Headline News

Indomitable Lions: Rigobert Song has done worse than his predecessors!

30, March 2023

Indomitable Lions: Rigobert Song has done worse than his predecessors! 0

In one year at the head of the Indomitable Lions, Rigobert Song has done worse than his predecessors. He has recorded only 3 victories in 12 games with the Cameroonian selection. A catastrophic record that makes a lot of noise in the country where many are calling for his departure.

Big favorite for these qualifiers, Cameroon have still not validated their ticket for the final phase of AFCON 2023, two days from the end. Worse, the Indomitable Lions are relegated to second place in Group C, capped by Namibia.

The Cameroonians were held in check by the Brave Warriors in Yaoundé (1-1). The Lions recorded a new disappointment, this time losing against their opponents in a relocated match in South Africa (1-2).

A new setback which brings back to the carpet the balance sheet of Rigobert Song on the Cameroonian bench while the coach of the Indomitable Lions recently celebrated his one year as coach of the A team.

Rigobert Song, 46, was appointed at the head of the Cameroonian national football team in March 2022. The former coach of the Olympic team has never been able to make his mark, despite his multiple unsuccessful attempts.

His disappointing coaching displays were characterized by persistent defeats that pushed Cameroon out of their usual standards.

Since he took office, the former central defender has taken part in twelve games, recording only three victories against Burundi, Algeria and Brazil, during the last World Cup.

Although no decision has yet been made regarding his future, it is likely that Rigobert Song will soon be forced out of office, if the situation remains as it is now.

Source: AfrikPage

BEAC forecasts slightly weaker economic growth in 2023

30, March 2023

BEAC forecasts slightly weaker economic growth in 2023 0

Economic growth in the Cemac region is projected at 2.7% this year, the central bank Beac reported on March 27 following its first 2023 monetary policy committee meeting. This shows a slight decline compared to the 2.9% recorded last year.

“Growth in 2023 will mainly be driven by a strong dynamic in the non-oil sector,” the bank said, stressing that the oil and gas sector, which traditionally supports growth, will experience a setback.

Moreover, the central bank expects an improvement in the region’s foreign exchange reserves. According to the CPM’s projections, they should guarantee 4.9 months of imports over the year, compared with only 3.9 months in 2022.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Key Pope Francis adviser quits Vatican abuse body over failures

29, March 2023

Key Pope Francis adviser quits Vatican abuse body over failures 0

The most influential member of a Vatican commission on tackling clerical sex abuse said Wednesday he has quit over “structural and practical issues” which made it “impossible” for him to continue.

Hans Zollner, the public face of Pope Francis’s efforts to tackle the global paedophilia scandal, said he had “grown increasingly concerned” over how the papal advisory body works, “particularly in the areas of responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency”.

His resignation from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is the latest blow to a working group dogged by controversy.

US Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the body’s head, said early Wednesday that Zollner had resigned due to a heavy workload.

But German Jesuit priest and renowned academic Zollner, one of the leading experts in the fight against child abuse in the Catholic Church, said he had “noticed issues that need to be urgently addressed and which have made it impossible for me to continue further”.

In a statement, he slammed “a lack of clarity” regarding the selection process of members and staff, and “inadequate” financial accountability.

“Furthermore, there should be transparency on how decisions are taken in the commission. Too often, there was insufficient information and vague communication”, he said in a statement.

“It is due to these structural and practical issues that led me to disassociate myself from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors”.

‘Making him pay’

Zollner was the last remaining founding member of the group, which was set up by Pope Francis in 2014 as he strove to rid the Catholic Church of the scourge of sex abuse by clerics.

Problems emerged as early as 2017, when abuse survivor Marie Collins resigned as a member of the commission, saying the body was under-resourced and faced fierce resistance within high echelons of the church.

Fellow commission member and survivor Peter Saunders also quit later that year.

The pope accepted Zollner’s request to step down “with the deepest of thanks for his many years of service”, O’Malley said.

