Business

10, July 2020

French Cameroun: Dion Ngute to open up Camair-Co to private capital in 2021 ⁰

Joseph Dion Ngute, the Prime Minister of Cameroon, has told the Ministry of Finance to open up ailing state-run companies to the capital and management of the private sector next year, the African economic news agency Ecofin reported.

During a special cabinet meeting held to examine the budget and economic plan for the period 2021 to 2023, the prime minister presented guidelines to finance minister Louis-Paul Motazé on the viability of certain public companies in need of fresh financing.

Neither official named the enterprises concerned, but according to the 2019 report of the country’s Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public Enterprises (Commission Technique de Réhabilitation des Entreprises du Secteur Public et Parapublic), a number of companies are in need of private capital and the comparative dynamism that comes with private management.

The report named Camair-Co (QC, Douala) as being one of them, alongside the National Refining Company (Sonara), the Cameroon Aluminium Company (Alucam), chemicals giant Cicam, the Chantier Naval shipyards, and the national telecommunications and postal services.

The prime minister instructed the finance minister to prioritise partnerships “by identifying those public enterprises whose capital can be opened to the private sector to relieve the public treasury and increase their performance,” a statement released after the meeting said.

Presenting the main points of the 2021-2023 plan before the parliamentary budget committee on July 5, Motazé explained that to remedy the unsustainable outflow of state revenue and avoid over-indebting the country, “public enterprises may be subject to measures aimed at improving their productivity and profitability,” as this would “help the state to increase its budget revenue, improve its job provision performance, and boost economic activity in the sectors in which these enterprises operate.”

Source: Ch-aviation.com

8, July 2020

ICC opens new representative office in Cameroon ⁰

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has established a new presence in Cameroon, building on the organisation’s regional focus in Africa.

On 23 June, ICC’s World Council approved the opening of a new regional office (known as a national committee) in Cameroon. ICC Cameroon, which is located in Douala, works in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Artisans of Cameroon. The new office is led by Perrial Jean Nyodog, as Chair, and Ebenezer Njanga, as Secretary General. Mr Nyodog is also the CEO of Tradex, which trades in oil and oil by-products, while Mr Njanga is also the CEO of the Free Market Foundation of Central Africa.

John W.H. Denton AO said: “We’re pleased to welcome ICC Cameroon to our growing community of regional offices around the world. As Cameroon is a critical economy in Central Africa, ICC Cameroon will equip local businesses – both large and small – with the expertise required to address emerging challenges and forge long-term solutions for the future.”

The opening of ICC Cameroon is the latest step in ICC’s regional expansion in Africa. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Denton convened a landmark Sub-Saharan Africa action group that brought together participants from close to 20 African countries to discuss a wide variety of regional issues, including operationalising the African Continental Free Trade Area. This past week, ICC joined the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and other partner organisations to launch a major survey to understand the unique challenges faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in least-developed countries (LDCs), such as Burkina Faso.

ICC Cameroon will add to the success of these regional initiatives, by strengthening dialogue with regional, continental and international business communities. Local commissions and working groups are being created by ICC Cameroon in the following areas: arbitration and law; banking and finance; e-Commerce and digital economy; energy and environment; intellectual property; international trade; marketing and communication; and transport and logistics.

Mr Njanga, ICC Cameroon’s Secretary General, said that his team is well positioned to strengthen commercial relations between Central African businesses and ICC’s global network of over 45 million companies. “ICC Cameroon is looking forward to working with the ICC Global Headquarters in Paris and with ICC offices and members around the world to bring the perspective of Cameroonian businesses to ICC’s policies and standards for global trade,” said Mr Njanga. “This partnership will strengthen ties between Cameroon and the international business community, which will lead to improved development opportunities for all.”

Mr Njanga also noted the timeliness of the announcement as the world continues to respond to the economic and social consequences of COVID-19. “ICC Cameroon’s action plan includes activities that will allow companies to efficiently tackle challenges and issues that negatively impact international trade – and more urgently – give support to Cameroon and the business community in our ongoing response against COVID-19.”

