Government now has a mirror to its 2017 budget. The traditional circular that gives guidelines for the preparation of the State budget is out, with President Paul Biya stressing the continuous implementation of the three-year emergency plan, smooth preparations for the 2019 African Cup of Nations, the operationalisation of the “Special Youth” emergency plan and the strict supervision of people affected by cross–border insecurity.

The circular comes as the country entered the second triennium (2016-2018) programme-based budget, with the executive directives hinging on government priorities and commitments that are aligned to the country’s long term development objectives contained in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP). Government seeks the acceleration of economic growth and the improvement of the livelihoods of Cameroonians.

The Macroeconomic Context

The preparation of the 2017 budget comes at a time world economies are dangling. The International Monetary Fund notes that global economic growth stood at 3.1 per cent in 2015, is estimated at 3.2 in 2016, but expected to hit 3.5 in 2017 – driven by emerging and developing countries. Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to continue at relatively lower rates than in the past decades due to falling commodity prices.

The circular also comes at a time the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, indicates that growth in Central Africa is stagnating. Cameroon has however shown resilience, facing double shocks from insecurity and falling oil prices.  Projections place growth at 6 per cent, up from 5.9 per cent – with an inflation rate of below 3 per cent in 2015.

Set Objectives

Top on government’s intents is to accelerate economic growth, make it strong, sustainable, inclusive and job creative. The achievement of the objectives is based on the modernization of agriculture (second-generation agriculture), the stepping up of energy supply, improvement of enterprise competitiveness, business climate, access to financing, promotion of the growth of local industry and the processing of local products.

Stakeholders tasked with preparing the State budget have been urged to maintain a real GDP growth rate of 6 per cent, an inflation rate of 3 per cent, an overall fiscal deficit of 3.3 per cent of GDP and a current account deficit of 3.6 per cent of GDP.

Cameroon Tribune

The National Tourism Board, set up in 1999, as an advisory body for tourism development in the country, holds its fourteenth session today July 27, 2016 in Yaounde. The deliberations to be presided at by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang, will centre on the theme “Developing the hotel industry in the perspective of Cameroon’s Emergence”.

The choice of the theme could not have been any better given the present context of Cameroon’s drive towards emergence and the upcoming continental football events in 2016 and 2019. Modernising the tourism industry ahead of these two important African female and male football events coupled with country’s quest to attain emergence, is a necessary impulse.

During the 13^th session of the board in December 2015, the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang who is the chair of the National Tourism Board gave instructions in view of modernising the tourism and leisure industry. The Prime Minister stressed on the intensification of dialogue between the public and private sector as well as the drawing up of a common training programme for operators to boost performance which will induce economic growth. Government’s policy on training of actors (proprietors, managers and personnel) of the tourism and leisure industry is already being implemented.

The Ministry of Tourism and Leisure has been organising a series of regional seminars for stakeholders of both public and private sector to upgrade skills and meet international standards. One of such seminars opened in Bafoussam, West Region on July 25, 2016 and will last for one week. The creation of a reference school for tourism and leisure would further consolidate government’s policy on harmonising training and boosting performance in order to spur economic growth. Thus, today’s session would examine ways of developing the hotel industry so that its pivotal role towards emergence is clearly diagnosed.

Cameroon Tribune

As the security situation caused by the Boko Haram insurgency improves, the Israeli government is bracing up to invest in the domains of agriculture, technology and infrastructure in a bid to revamp the economy of the Far North Region.

Israeli Ambassador to Cameroon, His Excellency Ran Gidor, discussed this and other related issues with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, during an audience in the latter’s cabinet on July 22, 2016. Speaking to the press later, H.E. Ran Gidor said the discussions enabled him to get the Speaker’s opinion on the pressing needs of the people of the Far North Region.

“He drew my attention to specific issues such as the lack of potable water and the need to attract Israeli investments in the domain of drip irrigation,” the diplomat disclosed. He pledged the concentration of Israeli efforts and resources in developing the Far North Region. In effect, he explained, agreements with some United Nations Organisation agencies will be finalised in the coming weeks for the first results to emerge, probably in two months.

Cameroon Tribune

The Vice President of the Committee of Public Investment Budget in the South West Region, Madam Agbor Magdalane has decried what she termed the “so-called miss-placed priority of the BIP projects at the regional level.” The South West Iron Lady was speaking in Buea during the first quarterly meeting to evaluate the level of execution of the Public Investment Projects in the region.