Francis has vowed a zero-tolerance stance on abuse and has changed the law so that suspected cases must be reported, but victims’ associations say he still has not gone far enough.

Francesco Zanardi, founder of Italian survivors group Rete L’Abuso (The Abuse Network), told AFP Wednesday that Zollner had been “very honest” about the paedophile priest problem within the church “and the Vatican is making him pay”.

Zollner had been increasingly sidelined over the last few years, Zanardi said.

The pope has recently tried to strengthen the commission, which was originally limited in its mandate, by making it part of the Vatican office that processes clergy sex abuse cases.

He has also tasked it with helping local churches set up survivor centres, where those who have been abused can seek help and justice.

But Zanardi said that while Zollner had been a rare contradictory voice, the commission itself was “absolutely useless”.

Source: AFP

14 Cameroonians rescued, 13 others still missing after boat capsizes in Caribbean

29, March 2023

14 Cameroonians rescued, 13 others still missing after boat capsizes in Caribbean 0

At least 14 people from the African nation of Cameroon were rescued from waters in the eastern Caribbean early Tuesday after their boat capsized, but three people were dead and 13 others missing, authorities in St. Kitts said.

The group had departed Antigua early Tuesday aboard a boat carrying 32 passengers that apparently was en route to the U.S. Virgin Islands when it sank near the island of St. Kitts, Anthony Comrie, head of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force, said at a news conference. He said the group had been staying on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, but left there a week ago for Antigua.

“My government has been making every effort to be helpful to these brothers and sisters from Africa who were marooned on Antigua, including by granting them residence and the opportunity to work,” Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.

He said the Cameroonians apparently arrived in Antigua as tourists but intended to migrate to other countries. Browne said his administration has contacted the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration for counsel on how to treat the survivors as refugees, adding that they are welcome in Antigua.

Cameroon has been rocked by conflict since English-speaking separatists in the Central African country launched a rebellion in 2017. More than 3,300 people have died in the conflict, which has displaced more than 750,000 others, according to the United Nations.

The boat was stolen in Antigua, and 16 people aboard it were rescued, including two Antiguans, Comrie said. The nationalities of those who died or missing were unknown, officials said.

Browne said authorities would investigate what he called an “unlawful and dreadful affair,” including the involvement of local residents.

“All of the facts surrounding today’s calamity are not yet known,” he said.

The boat sank about 40 miles northwest of Antigua for unknown reasons, Col. Telbert Benjamin, chief of defense for Antigua and Barbuda’s Defense Force, told the government’s media outlet.

“The vessel went down in relatively deep water, and so recovery … might be a bit of a challenge,” Benjamin said.

Source: AP

Rigobert Song under pressure: Qualification for next AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire now uncertain

28, March 2023

Rigobert Song under pressure: Qualification for next AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire now uncertain 0

Qualification for the next Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire is now uncertain for the Indomitable Lions.

The lions were held to a 1-1 all draw last week in Yaoundé by a compact Namibian side that successfully won the return leg staged in the Dobsonville Stadium in the suburbs of Johannesburg in South Africa today.

Namibia opened the scoring in the 54th minute through Peter Shaluille, who scored in the first leg in Yaoundé.

The Indomitable Lions, who were playing in a 4-2-4 formation, were unable to react and in the 78th minute, Jean-Charles Castelleto committed a foul 30 meters from his goal which proved fatal as the score was increased by Namibia from a free kick executed by Absalom Limbondi.

Leading 2-0 with 10 minutes to go, the Indomitable Lions, despite the substitutions made by a frustrated Rigobert Song, continued to be confused and without ideas in their game. Vincent Aboubakar pulled one back in the 91st minute following a long ball in the Namibian area from Jean-Charles Castelleto but that proved insufficient to avoid defeat. Rigobert Song’s record since taking over as manager on 28 February 2022 is now 3 wins, 4 draws and 5 defeats.