With the addition of Cameroon, ICC now operates national offices in 90 countries worldwide. ICC Cameroon becomes the latest national committee since ICC Vietnam, which opened in November 2019.

Culled from International Chamber of Commerce

3, July 2020

Victoria Oil & Gas terminates sales agreement with Biya regime after payment failures ⁰

Energy company Victoria Oil & Gas said it had terminated a gas sales agreement in Cameroon after state-backed buyer ENEO Cameroon was unable to make payments.

ENEO was majority owned by London-based investment company Actis, which had a 51% stake, with the Cameroon government owning 44% and its employees owning the remaining 5%.

Victoria Oil & Gas, through subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun, had been supplying natural gas to ENEO’s Logbaba power plant since 2015 ‘despite ENEO’s poor payment record’, it said.

ENEO’s debt stood at $16m, or $9m net to Gaz du Cameroun, at the end of June.

Gaz du Cameroun served a default notice on ENEO on 2 June that included a 30-day remedy period.

‘As we have reached the expiry of this remedy period, Gaz du Cameroun has no alternative but to terminate the gas supply agreement with immediate effect,’ Victoria Oil & Gas said.

‘The company will now rigorously pursue this unpaid debt via the legal channels available to it, including a penalty payment of three months’ fees as a result of termination as per the signed term sheet.’

Source: Sharesmagazine

3, July 2020

MTN Appoints New CEOs in Cameroon and Benin ⁰

MTN has appointed new CEOs for two of its West African operations, MTN Cameroon and MTN Benin. Stephen Blewett, the current CEO of MTN Benin, will take the helm at MTN Cameroon on 1 August 2020 when Uche Ofodile, the current CEO of MTN Liberia, will become the CEO of MTN Benin.

“I would like to congratulate Stephen and Uche on their appointments,” says MTN Group president and CEO, Rob Shuter. “Both are renowned for harnessing the power of people to move businesses forward. This is evident in the significant improvements in employee engagement, as well as overall performance, at MTN’s operations in Benin and Liberia in the past few years.”

Karl Toriola, VP for MTN’s West and Central Africa region, thanked Stephen and Uche for their commitment and contribution: “Under Stephen’s leadership, MTN Benin recorded double-digit revenue growth for three years running. Uche leaves a business with double-digit year-on-year revenue growth, enjoying a nine-point market share improvement against its competitor.”

Stephen has led MTN Benin, an operation of 5,5 million subscribers, for five years. He replaces Hendrik Kasteel, who left the group in March. Since then, MTN Cameroon CFO Ebenezer Bodylawson has been acting CEO, steering the operation of more than 10 million subscribers.

Source: itnewsafrica

24, June 2020

African Development Bank approves EUR 88 million loan to Cameroon to finance COVID-19 response ⁰

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) on Monday approved a EUR 88 million loan to Cameroon as direct budget support to finance the country’s COVID-19 crisis response.

The loan, to the country’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Budget Support Programme (PABRC), falls under the framework of the Bank’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF) of up to $10 billion, the institution’s main channel to cushion African countries from the economic and health impacts of the crisis.

In Cameroon, the pandemic has revealed the structural weaknesses of the country’s health system and economy, particularly the limited human and financial resources allocated to the health sector.

The PABRC’s goal is to check the spread of the coronavirus, to save lives and to mitigate its adverse socio-economic effects on the Central African country, particularly on households and businesses. The programme also involves longer-term actions to build the resilience of the economy as a basis for recovery.

It will support the implementation of a health response plan to improve testing and ensure early detection and rapid management of the virus, thus reducing case fatality and improving the recovery rate. It will also support the most vulnerable in society by paying family allowances to staff of companies unable to pay social security contributions as well as distributing health kits.

