Cameroon has joined the list of countries to formally ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, one month to the commencement of trading, the African Union Commission’s (AUC) Trade Commissioner Albert Muchanga announced today.

“The Republic of Cameroon became the 33rd AfCFTA State Party following the deposit of its instrument of ratification this 1st December, 2020,” Ambassador Muchanga said on his Twitter handle.

Cameroon’s decision comes after Lesotho and Tunisia submitted their own instruments on 27 November, leaving only 21 countries yet to ratify the treaty. They are Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Libya. The others are Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

The AfCFTA agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019 after the treaty was ratified by 22 countries — the minimum number required under the treaty — out of the 54 that agreed to be members of the bloc. Eritrea is the only country which has yet to make any commitment to the continental body.

Trading was earlier scheduled to start on 1 July this year but it was postponed for six months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AfCFTA provides the opportunity for Africa to create the world’s largest free trade area with the potential to unite more than 1.2 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development. It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through supporting trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction.

The ECA through its African Trade Policy Centre has been working with the AU to deepen Africa’s trade integration through the effective implementation of the agreement by supporting the AfCFTA ratification process through policy advocacy.

The ECA is also assisting the member-states to develop national strategies for the implementation of the AfCFTA in partnership with the AUC, International Trade Centre (ITC), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and a selection of independent trade experts with the financial support of the European Union (EU).

Source: Modern Ghana

The cost to repair the fire-damaged Sonara refinery in Cameroon is 250 billion Central African francs ($461.8 million).

Even before Sonara has a chance to consider this investment, it must restructure its debt, Cameroon Minister of Water and Energy Gaston Eloundou told parliament on December 1.

The official said that talks were under way with “technical and financial partners who have expressed interest in the reconstruction of this refinery. However, the finalisation of these negotiations depends on the restructuring of Sonara’s large debt,” according to local newspaper Legideon.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reported that Sonara’s debt was 731bn CFA ($1.35bn) as of the end of July. The IMF did say that progress has been made on restructuring.

Sonara became unable to pay its debts following the fire at the Limbe plant in May 2019. This damaged four of the 13 units at the facility. It is not yet clear which companies might be interested in rebuilding the facility, although Russia’s Lukoil has been mentioned.

Debt plans

As of September, local banks holding around one third of the debt had agreed to a process. This is based on a five-year plan of Sonara operating solely as an oil importer, the state providing a letter of comfort for the banks and a new levy to support the refiner.

Cameroon set new product prices in March. These include a 47.88 CFA ($0.09) per litre levy intended to repay Sonara’s debt. The international agency said the new price structure should generate enough revenues to pay the debt.

Should the refiner not be able to complete the restructuring, it would endanger Cameroon’s outlook. The IMF has said the country is at high risk of debt distress. Should Sonara not be able to pay the local banks, this would have a knock on impact on the country’s domestic financing ability.

The IMF also reported that Cameroon was in talks with oil traders, who also hold Sonara debt.

Source: Energy Voice

The city of Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon hosts the largest mall in Central Africa. Already the public is keen on discovering the Douala Grand Mall.

The ultra-modern edifice is built on 40,000 m2 of which 18,000 m2 of commercial space is dedicated to entertainment, leisure and shopping.

“The shops are there, everything is in place. Really, I think it’s great for a first time in Cameroon, especially in Douala in our city. Really, it’s very warm and it’s very good. It really makes me happy’’, Honoré Tcheutchoua, Douala resident said.

Douala Grand Mall, which looks like a museum and an airport, will be home to 160 shops, supermarkets, amusement parks and cinemas. 300,000 visitors are expected every month, according to the promoters’ forecasts. The project cost 122 million euros.

“We are targeting the second phase of this project because phase two, which still includes a hotel and an office space, is still part of the complex. We have estimated that in its overall scope, we will generate around 4,500 direct and indirect jobs in all specialties,” Mathurin Kamdem is the promoter of the Douala Grand Mall.

Wearing a mask is mandatory, as measures are taken to curb spread of Covid-19. And the city municipality has also taken measures to limit environmental pollution due to the tons of waste that could be generated by the activities on this site.

The 2-tier Douala Grand Mall, which combines commerce and entertainment, has thus revolutionized retail trade in Cameroon.

Our Cameroonian correspondent, Lambert Ngouanfo reports that ‘’according to the promoters, this large shopping Centre has enabled the injection of 46 million euros into the local economy, through equipment purchases and payment of services. The Cameroonian State, which supports this project for private economic operators, plans to achieve a filling rate of at least 80% by the end of the year’’.

Source: Africa News

The government of the central African country of Cameroon has announced a strategic merger of Société de développement du Coton (Sodecoton) and Cotonnière Industrielle du Cameroun (Cicam) to boost the country’s cotton textiles industry. The merger is part of the government’s 2020-30 National Development Strategy, which includes revival of the leather sector.