The Indomitable Lions, who have one more elimination match to play in September against Burundi, are now 2nd in their group of 3 teams with 4 points while Namibia has 5. Only one country will qualify from this group for the 30th Africa Cup of Nations scheduled from 13 January to 11 February 2024 in Côte d’Ivoire.

Cameroon, 5 times African champion (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002 and 2017) and 20 participations in the AFCON, has not missed any final phase of this major tournament since the 2013 edition in South Africa and 2012 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

By Staff Lady Nelly Epupa with files from Rita Akana

15 Cameroonians Missing as Boat Sinks Off Antigua

28, March 2023

15 Cameroonians Missing as Boat Sinks Off Antigua 0

Three people are now known to have died from the boat tragedy off St Kitts early Tuesday morning. They are all believed to have been from countries in Africa.

A vessel sank between Antigua and St Kitts this morning, with reports indicating that 15 Cameroonians are missing and one person has died.

Government officials have confirmed that Cameroonians living in Antigua and Barbuda were the majority of individuals on board the vessel, with only half of the 30 passengers being rescued.

The Africans were reportedly trying to get to St Thomas.

Colonel Telbert Benjamin, the Chief of Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force, has confirmed that the boat capsized 40 miles northwest of Antigua, and a search operation is currently underway to locate the missing passengers.

The ABDF Coast Guard is collaborating with its St Kitts and Nevis counterparts, as well as the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre from Martinique.

The ABDF has also deployed its fixed-wing aircraft, Alpha One, to aid in the search effort. Col. Benjamin stated that several details are still being ascertained, including the destination of the vessel.

Most of the Cameroonians arrived in Antigua and Barbuda several months ago on a chartered flight and have been stranded.

They claimed that they were promised a connecting flight to the United States and have no intention of returning to their violent-stricken country.

Source: Antiguanews

Russia says Ukraine using long-range US artillery

28, March 2023

Russia says Ukraine using long-range US artillery 0

Moscow announced Tuesday it had for the first time downed a long-range rocket supplied to Ukraine by the United States, weapons Kyiv said were key to an anticipated counter-attack against Russian forces.

The statement from Russia’s defence ministry came a day after Ukraine said it received modern Leopard and Challenger battle tanks from Germany and the United Kingdom to push back Moscow’s army in east and southern Ukraine.

Fighting in recent months between Russian and Ukrainian forces has concentrated on the eastern city Bakhmut, and Kyiv says it is holding out in the Donetsk region urban hub to exhaust Russian forces and then more easily push them back.

“Air defence (forces) downed… a GLSDB guided rocket,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement, referring to ground-launched small diameter bombs produced by Boeing and the Saab Group.

These devices have a range of up to 150 kilometres (93 miles), which would threaten Russian positions and supply depots far behind the front lines.

The Pentagon announced last month it was providing Ukraine with the artillery as part of a $2.2 billion arms package.

“This gives them a longer-range capability… that will enable them to conduct operations in defence of their country and to take back their sovereign territory,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said at the time.

Ukraine had been asking the United States for munitions that can fly farther than the HIMARS rockets, which have an 80-kilometre range.

The West had been wary of supplying the weapons over concerns Kyiv could use them to target Russia.

HIMARS played an important role in Ukraine’s recapture of Kherson in the south last year but the GLSDB potentially gives Ukraine forces an ability to strike anywhere in the Russian-held parts of Ukraine.

‘Wear down’ Russian forces at Bakhmut

That could threaten key Russian supply lines, arms depots and air bases.

The Kremlin has consistently said the Western arms deliveries to Ukraine would ultimately not have any impact on the battlefield and only prolong the conflict and Ukrainians’ suffering.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at the time tweeted his thanks to President Joe Biden for the new aid.