“Women play a key role in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 as wives, mothers, caregivers and community resource persons. The social protection and economic resilience actions under this support will particularly target women and the households and businesses headed by them,” Bank Acting Director General and Country Manager for Cameroon, Solomane Kone said.

Measures to sustain economic activity and safeguard employment will include value-added tax (VAT) credits to restore the cash position of enterprises as well as procuring inputs to support strategic agricultural value chains including poultry, fish, seeds and cereals. It will also support key small and medium-sized enterprises in the agribusiness, health and education sectors.

This operation complements the Bank’s $13 million special emergency project for Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa(CEMAC) member countries and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which was approved earlier this month.

COVID-19 has broken out at a time when the Cameroonian economy, the largest and most diversified in the Central Africa, is recovering from the 2014 shock caused by a sharp fall in the world prices of the country’s main export products – oil, cocoa and timber. Without support, the spread of COVID-19 in Cameroon could compromise the reform drive and jeopardise the progress made in recent years.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Cameroon was identified on 6 March 2020. By 22 June, the Central African country had more than 12,041 confirmed cases, including 308 deaths and 7,740 recoveries. The Centre (Yaoundé) and Littoral (Douala) Regions have the highest number of cases, representing about 55.8% and 32.2% of the total, respectively.

Source: APO Group

18, June 2020

Biya regime implements new e-customs system ⁰

Cameroon has rolled out the Cameroon Customs Information System (CAMCIS), a fully-automated electronic customs clearance system to reduce face-to-face engagement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAMCIS was built by Korean engineers and is the result of a 12-year-old public-private partnership said Edwin Fongod Nuvaga, Director General of Customs.

The system is modelled on UNI-PASS, used by the Korea Customs Service, and designed to handle large volumes of data, fully automate processes and procedures as part of a paperless system.

According to customs officials CAMCIS replaces the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA ++) which has been in use in Cameroon since 2007.

Speaking at the recent launch of CAMCIS, Louis Paul Motaze, Cameroon’s Minister of Finance said the new system will significantly improve the business environment and spur profitability in the private sector by saving time and money.

The Minister highlighted the system’s operational speed, and said it will simplify import and export procedures and offer more security in the collection of customs revenue.

Customs duties and taxes are a key source of income for the government and in 2019 accounted for 14.3%.

“It is estimated that with CAMCIS, we would save a maximum number of days for our operations. Also, it will be possible to carry out customs clearance operations within one day after the validation of papers,” reads a statement issued by Cameroon Customs.

Séraphin Deffo Deffo, Chief Information Officer of CAMCIS, said the new system will guarantee traceability of all transaction, prevent fraud and corruption, enhance proper control of goods on transit, fasten procurement of customs duties and taxes, amongst others.

CAMCIS can be accessed and operated remotely using any digital device with a browser and an internet connection. It has three portals accessible to customs administration, economic operators and the general public.

Source: itweb.Africa

6, June 2020

Biya regime reduces its 2020 budget by over CFA542 bln ⁰

As expected, Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya, signed an ordinance amending the 2020 Finance Law on June 3, 2020. This supplementary budget act reduced the initial budget by 11% or XAF542.7 billion in absolute terms.

According to the Presidential ordinance of June 3, 2020, which will be submitted to and probably adopted by Parliament during the ordinary session which opens on 10 June, the State’s 2020 budget falls from XAF4,951.7 billion to XAF4,409 billion.

Apart from this drastic reduction of the previous budget, the other major fact of this amended budget -following the coronavirus pandemic that is raging throughout the world- is the creation of a special trust fund called “Fonds spécial de solidarité nationale pour la lutte contre le coronavirus et ses répercussions économiques et sociales” (Special National Solidarity Fund for the fight against the coronavirus and its economic and social repercussions).

According to official sources, this Fund, financed by contributions from development partners as well as individuals and companies, will be endowed with CFAF180 billion for the second half of 2020.

