CFA178 billion on the Beac public securities market in Q3 2022. According to its Q3 2022 provisional schedule of public securities issues, the government wants to raise CFA118 billion through issues of fungible Treasury bills (BTAs), which are securities with a maturity of up to one year, and CFA60 billion through issues of fungible Treasury bonds (OTAs), which are long and medium-term securities. In detail, the first issue is scheduled for July 11. It is a syndicated issue of 26-week BTAs for CFA83 billion. A second BTA issue is scheduled for July 25. The maturity is 52 weeks and the government is seeking CFA15 billion.

In addition, two operations on BTA with 52 and 13 weeks of maturity are planned for August 8 and 22, respectively. They aim to raise a total of CFA20 billion, at a rate of CFA10 billion per operation.

On August 29, 2022, Cameroon will launch its first OTA issue for the 3rd quarter. The Treasury seeks CFA20 billion through 6-year bonds. On September 15, another 7-year OTA issue is planned to raise CFA40 billion. As a reminder, in the amending finance law validated by the Parliament in June 2022, the Head of State raised the threshold for government debt through the issuance of public securities to CFA550 billion. This is CFA200 billion more than the amount in the initial budget law, voted in November 2021.

This measure will further increase the country’s public debt, which is already high although below the 70% of GDP threshold set in the CEMAC region.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Grilled on skewers, dried or used in hair oil: farmers at Bafoussam in western Cameroon are seeking to take the lowly mushroom, grown on agricultural waste, beyond the kitchen.

Fungiculture, or the cultivation of edible mushrooms, is long-developed in the West, while China has become by far the world’s largest producer.

But it remains very rare in Africa, despite the advantages of being almost free and supplying “clean” food by recycling waste.

Cameroonians are particularly fond of mushrooms but have to wait for the rainy season to identify and gather the edible fungi in the wilds of the west-central African country.

In Bafoussam, capital of the Western region and fifth largest city, Jean-Claude Youbi saw an opportunity to exploit, like other small farmers around the nation of 28 million inhabitants.

Youbi grows thousands of oyster mushrooms in a darkened room of the Common Initiatives Group — GIC Champignon — which he launched with associates in Maetur, a district of Bafoussam, four years ago.

“We are in the mushroom house of our GIC,” Youbi announces proudly amid the rows on rows of fungi growing on shelves on agricultural waste packaged in plastic bags.

“Some, like these, have passed the harvest period,” says one of his associates, Patrick Yaptieu, pushing aside a pile of mushrooms which have turned from the desired white colour to a yellowish hue. He then puts the good harvest of the day in bags headed for the GIC shop, near the city centre.

— ‘Corn cobs … and ox blood’ —

The lack of official national data on the production and consumption of mushrooms makes it hard to gain an idea of the market value and extent of the sector.

Activity in the GIC Champignon premises is punctuated by constant comings and goings, while two young trainees in a little side room are shovelling a pile of agricultural residue.

To obtain the soil-free culture, “we mixed corn cobs with nutrients such as bran flour, wheat and ox blood,” explains production manager Brice Nono Djomo.

“We added a fungicide to it to avoid the bad mushrooms,” he says, adding that the effects of this precautionary treatment fade away after two weeks, well before the good crop grows.

Once the substrate mixture is ready, it is sterilised, placed in barrels and heated over a wood fire, then cooled down and placed in the plastic bags. Once the spores are introduced, the bags are placed in the mushroom house, where it takes 30 days to see the first stems appear.

“I was amazed to discover this way of cultivating mushrooms,” says Junior Leogip, a boy of 12 who is devoting his school holidays to do an internship at GIC Champignon.

“I learned to prepare the substrate… I want to know everything,” Leogip adds, his heart set on winning a place in an agricultural college after his baccalaureate.

“My ambition is to launch my own production and be independent,” says Lea Tona, another trainee who comes from Yaounde.

‘Mushroom whisky’

Every three months, the time it takes for a full growth cycle, the business in Bafoussam produces from 300 to 400 kilos (660 to 880 pounds) of mushrooms, 80 percent of which are sold directly to customers to be eaten.

The remainder is transformed into body and hair oils, soap, juice and even a liqueur that Youbi presents as “mushroom whisky”.