Source: AFP

Yaoundé: 7 women killed in 34 days

28, March 2023

Yaoundé: 7 women killed in 34 days 0

Nothing has changed ever since the awful death of a third year law student in the University of Yaoundé II, Soa last year. So, the men who rape, harm and kill women are multiplying and consolidating their gains all over the national territory.

President Biya, his government, the police force, the gendarmerie and the judiciary are maintaining their observer status as seven women were recently abducted, raped, murdered and in the words of their beloved mothers, “bodies disposed of as if they were rubbish”.

In all the seven killings, Cameroon Concord News Group is aware that the suspects are all men. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group know this but not the Biya government and not the Delegate General for National Security. To be sure, the seven women will have died in terror and pain, just like the third year law student in Soa. All of them leave behind grieving families and friends for whom their loss will last a lifetime.

Cameroonian men’s violence against women is growing at catastrophic rapidity throughout the national territory and cuts across all sections of society, Francophone, Anglophone, across ages, class and ethnicity. But like with the media in Cameroon, it is almost always the young, conventionally attractive, middle-class Francophone girl killed by a stranger that makes headline news in Yaoundé. We of the Concord Group want every woman’s death to be a reason for soul-searching and a very productive national discourse.

Southern Cameroons women are disproportionately victimised, yet more likely to receive a sub-standard response from the security apparatus of the state dominated in all towns and cities in Southern Cameroons by Francophones.

Nothing indeed has changed ever since the third year law student in Soa was abducted, raped and murdered.  There is completely nothing on the government table on how to tackle violence against women in Cameroon. The women are partly to blame for Biya’s regime’s deliberate silence!!

We of the Concord Group think it is time to set an ambitious program to end men’s violence against women.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

US Vice President Kamala Harris starts Africa tour in Ghana, announces security aid

28, March 2023

US Vice President Kamala Harris starts Africa tour in Ghana, announces security aid 0

The United States will provide $100 million to Ghana and four other West African countries to help them deal with violent extremism and instability, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Monday during a visit to Ghana.

Harris was in Accra at the start of a week-long, three-nation African tour, the latest in a series of visits by senior U.S. officials as Washington seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent.

“President Biden and I have made clear the United States is strengthening our partnerships across the continent of Africa,” she said during a joint news conference with Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.

China has invested heavily in Africa in the last two decades, particularly in infrastructure, mining, timber and fishing, while Russian private military contractor Wagner Group is providing security assistance in several countries.

Akufo-Addo reiterated that he was concerned about Wagner’s presence in West Africa.

“It raises the very real possibility … that once again our continent is going to become the playground for great power conflict,” he said, standing alongside Harris.

Several countries across West Africa and the Sahel region have been struggling to quell Islamist insurgencies that have caused humanitarian disasters and fuelled discontent — contributing factors to military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.

“We appreciate your leadership in response to recent democratic back-sliding in West Africa,” Harris told Akufo-Addo.

“To help address the threats of violent extremism and instability, today I am pleased to announce $100 million in support of Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo,” she said.

That is in addition to $139 million in bilateral assistance that the United States intends to provide to Ghana in the fiscal year 2024, according to Harris’s office.

Source: Reuters

Global Economy’s “Speed Limit” Set to Fall to Three-Decade Low

28, March 2023

Global Economy’s “Speed Limit” Set to Fall to Three-Decade Low 0

The global economy’s “speed limit”—the maximum long-term rate at which it can grow without sparking inflation—is set to slump to a three-decade low by 2030. An ambitious policy push is needed to boost productivity and the labor supply, ramp up investment and trade, and harness the potential of the services sector, a new World Bank report shows.

The report, Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects: Trends, Expectations, and Policies, offers the first comprehensive assessment of long-term potential output growth rates in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These rates can be thought of as the global economy’s “speed limit.”