Madam Agbor Magdalane stated that projects at the level of the region have no vision and have no impact on the suffering masses. Lucrative projects such as roads, electricity, water and health have been relegated within the BIP. She hinted that renovation and purchase of equipment has rather preoccupied the development purse in the region.

Said Madam Agbor  “The regional projects are not even poverty alleviation projects. You can’t have regional projects when you always have renovation of office buildings and buying of equipment. Do we have to renovate and buy equipments every year?” “We want to know what they do with the old equipment,” she demanded.

 Constituencies such as Ndian, Manyu, Meme, Kupe Muanenguba and Lebialem that are in dying need of rapid development projects have been reduced to cosmetic attention and the bigger picture buried. It is not only embarrassing but sad. She further noted that “councils are crying for decentralization, they want power and the little power they have been given, they cannot do things, so that people are encourage knowing that they deserve more power. They are never present. If you look at the low recovery rate, it’s because of projects at the level of the council.”

For her part, the representative of the Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Development, Mme. Djomana Christine announced that henceforth the public investment budget for the region would witness an increase. The South West was awarded 383 projects for 2016 financial year with an estimated cost of about 4,692,951,150 FRS. So far, 672,948,051 FRS have been engaged with a total payment of 429,798,202 FRS giving a percentage of 9.16% in actual payment. The physical execution is rated at 33.06%. Ndian division with about 79 projects, amounting to 926,448,300 FRS still stands at 0.00% execution at all levels. The meeting was boycotted by some regional delegates and heads of state corporations in the South West Region.

Cham Victor Bama (Cameroon Concord News Group)

An audit conducted in March 2016 by the Banking Commission of Central Africa (COBAC) has revealed that 50 billion francs CFA was stolen from the International Bank of Cameroon for Savings and Credit (BICEC). The findings also noted that the money was taken from the bank through “implied external providers with internal complicity.”

Media reports have suggested that the arrival of Alain Ripert, the new CEO of BICEC brought about the opening of the investigations. The COBAC revelations highlighted the participation of two senior executives of the bank in these criminal practices namely, Innocent Ondoa Nkou who resigned a few weeks after the discovery and Samuel Ngando Mbongue, the Director of Accounting and Treasury who was fired with four other employees.

Rita Akana (Cameroon Concord News Group)

Camair Co-pilots reportedly launched a strike action on Monday, July 18, 2016, because of their poor working conditions. In a memorandum from the Union of Airline Pilots and Flight Engineers of the Cameroon Civil Aviation ( Spinac) addressed to the Minister of Finance and the chairman of the board of directors of Camair-Co, the pilots noted the non-payment of salaries since May 2016.

Commander Ngom Mambingo who signed the document also stated that the pilots were demanding three months of unpaid wages. Camair-Co like every CPDM business structure is run like a crime syndicate. Salaries for December 2015 were paid in February 2016 and that of April 2016 were paid in early July of this year.

The pilots also denounced the incompetence at the top management and operation of aircraft. The recruitment policy of the company is laughable. From 2011 to 2014, Camair-Co had 400 to 500 employees.  Today, the workforce is 900 employees, against only 96 additional seats with the two new flying coffins from China- MA-Go with 48 seats each.

So in two years, Jean Paul Nana Sandjo has recruited 500 new employees in a company that is sorely lacking in financial resources to pay the maintenance costs of its aircraft, as well as wages.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai (Cameroon Concord News Group)

The Minister of Finance has organized a three-day get-together for finance controllers and vote holders on ways of effectively managing the State budget. Errors whereby vote holders and finance controllers logged heads over management rules are being catered for at a three-day meeting in Yaounde organized by the Ministry of Finance. Finance controllers and vote holders from State bodies and decentralized councils will during the get-together upgrade skills on effective management with the view of contributing efficiently to the execution of the 2016 State budget.

The Secretary General in the Ministry of Finance, Gilbert Didier Edoa, on behalf of Finance Minister, opened the meeting that focuses on creating synergy between sector actors. Participants told Cameroon Tribune that misinterpreting basic texts has been a source of conflict between vote holders and finance controllers, stalling the smooth execution of public investment projects.

Gilbert Didier Edoa challenged participants to master the lines of activity, master management procedures and the nomenclatures of result-based budget under application in Cameroon since 2013. Efforts are however underway to turn the tides, with reforms on public finance and budgeting in place besides training sessions to familiarize stakeholders on the basic texts.

“We expect to see that the budget is executed according to the various prescriptions and that the performance we are expecting according to the results of the evaluation of budgetary expenditure is going to be achieved,” it was stated. The workshop opened yesterday July 13, 2016 and ends on July 16, 2016.

Cameroon Tribune