In a small laboratory at the GIC, Youbi grinds part of the harvest in a blender to obtain a juice which will be combined with other elements for the range of by-products.

“For beauty oils, we can add snail slime and a perfume to give a pleasant smell,” he says, guarding his secrets close his chest.

“We’re in a promotional phase. For the hair oil, we give boxes to some hairstylists to experiment with.”

“It softens the hair and makes it grow back, it treats dandruff, breakage,” says Josiane Sogo in her hairdressing salon.

Some people prefer simply to taste the fungi.

“I am a very big consumer of mushrooms, especially for their virtues. It is a vegetable meat that helps me steer clear of several risks,” affirms Barthelemy Tchoumtchoua, noting that his skewer is rich in protein and vitamins B2, B3, B5 and D.

Thanks to fungiculture, “we can eat them all year round”, he adds enthusiastically.

Source: AFP

Sustainable development is development efforts which aim at meeting today’s needs and those of future generations without damaging the social, economic, cultural, and physical environments. Indeed, sustainable development is holistic development which is fair and inclusive in the short and long term. 

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals derived from lessons learned from the performances and failures of MDGs. SDGs, as designed by the United Nations, have been designed to guide global development efforts, including those made on the African continent, when performances, challenges, and outcomes get appraised. 

They are great development indicators which should help many countries across the globe to determine if they are making significant development progress. For many decades, Africa has been lagging behind other continents in terms of development and this justifies claims that Africa, the richest continent in terms of natural resources, is indeed the poorest on the face of the earth and these goals may serve as a compass for a continent which has been in the throes of poverty and economic challenges for decades.

Far from being a benchmarking process, sustainable development is a holistic concept designed to address three major growth dimensions namely economic growth, social inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability. These goals include poverty alleviation; zero hunger; ensuring a healthy life and improving the state of well-being; quality education; gender equality and women empowerment, achieve potable water and sanitation, improve modern energy; provision of productive employment, and decent work. 

The SDGs also aim at ensuring resilient and sustainable cities; promoting sustainable consumption and production pattern; combating climate change and its impacts; ensuring sustainable use of water bodies; sustainable use of terrestrial eco-system; promoting peaceful and inclusive societies; and promoting global partnership.

While SDGs are commendable as a compass for global development, the time of their introduction has been questionable. They emerged at a period when the global economy and political landscapes were unstable, unlike the MDGs which were introduced when the global economy was comparatively buoyant and more stable. The global economic and financial context of SDGs has been sluggish and challenging just as the political and policy systems of many regions and nations, including African countries. At the time of their introduction, global financial systems, including the private and public sectors, kicked into a dangerously downward spiral or precarious stagnation, leading to sluggish growth in many African countries.

Despite the goodwill demonstrated at the time the SDGs were introduced, studies and experiences suggest that African countries are lagging behind on the road to achieving the 2030 agenda, given that development finance remains a strategic threat and challenge to achieving SDGs in Africa. Development growth and finance are generally slow and inadequate, and these have significantly and adversely impacted the realization of the 2030 agenda, except in cases where funding from usual and unusual quarters are explored and understood.

Despite several development efforts, poverty and poor infrastructure remain the bane of the continent’s development. Africa’s development prospects continue to be bleak, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where corruption and bad governance have become the norm. This has resulted in many Africans becoming increasingly pessimistic about future development due to aggravated reversed development which has played out on the continent after several successive governments.

Africa’s development efforts have been seriously compromised over the last two years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hit the global economy like a ton of bricks, hurting some key sectors of the African economy, many of which have already experienced a slow-down as a result. Tourism, air transport, and the oil sector have been visibly impacted and the disruptions are still hurting many people across the globe. 

The socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis is real, and it is disrupting global trade, making it hard for the continent to smoothly pursue its journey towards the SDGs. With these disruptions, a paradigm shift is needed if global trade must fully resume to grant the continent the steam it needs to ensure the attainment of the SDGs. However, though devastating, COVID-19 could be an opportunity for the continent. 

It never rains but it pours. While Africa is yet to fully recover from the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has made matters worse for Africa’s development efforts, thereby hampering the continent’s determination to achieve the SDGs.