The report documents a worrisome trend: nearly all the economic forces that powered progress and prosperity over the last three decades are fading. As a result, between 2022 and 2030 average global potential GDP growth is expected to decline by roughly a third from the rate that prevailed in the first decade of this century—to 2.2% a year. For developing economies, the decline will be equally steep: from 6% a year between 2000 and 2010 to 4% a year over the remainder of this decade. These declines would be much steeper in the event of a global financial crisis or a recession.

“A lost decade could be in the making for the global economy,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “The ongoing decline in potential growth has serious implications for the world’s ability to tackle the expanding array of challenges unique to our times—stubborn poverty, diverging incomes, and climate change. But this decline is reversible. The global economy’s speed limit can be raised—through policies that incentivize work, increase productivity, and accelerate investment.”

The analysis shows that potential GDP growth can be boosted by as much as 0.7 percentage points—to an annual average rate of 2.9%—if countries adopt sustainable, growth-oriented policies. That would convert an expected slowdown into an acceleration of global potential GDP growth.

“We owe it to future generations to formulate policies that can deliver robust, sustainable, and inclusive growth,” said Ayhan Kose, a lead author of the report and Director of the World Bank’s Prospects Group. “A bold and collective policy push must be made now to rejuvenate growth. At the national level, each developing economy will need to repeat its best 10-year record across a range of policies. At the international level, the policy response requires stronger global cooperation and a reenergized push to mobilize private capital.”

The report lays out an extensive menu of achievable policy options, breaking new ground in several areas. It introduces the world’s first comprehensive public database of multiple measures of potential GDP growth—covering 173 economies from 1981 through 2021. It is also the first to assess how a range of short-term economic disruptions—such as recessions and systemic banking crises—reduce potential growth over the medium term.

“Recessions tend to lower potential growth,” said Franziska Ohnsorge, a lead author of the report and Manager of the World Bank’s Prospects Group. “Systemic banking crises do greater immediate harm than recessions, but their impact tends to ease over time.”

The report highlights specific policy actions at the national level that can make an important difference in promoting long-term growth prospects:

Align monetary, fiscal, and financial frameworks: Robust macroeconomic and financial policy frameworks can moderate the ups and downs of business cycles. Policymakers should prioritize taming inflation, ensuring financial-sector stability, reducing debt, and restoring fiscal prudence. These policies can help countries attract investment by instilling investor confidence in national institutions and policymaking.

Ramp up investment: In areas such as transportation and energy, climate-smart agriculture and manufacturing, and land and water systems, sound investments aligned with key climate goals could enhance potential growth by up to 0.3 percentage point per year as well as strengthen resilience to natural disasters in the future.

Cut trade costs: Trade costs—mostly associated with shipping, logistics, and regulations—effectively double the cost of internationally traded goods today. Countries with the highest shipping and logistics costs could cut their trade costs in half by adopting the trade-facilitation and other practices of countries with the lowest shipping and logistics costs. Trade costs, moreover, can be reduced in climate-friendly ways—by removing the current bias toward carbon-intensive goods inherent in many countries’ tariff schedules and by eliminating restrictions on access to environmentally friendly goods and services.

Capitalize on services: The services sector could become the new engine of economic growth. Exports of digitally delivered professional services related to information and communications technology climbed to more than 50% of total services exports in 2021, up from 40%in 2019. The shift could generate important productivity gains if it results in better delivery of services. 

Increase labor force participation: About half of the expected slowdown in potential GDP growth through 2030 will be attributable to changing demographics—including a shrinking working-age population and declining labor force participation as societies age. Boosting overall labor force participation rates by the best ten-year increase on record could increase global potential growth rates by as much as 0.2 percentage point a year by 2030. In some regions—such as South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa—increasing female labor force participation rates to the average for all emerging market and developing economies could accelerate potential GDP growth by as much as 1.2 percentage points a year between 2022 and 2030.

The report also underscores the need to strengthen global cooperation. International economic integration has helped to drive global prosperity for more than two decades since 1990, but it has faltered. Restoring it is essential to catalyze trade, accelerate climate action, and mobilize the investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

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