A group of Cameroonian activists demanding secession from the French-speaking regions says it’s considering attacks on foreign companies operating in the central African nation.

The group, which hails from the country’s two Anglophone regions, says it wants to “target foreign companies investing in Cameroon” because their revenues sustain “incompetent officials” in President Paul Biya’s government, according to emailed comments from a spokesman, Chris Anu, on Friday. Anu didn’t specify the nature of the attacks.

Ten leaders of the separatist movement, which refers to the two Anglophone regions as the Republic of Ambazonia, have been held in neighboring Nigeria since Jan. 6 at an undisclosed location, according to their Nigerian lawyer, Femi Falana. Nigeria’s State Security Service has denied knowledge of their detention, he said. Nigerian authorities haven’t yet commented on the issue.

“Abducting our leaders isn’t going to deter us, it will only just spur us the more,” the group said in a statement last week.

Thousands of people have crossed the border into Nigeria and more refugees are expected to arrive in the coming weeks as the Cameroonian government intensifies its actions against the pro-independent movement, the United Nations Refugee Agency said in a Jan. 16 statement. The agency and its Nigerian counterpart, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, officially registered 9,620 asylum seekers by Jan. 12, according to the statement.

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Thousands of cocoa farmers have fled violence between separatists and security forces in Cameroon’s Southwest Region, which grows more than 100,000 tonnes of beans, nearly half of the country’s output, farmers and buyers told Reuters.

They said the clashes could put a dent in output from the world’s fifth largest cocoa producer, which is already seeing production dip compared to last season due to poor weather.

The crisis in Francophone-dominated Cameroon’s minority English-speaking Southwest and Northwest regions has worsened over the past year in reaction to a violent government crackdown on demonstrations by the Anglophones.

The government ordered residents of 16 villages in the region to leave their homes early last month as it launched a military operation against the separatists.

Others have fled on their own, often to larger towns. More than 15,000 have fled to Nigeria, the United Nations refugee agency and Nigerian government officials said on Thursday.

The repression has breathed new life into a once-fringe separatist movement that in October unilaterally declared independence for a breakaway state known as Ambazonia.

“In the beginning, I thought the situation would calm down. But the shooting continued. I abandoned two hectares of cocoa and I fled,” said Peter, a farmer from the village of Kembong who declined to give his surname out of fear of reprisals.

Peter fled Kembong, a stronghold of the independence movement hours after separatists killed four paramilitary gendarmes there last month.

He spoke to Reuters in Mamfe, one of the main towns in the area, where he had sought refuge.

“I’d already dried nine sacks of cocoa. I left everything to flee, even the cocoa pods are still on my plantation,” John Mfor, another farmer, told Reuters.

The Southwest Region is home to Cameroon’s most productive growing zones, producing just under half of the Central African nation’s 230,000 tonnes a year output.

Four farmers, an upcountry buyer and an exporter told Reuters that output from areas affected by the violence had dropped, but gave no figures.

Total cocoa arrivals at the port of Douala, Cameroon’s main export point, were down around 20 percent by mid-December compared to last season, exporters said.

While they said poor weather conditions were largely to blame, they also pointed to the separatist unrest as likely compounding the shortfall.

“Since the start of the crisis, the buyers are afraid to come here. The farmers have fled,” said Etienne Tanyi, an Olam purchasing agent based in the village of Omogoko.

“The cocoa is rotting in the bush.”

Source: Reuters

Chinese investors want to transform the Cameroonian city of Kribi into to the largest seaport in central Africa. But after initial promises of an economic revival in the area, locals feel left out in the cold.

Kribi’s autonomous port is one of the biggestChinese investment projects anywhere in the world. When it finally opens for business, it will be the largest deepwater port in central Africa.

Some 85 percent of the €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) budget for the new harbor project is financed by the Export-Import Bank of China, with the rest falling to the government of Cameroon. The state-run China Harbor Engineering Corporation (CHEC) has been overseeing construction.

Natural resources for China

Cameroon’s government is hopeful the new port will stimulate its economy and provide relief for the harbor at Duala, the country’s most populous city, while also providing dock space for larger ships. China, meanwhile, has its eye on nearby iron reserves, which are to be connected to new road and rail infrastructure.

Investors and government leaders hope Kribi can become Cameroon’s main port for seaborne trade

To build the port, the village of Lolabe had to be destroyed. Unfortunately for its 300 inhabitants, land law in Cameroon is a gray zone. When Yasa peoples founded Lolabe in the early 20th century, they did so without property deeds or administrative permission. Very few of the villagers possessed papers proving they own property. They were given a small amount of money in damages and were then forced to immediately leave their homes for a CHEC-constructed housing development.

Rampant corruption

By 2013, only €22 million of the €36 million that Prime Minister Philemon Yang approved for compensation back in 2010 had been paid out. The other €14 million is alleged to have been embezzled by corrupt politicians.

“Villagers were very optimistic when they heard about the harbor project. We hoped it would bring jobs and improve our lives,” said Theodore Ivaha, Lolabe’s vice village chief. “But for the last couple of years we have just gotten more angry because we are not profiting at all.”