Sodecoton organises the production and marketing of cotton in Cameroon, while Cicam specialises in the manufacture of 100 per cent cotton loincloths and towels.

Within the framework of the National Development Strategy, the government aims to increase the country’s cotton production to 600,000 tons a year by 2025.

The strategy also aims to increase the volume of local cotton use by the domestic industry to 50 per cent by 2030. The cotton will be used for making apparel, particularly sportswear, and is expected to meet around 50 per cent of Cameroon’s clothing demand.

The garments produced using at least 60 per cent of local cotton will be supplied to the military, police and other government departments, according to Cameroon media reports.

With about twenty thousand contracts of employment and a related monthly wage bill of about FCFA 2.5 billion, the crisis in the North West and South West Regions and the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed down on the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC.

While the CDC is struggling to stand on its feet with government support and the willingness of the workers to get back to work, months of unpaid salaries seem to be throwing a spanner in the works.

For a while now, workers in some of the units of the CDC have staged protests decrying the non-payment of accrued salaries. On November 12, workers at CDC’s Bota Engineering yard went on strike, demanding months of unpaid salary.

A day after the protest, Eric Nzegge, Director of Human Resources at the CDC told journalists that the corporation’s management is exploring avenues to pay the workers, but patience is key.

“The General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation is very much concerned about the difficult situation that the workers are going through and CDC strives every other day to ensure that the workers are paid,” The Post quotes Nzegge as saying.

Nzegge said CDC General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie urges workers to exercise a little more patience, given that work is only now resuming, albeit timidly, in most of the corporation’s estates.

Since the Anglophone crisis morphed into an armed conflict in 2017, CDC palm, banana, and rubber plantations were forced to shut down. Gunmen kidnapped workers, maimed others, and went on to destroy CDC installations.

As such, the agro-industrial company has been unable to meet its financial obligations. It has, over the year depended on growing oil palms, rubber, and bananas and then selling its produce. The proceeds then go to pay workers and maintain the corporation. As such, when workers work, the CDC makes money and pays them.

“We are hoping, as work is timidly resuming in most of the estates, that whenever there is money, the workers shall be paid,” Nzegge said. He adds that about a month’s salary was paid to the workers a few weeks back, but understands it may not be enough.

A ‘Statement of Assurance’ from the management of the company states: “Conscious of the ongoing difficulties faced by the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) as a result of the current socio-political unrest in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, acknowledging the fact that ten of our estates are almost entirely shut down, putting over five thousand jobs at risk, we wish to state that, being the sole owner of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the State of Cameroon has duly been informed of the prevailing situation.

“While waiting for the State to provide a lasting solution to the crisis, all workers of the Cameroon Development Corporation are enjoined to remain calm and forward-looking, as management is doing all it takes to ensure that things unfold in their best interest. We are hopeful that the powers that be will do all that is necessary to keep the CDC afloat.”

Culled from Cameroon Info.Net

In October, the government of Cameroon announced a strange new tax as part of its 2019 finance law. The new law states that Customs clearance fees must be paid for mobile phones and tablets shipped into the country,  that this clearance fee is 33% of the cost of whatever phone or tablet shipped into the country.

While import duties are standard fare all over the world, Cameroon’s phone tax differs in two interesting ways. The first and most important distinction is that it allows phone dealers to pass the import duty to the person who buys the device.

The second is that in order to collect the clearance fee, your mobile network provider is authorized to make deductions from your airtime account.

While the new tax appeared strange and unreasonable to Cameroonians and foreign observers, the country’s ministers thought it was innovative.

According to a joint statement of ministers on September 29, “apart from being a means of ensuring a more secure Customs revenue collection process, this innovative method of customs clearance payment is also aimed at enhancing the security of mobile communications in Cameroon.”

The mechanics of Cameroon’s phone tax

The specifics of the new law shows that whenever anyone buys a phone in Cameroon and connects to any network, the network determines if that is the phone’s first ever connection. It does this by detecting the unique IMEI number of every phone.

If the network determines that no clearance fees were made for that particular device, the user of the device gets a message telling them the tax amount owed. You can choose to pay off the tax amount in full or in installments that will be deducted from your airtime.

Another part of the new regulation asks your mobile network to charge you a fee when you download apps. For every app you download, the network deducts a fee of 200 CFA Francs(36 cents).

Declining revenues from phone imports driving new taxes

Despite how absurd the new taxes are, the major reason behind it is the drop in revenue in customs revenue. According to one government communique, “less than 100 million CFA Francs are collected per month out of the approximately 2 billion collected in the 2000s.”

According to the government’s calculations, nearly 4 million telephones are imported into Cameroon per year. For them, that represents a potential of 13 billion FCFA in revenue per year.

By collecting less than 100 million CFA, the government says it is facing a shortfall of nearly 12 billion per year.