Within a few weeks, global wheat, sunflower, and crude prices soared to unprecedented levels. Africa is heavily reliant on food imports from both countries, and the continent is already experiencing price shocks and disruptions in the supply chain of these commodities. The conflict has already impacted food security on the continent through availability and pricing in some food crops, particularly wheat and sunflower.

Over the past decade, the continent has seen growing demand for cereal crops, including wheat and sunflower, which has been mainly supported by imports than local production. Africa’s wheat imports increased by 68% between 2007 to 2019, surging to 47 million tonnes. 

Russia and Ukraine, often referred to as the world’s breadbaskets, are major players in the export of wheat and sunflower to Africa. North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia), Nigeria in West Africa, Ethiopia and Sudan in East Africa, and South Africa account for 80 per cent of wheat imports. Wheat consumption in Africa is projected to reach 76.5 million tonnes by 2025, of which 48.3 million tonnes or 63.4 % is projected to be imported outside of the continent.

With the disruption of global trade by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, it is obvious that Africa will not be reaching the finish line in 2030. Inflation and scarcity have expanded inequalities on the continent and women are among the hardest hit. Diminishing incomes on the continent imply poverty will gain more ground and gender equality and food security will remain slogans for a very long time, making it hard for the continent to fair well with regard to the 2030 Agenda.  

By Tabe Joan Manyi in Yaoundé

An IMF team was recently in Cameroon to share economic perspectives with the country’s authorities. As part of the visit, the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with the country’s authorities on the economic and financial policies which could support the approval of the Second Review of the program under the ECF and EFF arrangements. The agreement is subject to approval of the IMF Executive Board in late July 2022, which would enable the disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$73.6 million).

According to the IMF, economic growth slowed to 0.5 percent in 2020 affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and security tensions in the region. Growth rebounded in 2021 and reached 3.6 percent for the year, supported by a domestic recovery and the general global economic recovery. Inflation for the year averaged 2.3 percent and the current account deficit (including grants) widened to 4.0 percent of GDP.

According to the global development finance institution, Cameroon’s economic outlook for 2022 remains positive and the economy is expected to grow by 3.8 percent. However, the outlook is clouded with considerable uncertainty arising from the sharp increase in international commodity prices—especially for oil, fertilizer, and foodstuffs—accentuated by the war in Ukraine, and tightening conditions in international financial markets. Average inflation is expected to rise to 4.6 percent, while higher oil export receipts should further improve the current account deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP. The authorities are committed to a fiscal policy anchored on a gradual reduction of the deficit and are revising the budget to maintain the deficit (cash basis, including grants) at 2.5 percent of GDP—much the same as in the original budget. This should bring the stock of public debt down to around 44 percent of GDP by end-2022.

It added that the impact of higher international oil prices on the budget is mixed as the higher oil revenues are more than offset by substantially higher fuel subsidies (estimated at 2.9 percent of GDP from 0.5 percent in 2021) aimed at maintaining the administered retail fuel prices unchanged. The higher subsidy costs are therefore being accommodated by reducing other spending, including spending on investment projects. The high cost of fuel subsidies would be difficult to sustain under current international oil price projections. However, the gradual phasing out of fuel subsidies would need to be accompanied by a substantial scaling-up of the social cash transfer mechanism.

The team shared the authorities’ concern with the rise in food prices and welcomed the authorities’ effort to ensuring adequate supplies of fertilizer so that the next harvest will be plentiful.

Also, the medium-term outlook remains positive, though facing considerable uncertainties. The economic strategy remains focused on rebuilding fiscal and external buffers to sustain macroeconomic stability. At the same time, the pace of structural reform needs to be accelerated for the country to meet its development goals. The business environment needs to be improved for the private sector to take the lead role in supporting growth. The team welcomed the authorities’ continued efforts to improve public financial management and governance, including the accountability of budget execution. The team also welcomed the authorities’ efforts to strengthen the financial management of state enterprises, including recent progress on SONARA’s restructuring. The completion of key infrastructure projects, especially for energy and transport, should boost economic growth and support the replacement of imported with domestically produced goods.

The IMF team acknowledged the authorities’ commitment to implementing policies consistent with the stability of the region’s monetary arrangement, which includes rebuilding foreign exchange reserves at the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). To this end, the authorities are working to strengthen compliance with the foreign exchange regulations notably regarding the repatriation of export earnings, while not impeding legitimate payments overseas.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde