Business

23, January 2019

China Waives A Year’s Worth Of Cameroon Debt ⁰

China says it has written off almost $78m (£60m) from Cameroon’s debt as part of measures to ease economic hardship in the central African nation, but analysts say it is a play for greater access to resources.

The debt relief announcement was made on Friday shortly after a meeting between President Paul Biya and Yang Jiechi, a special representative of China’s President Xi Jinping.

Cameroon’s total debt burden to China stands at almost $5.7bn (£4.4bn), according to figures from the Autonomous Sinking Fund, the public entity that manages Cameroon’s external debt.

The sum of $78m that has been wiped is money that should have been paid in 2018, but which Cameroon failed to pay.

Instead, the country’s president flew to China for the third Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation in September and pleaded with Chinese authorities to ease Cameroon’s debt burden.

Cameroonian economist Ariel Gnitedem says the amount cancelled looks paltry in comparison with the total debt, and says it could actually be for China’s long-term benefit.

“China wants to control the sub-regional market and Cameroon is the gateway,” he told the BBC.

“It is possible they also want a greater share in the enormous natural resources in Cameroon which are essential to feed its home industries.”

Cameroon has been contracting loans from China to build dams, roads, hospitals and other infrastructure.

Source: BBC

22, January 2019

Yaounde, Beijing Look to Improve Ties Amid Miners’ Tensions ⁰

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s special representative was in Cameroon this weekend to improve relations between the two countries. Trade and security ties have steadily grown between Beijing and Yaounde. But tensions between Cameroonian and Chinese miners has given China a bad name

When Cameroonian President Paul Biya hosted China’s special representative Yang Jiechi on Friday, both men had nothing but good things to say.

Biya welcomed China’s Belt and Road Initiative – Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar plan to connect Asia, Europe and Africa.

Yang said bilateral relations had reached a new starting point with important development opportunities.

When asked by VOA about the common belief that Chinese are exploiting Cameroon, Yang called it a misunderstanding. He said Cameroon and China need to work closely to make their people realize that they stand to benefit a lot.

But while Yang visited the capital, about 60 Cameroonian miners protested outside a Chinese-run gold mining operation in the village of Ngoura. The miners there have blocked access to the site since Thursday.

Protesting miner Patrice Wouyou said their Chinese competition exploits and destroys Cameroon’s natural resources.

He said Chinese miners violate Cameroon laws, which prohibit mining on river beds, swampy areas and waterfalls. They will keep this mining site closed, he said, until the government forces the guilty (Chinese) miners to face justice.

Protest leader Rigobert Ngom said the Chinese bribe corrupt Cameroon officials to overlook their code violations. He said they also lure teenagers out of school to dig for gold.

Ngom said he is surprised that the government gives mining licenses to the Chinese when there are qualified Cameroonians who own mining enterprises and are ready to industrialize their country.

But while mining remains a contentious issue, Cameroon’s Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development disputes the notion that China simply exploits.

China is Cameroon’s primary investor, according to the ministry, putting more than $400 million per year into the country’s roads, dams, telecommunications, stadiums and housing projects.

Critics note much of the investment goes toward accessing Cameroon’s natural resources, while the country is at growing risk of debt distress.

But ministry spokesman Alamine Ousman Mey said China is beginning to offer more help than in the past.

Beijing in November, he noted, gave Yaounde aid equal to $3 million dollars to help people displaced by Cameroon’s separatist crisis in English-speaking regions.

“We are very pleased that our partners like China are offering humanitarian support up to 1.8 billion CFA and material. We have signed a letter of exchange to supply to these two [Anglophone] regions.”

China’s special envoy Yang during his visit announced the cancellation of about $5 million of Cameroon’s debt as well, though the remaining amount owed was not clear.

VOA

19, January 2019

Douala International Airport embarks on new solar scheme ⁰

A new ground-mounted 1.2MW solar installation at Cameroon’s Douala International Airport has been put into operation to help reduce the CO2 emissions produced by aircraft during ground operations. Aircraft currently use jet fuel based auxiliary power units (APUs) or diesel-driven ground power units (GPUs) to provide pre-conditioned air and electricity to aircraft during ground operations.

Though its new solar installation, Douala Airport will now be eliminating at least 2,575 tonnes of CO2 from over 5,100 flights annually, based on the more than 5.5 million kWh per year it is projected to generate. As a demonstration of its engagement to the project, the Government of Cameroon funded the purchase of airport gate electric equipment to be connected by the newly installed solar park.

Simulation is a key assessment technique in air traffic control used for training programs and for the validation of new concepts. Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe, Minister of Transport of Cameroon, said: “With this solar facility at Douala International Airport, Cameroon advances the modernisation of its energy sector by using renewable energy to reduce green-house gases emissions and protect the environment. The Government of Cameroon is determined to continuing the implementation of tangible actions for a more sustainable aviation.”

Jane Hupe, ICAO Deputy Director Environment, said: “Sustainable development and climate change continue to be critical issues for the international community, and this latest commitment by Cameroon is a great example of the concrete actions which can be implemented as part of a broader air transport environmental strategy. ICAO expects to see many other countries replicating these cost effective and emissions reducing solar-at-gate solutions.”

The new “Solar-at-Gate” pilot project is the third such initiative implemented by ICAO, and the second to be realised in Africa following on recent installations in Jamaica and Kenya. The installations are part of a longer-term Capacity Building for CO2 Mitigation from International Aviation assistance programme which ICAO has been carrying out, with funding support from the European Union. It provides direct assistance to 12 African and two Caribbean region States.

Mr. Steven Rault, Chief of Programmes of the EU Delegation in Cameroon, commented: “The construction of the solar photovoltaic system at Douala International Airport shows the results achieved by the ICAO-EU partnership on the environment, in which the authorities of Cameroon have been actively participating. By funding such initiatives, the EU wants to contribute to the sustainable development of the international aviation.”

Source: International airport review

19, January 2019

Camtel reveals it has sacked 50 employees ⁰

State-own telephone network service provider Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel) has reportedly fired 50 of its employees, including administrative, commercial and technical staff. According to an official statement by the company, Judith Yah Achidi Achu, General Manager of Camtel, made this decision based on recommendations of a disciplinary committee established to evaluate the cases of the concerned workers on an individual basis.

Details are sketchy at this point, but a source at Camtel said that the GM is believed to have ordered an internal audit to investigate and identify specific HR issues. These include employees who have secured employment using fake certificates or who have earned undue bonuses, or whose salary does not match their qualifications.

The latest development has occurred while the company’s new management is attempting to rejuvenate the beleaguered corporation. Specifically, the intention is to address financial difficulties including debt and the result of inability to recover substantial amounts owing.

According to a report released by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in August 2018, Camtel had 3,634 permanent staff across the country, a figure which has been on the rise since 2006. There is speculation that more jobs could be lost as the audit progresses. The company provides landline connectivity services and CDMA, and plans to incorporate GSM going forward.

Source: itwebafrica

14, January 2019

Chad, Central African Republic Threaten to Abandon Douala Port, Blame Corruption ⁰

Landlocked Chad and the Central African Republic have dispatched senior customs officials to Cameroon to look into allegations of corruption in the Atlantic Coast port of Douala.

At the port, heavy equipment is excavating and relocating huge quantities of abandoned material at the Douala seaport.

Some of the containers, with vehicles and other goods destined for Cameroon, Chad and CAR, were abandoned by importers who complain that high levels of corruption, red tape and overpriced services are driving them away from one of Africa’s largest harbors.

Shipping containers are stacked up, Jan. 10, 2019, at the port of Douala, Cameroon.

Pay and pay again

Moise Vokeng of the Professional Transporters Network at the Douala seaport says importers and exporters are looking for alternatives.

“When you arrive at the port and at any checkpoint, from gendarmes to police to customs, you have to pay money, you have to pay heavy money, you do not know why you pay but you must pay before you pass,” Vokeng said.

“Whether you enter with empty trucks or you are loaded, you have to pay. When we load we have to wait for the tracking equipment from the customs to be certain and when it is certain we have six hours to leave the seaport to Yassa, which is the first checkpoint. When you arrive at the checkpoint after six hours you have penalties to pay,” he added.

Vokeng says clearing procedures are long and cumbersome because of degraded infrastructure and lack of investment. He says to take a car out, an importer needs no fewer than 25 stamps before paying $2,000 to customs officials for a 5- to 10-year-old car. He says to remove a car from the port at times takes two to three weeks.

Yaya Abdallah, a Chadian driver finally leaves the port. He says corruption is not only a problem inside the port, it stalks drivers on the road as well. He says Chadian and CAR drivers say Cameroon’s military and police harass them and drivers pay huge sums of money, which makes their businesses highly unprofitable.

He says they spend more than $300 to bribe gendarmes and police between Douala and Ndjamena, and no one seems to listen to them when they complain.

Cameroon gendarmes in Bertoua, east Cameroon, control vehicles on the way to the Central African Republic, Jan. 5, 2019.

Officials deny bribe-taking

But Ngube Philomene, a senior official of the Cameroon military controlling traffic between Cameroon and Chad and Cameroon and CAR, says that because of insecurity, they have to control the trucks. She denies they collect bribes from drivers.

“We are systematically controlling all vehicles to CAR and Chad because of insecurity and the crisis in CAR. We have to do it for their own security and safety,” Ngube says.

Douala is the nearest ocean gateway for Chad and CAR, but importers and exporters say they are fed up and want to relocate to Cotonou in Benin.

Onana Ndoh, secretary general of the Community of Workers at Douala’s port authority argues, that Cotonou will be more expensive. He says it would be better for the landlocked countries to meet Cameroonian authorities and negotiate improvements.

“The shippers of Central Africa and Chad cannot leave the port of Douala, the shortest way for them to go to the sea,” he said. “I can tell you that the commandant of Gendarmerie in the port has already taken steps to punish all caught in creating complications to shippers.”

Director general of Chad’s customs, Colonel Ousmane Adam Dicki, visited Cameroon, Jan 10, 2018.

This week, Chad’s director of customs, Colonel Ousmane Adam Dicki, visited Cameroon. He says he first wants goods that have been piling up there to be cleared before negotiations on what his country will do next.

He says his country has sent him to take stock of all merchandise and containers destined for Chad, and to control and organize their transit within the shortest possible time.

More than 2,000 containers have been stuck in Douala for the past two months. In the past 30 years, there has been no major investment to expand the port.

Culled from VOA

12, January 2019

Aliko Dangote still Africa’s richest man ⁰

Alhaji Aliko Dangote still maintains his spot as Africa’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine. The magazine disclosed that as at January 11, 2019, the 61-year-old was worth $9.9 billion.

Forbes listed him as the number one on Africa’s list of billionaires for the year 2019. The Kano State indigene has held the richest man tag for the past few years.

He was ranked the 100th richest man in the world in 2018 and number 66 on the Powerful People 2018 list – both released by Forbes.

Forbes put much of Dangote’s wealth to his cement business – the continent’s largest producer straddling most sub-Saharan African countries.

“Dangote Cement produces 44 million metric tons annually and plans to increase its output 33% by 2020. Dangote also owns stakes in publicly-traded salt, sugar and flour manufacturing companies,” Forbes added.

With a fortune estimated at $14.1 billion, the CEO of the Dangote group which has significant business interests in cement production across.

Other billionaires listed:

Behind Dangote is Nigerian oil magnate Mike Adenuga whose wealth was estimated at $9.2 billion. South African Nicky Oppenheimer, Egyptian Nassef Sawiris and Johan Rupert completed the top five with $7.3bn, $6.3 bn and $5.3bn respectively.

The eighth slot had five persons with one of them being Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman whose wealth is estimated at $2.3 billion.

She is daughter to former Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and was at a point during her father’s reign head of state oil company. She was fired by new President Joao Lourenco on allegations of financial impropriety – she flatly denies all the allegations.

Others on the eight slot of the list are Zimbabwean telecoms tycoon Strive Masiwiya and South African mining magnate Patrice Motsepe.

Source: Africa News

20, December 2018

CEMAC countries to harmonize trade laws ⁰

The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has finalized plans to harmonize laws governing trade in the sub-region, Fatima Haram Acyl, vice-president of CEMAC said on Tuesday.

“We are going to harmonize so we make sure that somebody that is trading in Chad, in Cameroon, Central Africa Republic or anywhere in CEMAC actually operates under the same law,” Acyl told reporters as trade ministers and economic experts from the CEMAC sub-region met in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala to adopt a legislation on competition and consumers protection.

She said the intention was to intensify integration in the sub-region that already has a single market and free trade zone.

“The CEMAC is one market. We have the same people, the same currency and free movement of people. So this exercise is very critical,” Acyl said.

The new legislation will attract more foreign investors and erase unhealthy competition and consumer exploitation that has retarded trade development in the sub-region for a long time, according to Acyl.

CEMAC is made up of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea. With a total population of about 37 million, it was established to promote cooperation and exchange among its members.

Source: Xinhuanet

19, December 2018

Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow ⁰

US President Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to proceed with negotiations to construct a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to a new document obtained by CNN. The letter, dated October 28, 2015 and signed by Trump, outlined the intent to build Trump condominiums,a hotel and commercial property in the heart of Moscow, the network reported on Tuesday.

Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani told CNN on Sunday that the document was never signed by Trump. “It was a real estate project. There was a letter of intent to go forward, but no one signed it,” Giuliani told the network’s Dana Bash.

The document is also signed by Andrey Rozov, owner of I.C. Expert Investment Co., the Russian company that would have been responsible for developing the project, the report said. While running for president in 2016, Trump repeatedly told the public that he had”nothing to do with Russia.” He never said that his company explored the business deal with Russia.

The project, which was ultimately canceled, would have given Trump’s company a $4 million upfront fee, a percentage of the sales and oversight over marketing and design. The hotel spa would have also borne the name of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign believe the project could have been lucrative to the president.

US President Donald Trump has renewed his call to end a federal investigation into alleged Russian collusion with his 2016 presidential election campaign.

While the potential Trump Tower deal was on the table, then-candidate Trump was speaking about changing US policy toward Russia and cultivating a relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

Giuliani suggested on Sunday that Trump had conversation with his then-corporate attorney, Michael Cohen, about the project toward the end of the election campaign.

“According to the answer that he gave, it would have covered all the way up to November of — covered all the way up to November 2016,” Giuliani told ABC News.

Source: Presstv

19, December 2018

Southern Cameroons Genocide: IMF announces more money to Biya’s regime ⁰

On December 17 the International Monetary Fund announced more money to Paul Biya’s government, while not answering Inner City Press question about Biya losing the African Cup of Nations on which the IMF relied. The December 17 announcement: “The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the third review of the arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement for Cameroon. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$76.3 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR317.4 million (about US$438.9 million).

In completing the third review, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver for the non-observance of the performance criterion on the ceiling on net BEAC financing and the modification of two performance criteria pertaining to the ceiling on net borrowing of the central government from the central bank, excluding IMF financing, and the continuous performance criterion on new non-concessional external debt contracted or guaranteed by the government.

Cameroon’s three-year arrangement for SDR 483 million (about US$667,8 million, or 175 percent of Cameroon’s quota), was approved on June 26, 2017. It aims at supporting the country’s efforts to restore external and fiscal sustainability and lay the foundations for sustainable, inclusive and private sector-led growth.

Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:

“Cameroon’s performance under its ECF-supported program is broadly satisfactory. Most end-June 2018 targets have been met and structural reforms have advanced, with completion of key delayed financial sector reforms.

“The authorities remain committed to the concerted regional effort to rebuild CEMAC’s fiscal and external buffers. To that end, addressing revenue shortfalls and containing investment spending will be key to reaching the 2018 deficit target. Steadfast implementation of the 2019 budget, including measures to mobilize non-oil revenue by gradually removing exemptions and further spending rationalization will be essential to mitigate the risks from the challenging security situation, increasing commodity price volatility and other shocks to growth.

“Public external debt has increased rapidly in 2018, mainly owing to faster-than-envisaged disbursements of foreign project loans. Strictly limiting new non-concessional borrowing and addressing the stock of contracted but undisbursed loans are essential to maintain debt sustainability. Gradual adjustments in administered prices would help reduce subsidies and restore the financial viability of key public utility companies, while lowering risks from contingent liabilities.

“Financial sector reforms should continue to advance, including effective resolution of ailing banks and reduction of overdue loans. Other structural reforms should focus on tackling governance issues and improving the business environment to support private investment and enhance competitiveness.

Source: Inner Press

13, December 2018

Ambazonians have created their own cryptocurrency ⁰

Increasingly determined and bold separatists seeking the international recognition of the self-proclaimed “Federal Republic of Ambazonia” (Southern Cameroons) have created a crypto-currency which they claim is the first to be fully nation-backed.

Known as AmbaCoin, 20,082 of the Ambazonian crypto bond had already been bought, out of 100,000,000 on pre-sale as of Nov. 10. One AmbaCoin sells for 25 cents (circa 140 CFA franc) and the main initial coin offering of the crypto-currency is scheduled for Dec. 24. It is said to be backed by the “rich natural resources” of the breakaway region.

The AmbaCoin was conceived and built by a group of anonymous Anglophone separatist scholars, technocrats and developers. But it has gained the support of frontline secessionists and separatist movements. When news of the crypto-currency was made public last month, Chris Anu, who has the title secretary of state for communications & IT for the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia”, posted a sample of the crypto-currency bond on his Facebook page and said: “We are getting there folks.”

In the last five decades in Africa, especially in areas where people want to create a country of their own out of another, people have been opting to put their faith in a form of exchange other than a currency which is globally accepted. During the Nigerian civil war (1966-1970), the then self-declared Republic of Biafra adopted the Biafran pound as legal tender, abandoning the Nigerian pound it had been using before ‘independence’.

There is also a plethora of unrecognized countries in the past which came up with currencies in their efforts to be independent. The Katangas in DR Congo came up with their own franc currency in the 1960s, while the Rhodesian pound was the currency of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1970.

A statement on the website of AmbaCoin indicates that plans are already underway for the creation of a traditional fiat currency for “Ambazonia” that will be used to peg the future price of AmbaCoin. The English-speaking separatists will be keen to dissociate themselves from the Central African franc (CFA) which Cameroon uses. Both the Central and West African CFA are linked to France’s national treasury.

There’s also the practical advantage that using a cryptocurrency for now will be out of reach of the Cameroon government.

According to the developers, the biggest challenge faced by the breakaway region is that most of the resources and wealth in the area are controlled by the Francophone-led government of Cameroon, which stifles access to its assets.

“Numerous Ambazonians in the diaspora and other stakeholders who want to see a prosperous Ambazonia, are unable to help provide foreign direct investment to the Governing Council,” Amba Coin developers said. As such, they thought the best way out will be to create a bond, which will be used to raise capital to kick-start the ‘Ambazonian’ economy.

AmbaCoin, with tailored-made features, is an ERC20 crypto-currency which relies on Ethereum as the parent chain. The developers boost of the crypto’s transparency, confidentially and low transaction cost.

The crypto-currency is the latest effort by Cameroon’s Anglophone secessionists to cement the Oct. 1, 2017 symbolic declaration of independence of the “Federal Republic of Ambazonia”. The separatists have in recent times carried arms against the state of Cameroon, enforced a school boycott since October 2016 and a civil disobedience action known as ‘ghost towns’ every Monday.

In addition to the new crypto-currency, ‘Ambazonia’ has an anthem, flag and an interim government, but is yet to be recognized as a nation by any country in the world, unlike the Republic of Biafra which had a short-lived existence but was at one point was formally recognized by Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Haiti, Tanzania and Zambia.

Culled from Quartz Africa