In addition to taking care of Covid-19 patients and strengthening the health system (CFAF 58.7 billion), strengthening research and local production of pharmaceutical products (CFAF 8.1 billion), this Fund will dedicate CFAF 98.7 billion to economic and financial resilience actions, and CFAF 14.5 billion to social resilience.

According to internal sources at the Ministry of Finance, the last two budgeted funds mentioned above relate to the various support measures already taken or to be taken by the government to support Cameroonian enterprises and households in the face of the ravages caused by the pandemic.

The third major fact in the amended budget of June 3, 2020, is that all the initial allocations of public administrations have been revised downwards. The administrations concerned include the Presidency of the Republic, whose envelope has been cut by about CFAF15 billion, according to a credible source. Only three institutions escaped these budget cuts. They are the National Assembly, the Senate, and Elections Cameroon, the body in charge of organizing elections. The latter is actively preparing the first regional elections in the history of Cameroon. These elections are scheduled for October 2020.

Culled from Business in Cameroon

1, June 2020

UN agency recommends health guidelines for airlines ⁰

Mask wearing, temperature controls, disinfection of aircraft: the International Civil Aviation Organization on Monday published a series of health recommendations for a pandemic-hit airline industry as it relaunches air travel.

The protocol was drawn up by an international task force formed by the Montreal-based ICAO with the help of other UN agencies like the World Health Organization and the powerful International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Its report on relaunching aviation in the wake of COVID-19 was expected to be approved Monday by the ICAO’s executive committee.

The changes being suggested are the most important for air travel since the massive security measures put in place after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

IATA’s director general, Alexandre de Juniac, unveiled the main measures proposed in the “best practices” guide at the end of last week.

The recommendations are intended to serve as a “framework” for assuring the safety of passengers and workers on planes and at airports.

On their arrival at airports, travelers should present a health certificate and undergo an initial temperature check, under the guidelines.

Online check-in before arriving at the airport should be given priority, and passages through security should be re-thought to limit physical contact and waiting in lines.

The wearing of a mask or face covering should be obligatory inside aircraft and terminals, where physical distancing of at least three feet (one meter) should be respected.

Aboard planes, passengers should wear masks, move as little as possible within the cabin, and not line up outside toilets to lessen the risk of infecting other passengers.

– ‘Global reference’ –

But the ICAO does not advocate leaving every other seat open to assure physical distancing, a restriction that the airline industry industry sees as a threat to its profitability.

The organization, nevertheless, asks passengers to remain as far from one another as possible, to the extent occupancy rates allow it.

It also advocates that food on board be pre-packaged and that aircraft be regularly disinfected.

Temperature checks should also be taken on a flight’s arrival, according to the recommendations.

The measures aren’t obligatory but they are the product of a broad consensus that imparts “an authority that will make them a global reference for the first time on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Philippe Bertoux, France’s representative on ICAO’s board, which led the “task force” debate.

“These measures will facilitate a safe and sustainable return of the air travel,” Bertoux told AFP.

To reopen after having been grounded for months and brought to its knees financially, the airline industry is pressing for rules to be harmonized to reassure passengers and states that have closed their borders in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

The ICAO estimates that the pandemic will reduce the number of air passengers by 1.5 billion by the end of the year.

Source: AFP

28, May 2020

Coronavirus Crisis: Boeing cutting more than 12,000 US jobs, thousands more planned ⁰

Boeing Co (BA.N) says it is eliminating more than 12,000 US jobs as the largest American planemaker restructures in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Boeing also disclosed it plans “several thousand remaining layoffs” in coming months but did not say where those would take place.

Boeing is slashing costs as a sharp drop in airplane demand during the pandemic worsened a crisis for the company whose 737 MAX jet was grounded last year after a second fatal crash.

Boeing said it restarted 737 MAX production at a “low rate” at its Renton, Washington factory. Reuters reported in April that regulatory approval for the MAX was not expected until at least August.