Cameroon Prime Minister Philemon Yang has worked to strengthen ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Although construction has created jobs, they are rarely given to locals, instead going to workers from other parts of Cameroon. Most people in the region, and especially those from villages directly neighboring the harbor, simply do not have the qualifications required to fill them.

Villagers waited in vain for the head of CHEC to visit them in an effort to fill positions — something that is regular practice among French companies operating in the country. But it didn’t happen. Job openings were publicly listed and quickly filled. Many of those Cameroonian workers who relocated to the area are accused by locals of having “stolen” their jobs.

Cultural and physical divide

Cameroonian laborers on the building site have complained about working conditions, while Chinese supervisors have derided the locals’ poor work ethic. Chinese site manager Qiangquang Li likened the endeavor to “looking for gold in the desert.”

Prior to the port project, Kribi was most famous as a beach resort destination

Chinese and local workers at the site are often separated by more than just cultural divides. The roughly 300 Chinese workers in Kribi reside in a closed camp at the harbor, with living quarters, offices, a cafeteria and a Chinese cook. They rarely leave, and there is little if any contact with locals. Local products, contrary to all prior hopes, are largely shunned by the Chinese workers.

“The government should actually mediate between residents and foreign companies, informing them of the wishes and needs of the locals, helping foreign organizations and companies to foster development,” said investigative journalist Christophe Bobiokono. “But many governments in Africa simply fail at that task, so companies cannot count on them.”

That leaves it up to locals and CHEC to create an effective communication platform. The first steps have already been taken. Now locals are hoping that tourism might take off when family members come to visit those Cameroonian workers who relocated here from other parts of the country.

Culled from Deutsche Welle

The Vietnamese Government chief made the point on December 27 in Ha Noi while receiving Cameroon Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella.

The host leader said he was convinced that the visit would contribute to accelerating the bilateral ties and opening up a new chapter in the bilateral relationship, especially when the two sides signed important agreements.

PM Phuc hailed the socio-economic achievements which Cameroon has attained, affirming that Viet Nam always treasures  the traditional ties and hopes to broaden economic ties with Cameroon in accordance with the fine political relations.

The PM praised the close coordination of the two countries at international forums and thanked the Cameroon Government for supporting Vietnam-  invested projects there.

Viet Nam always creates favorable ways for foreign investors to do business, he said.

In reply, FM Lejeune Mbella Mbella said that Cameroon’s Government pays special attention to expanding ties with Viet Nam, which is the reason of his visit.

He said that along with agricultural development, Cameroon is focusing on upgrading infrastructure systems such as roads, ports and airports. The country is also keen on developing energy, information technology and digital economy, he said, expressing his hope to promote partnership with Viet Nam in these fields.

Source: News.Chinhphu

Cameroon Foreign Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella has affirmed that Cameroon hopes to bolster co-operation with Việt Nam in trade, investment, agriculture, education, green energy and telecommunications.

During talks on Wednesday with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Phạm Bình Minh as part of his on-going visit to Việt Nam from December 27-30, Mbella Mbella said that his country is willing to help bridge collaboration between Việt Nam and members of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).

He lauded the effectiveness of Vietnamese-invested projects in Cameroon, including a joint venture between the military telecommunications group Viettel and a local firm, which he described as a symbol of successful co-operation between the two countries.

He proposed greater coordination among localities of the two countries, as well as the organisation of trade promotion programmes and the exchange of training courses and scholarships.

The Cameroon Ministry of External Affairs will ask the President to approve the country’s Ambassador to China to also cover relations with Việt Nam. The ministry will also seek the appointment of a honourary ambassador of Việt Nam in Cameroon, and create favourable conditions for the implementation of joint rice development projects in the form of public-private partnerships.

Minh suggested the two foreign ministries work closely together to accelerate a Việt Nam visit by the Cameroon President in 2018 and conclude negotiations for agreements on investment encouragement and protection and double-tax avoidance, and another deal on co-operation in industry and promoting Việt Nam’s exports to Cameroon.

Minh asked Cameroon to back Vietnamese investors in the country.

Mbella Mbella also met with Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, who affirmed that Việt Nam is willing to share experience in wet rice cultivation and other fields with Cameroon.

Phúc said that Cameroon’s offering of optimal conditions for Vietnamese firms has helped facilitate Vietnamese investment in the country.

Expressing delight at the growing ties between Việt Nam and Cameroon, he declared that Việt Nam always treasures the traditional friendship with the African country and hopes to broaden economic collaboration to match their sound political relations.

For his part, Mbella Mbella said that his country pays special attention to expanding ties with Việt Nam, which is why he visited.

He said that along with agricultural development, Cameroon is focusing on upgrading infrastructure such as roads, ports and airports. The country is also keen on developing energy, information technology and the digital economy, he said, expressing hope that it can partner with Việt Nam in these fields.

Cameroon currently ranks 12th out of 72 destinations for Vietnamese investors, with four projects totalling US$270 million. Two-way trade between the two sides has reached about $200 million, mostly from Việt Nam’s imports.

During Mbella Mbella’s stay, the two countries signed a framework agreement in bilateral co-operation, another on a visa exemption for those holding diplomatic and official passports and a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between the two foreign ministries. — VNS

Source: Vietnam News