How do you solve a revenue shortfall this large? If you’re the Cameroonian government, the answer is to multiply revenues by 2500% within one year.

Unrealistic revenue projections and timelines like this explain the introduction and implementation, on October 15, of the phone tax.

Cameroonians ask government to #EndPhoneTax

When the phone tax went into law on October 15, Cameroonians pushed back. Using the hashtag, #EndPhoneTax, people took to Twitter to show their displeasure.

From October 14, several thousand tweets were posted with the hashtag and some point, #EndPhoneTax was on the list of trending topics on Twitter. Facebook wasn’t left out, as people also pushed back against a policy many considered to be wicked and ill thought out.

Interestingly, it coincided with protests in Nigeria, Congo as well as Namibia from issues ranging from police brutality to gender based violence.

All four countries used social media to press home their positions as well as help the international community understand what they want from their government.In Cameroon, the government has been forced to listen.

Cameroon suspends phone tax

On October 21, following days of online protests, the government of Cameroon said it will be suspending its unpopular phone tax. The country’s President, Paul Biya told Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute to suspend the tax and look into alternative ways of increasing customs revenue.

The President reportedly asked for a more comprehensive plan which he will review. But it is still worth noting that if the government remains wedded to the dream that it will raise customs revenue 2500% in one year, then more absurd policies will be introduced.

For now, Cameroonians will be secure in the knowledge that they have won this round and will be encouraged to push back against bad policies in the future.

Source: Techcabal.com

The International Bank of Cameroon for Savings and Credit (BICEC), a subsidiary of the Moroccan Central People’s Bank (BCP) Group, quadrupled its share capital with new subscriptions of CFAF 37 billion.

After the takeover of BICEC in 2019 by BCP, the new buyer announced the capital increase among the priority measures. With a share capital of 12 billion FCFA at the time, the reference shareholder after acquiring 68.5% of the shares of the French group Banque Populaire et Caisse d’Epargne (BPCE) had opened subscriptions until January 2020, with a view to increasing the share capital to 20 billion FCFA at least.

Following the share issue notice published on December 24, 2019 for the attention of shareholders, BICEC indicated that “releases continue by payment of cash, transfer to the bank account opened for this purpose in the name of BICEC in its books and by offsetting certain receivables due ».

In all likelihood, the extension of subscriptions from January 19 to March 31, 2020 bore fruit, with the issuance of 927,000 new shares with a par value of 40,000 FCFA each. An operation that generated an increase of 37.08 billion FCFA to bring the share capital to 49 billion FCFA specifies a legal announcement published on October 22, 2020.

However, BICEC has not communicated on the new architecture of this shareholder structure. According to reliable information, at the time of the sale of the shares by BPCE last year, the shareholders were as follows: 68.5% for BCP, 17.50% for the State of Cameroon, 7, 50 for various Cameroonian private shareholders, 7.25% for PROPARCO and 5% for Staff.

Source: AlKhaleej Today

Cameroon customs have seized 626 kg of smuggled ivory, amounting to 118 elephant tusks during an operation in Ambam, a subdivision in South region, officials said on Thursday.

The recovery indicated, about 59 elephants had been killed amid reports the smuggler intended to sell the tusks to an international buyer.

State media, Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) reported that the tusks were concealed in a truck that was trafficking the smuggled items from neighbouring, Gabon.

The suspected trafficker was remanded in custody and must appear before justice to answer for his act, according to officials.

It is the largest seizure of smuggled elephant tusks by Cameroon customs in recent years. The seizure came, as the Central African nation struggles to dismantle an international ivory smuggling criminal gang and contain the surge in poaching, officials said.

In Cameroon, the law imposes a fine of 10 million CFA francs (about 16,512 U.S. dollars) or a period of imprisonment of up to three years on whoever unlawfully imports, exports, re-exports or markets wild animals or their trophies and remains.

Source: Xinhuanet

Earlier this week (Oct. 19) in Cameroon, president Paul Biya ordered the deferment of the collection, by digital means, of custom duties and taxes on imported phones and other electronic devices. A new automated system for the collection had been scheduled to go operational on Oct. 15.

But the move sparked widespread outrage, especially online with the hashtag #EndPhoneTax, in a country where manifestation of dissent can easily spiral into violence. The pressure was enough to push the government to halt the tax collection system which would have undoubtedly shifted the burden of payment from the importer to the end user.

It is important to note the customs duties and taxes on phones, which stand at 33% of their factory price, as well as a 200 CFA francs (36 cents) tax on app download, have not been scrapped. The levies have merely been suspended over the lack of an appropriate collection mechanism. The Biya government remains keen on recapturing this tax revenue.  It says the government has been missing out on about $21.5 million annually to irregular customs clearance and phone smuggling.

It is not only in Cameroon where citizens have been pushing back at attempts to raise tax revecnue through one of the few successful and growing industry sectors on the continent.

Source: Quartz Africa