Boeing shares closed up 3.3% at $149.52, then rose another 4.6% to $155.84 after hours on news of the MAX production restart.

The company announced in April it would cut 10% of its worldwide workforce of 160,000 by the end of 2020. Boeing said Wednesday 5,520 US employees will take voluntary layoffs, and also disclosed it was notifying 6,770 workers of involuntary layoffs.

Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told employees in an email the “pandemic’s devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices. … I wish there were some other way.”

CFRA analyst Colin Scarola upgraded Boeing to buy and raised his price target to $174 from $112 saying Boeing “can weather its current crises and grow over the long term.”

In April, Boeing recorded zero orders for the second time this year and customers canceled another 108 orders for the 737 MAX, compounding its worst start to a year since 1962.

Last month, Boeing raised $25 billion in a bond offering that allowed it to avoid taking government aid.

The job cuts include more than 9,800 employees in Washington State. Boeing said the “several thousand remaining layoffs will come in additional tranches over the next few months.”

Boeing said it expects to resume 737 MAX deliveries in the third quarter following regulatory approvals before gradually increasing to 31 per month during 2021.

The aerospace sector has been hard hit including many Boeing suppliers.

General Electric Co (GE.N) said this month it planned to cut its aviation unit’s global workforce this year by as much as 25%, or up to 13,000 jobs. SpiritAero Systems Holdings (SPR.N) announced it is cutting another 1,450 jobs in Kansas.

American Airlines to cut management, support staff by 30%

American Airlines Group Inc must reduce its management and support staff by about 30% and may have to cut frontline employees as it downsizes due to the coronavirus outbreak, showed a letter to employees made public on Wednesday.

All major US airlines have said they will need to shrink in the fall, once US government payroll aid that bans involuntary job cuts expires on Sept. 30.

Competitor United Airlines Holdings Inc has also said it will need to reduce its management and administrative staff by about 30%.

Despite the bailout and other liquidity raises, American must “plan for operating a smaller airline for the foreseeable future,” Executive Vice President of People and Global Engagement Elise Eberwein said in the letter.

American, with over 100,000 employees, will offer voluntary options before implementing involuntary reductions if there is not enough take-up, she said.

Once it has reduced its management ranks, the company will turn to frontline employees including flight attendants and pilots, who will receive fresh voluntary leave and early retirement options in June with the aim of avoiding involuntary furloughs.

“This is a goal, though, not a commitment, and a stretch goal at that,” Eberwein said, adding the company will be working with unions in coming weeks and months.

American has said it is accelerating fleet retirement and expects to fly roughly 100 fewer aircraft in the summer of 2021. Nearly 40,000 employees have already opted for temporary voluntary leave or early retirement.

Earlier, American Chief Executive Doug Parker said the airline hoped to avoid furloughs and rejected speculation that it or another major US carrier will have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to the coronavirus crisis.

(Source: Reuters)

23, May 2020

58 years of annoying Ambazonians: Biya regime awards toll project to French firms ⁰

The French companies RAZEL-BEC (FAYAT Group) and Egis projects are to work on a road tolling project in Cameroon. The two firms signed a €230 million PPP contract for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of 14 road toll plazas in the country.

The two companies have established TOLLCAM in Cameroon for the purposes of this contract, in which they hold equal stakes. Through TOLLCAM, RAZEL-BEC and Egis signed a partnership contract with Cameroon’s Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Finance for the project

Cameroon-based TOLLCAM is a 50:50 subsidiary of RAZEL-BEC and Egis and will be in charge of the execution of this contract over a period of 20 years. This project is of note as it will provide Cameroon with modern and secure toll facilities on its road network.

The works to build the new tolling facilities will start as soon as the financing is in place and are anticipated to be completed in 2022.

The operation and maintenance of the toll facilities will then be carried out by TOLLCAM, while the tariff policy remains the responsibility of the State of Cameroon.

Source: World highways.com