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BUSINESSIN CAMEROON .COM Daily business news from Cameroon Compatible with iPads, smartphones or tablets
EDITORIAL
Yasmine Bahri-Domon,
directrice de la publication
Let’s imagine for a moment…
What would happen if, in the wake of a movement
of demands by lawyers or teachers, the National
Liberation Front of Corsica had decided to engage in
an armed fight against the “French occupier”?
Imagine that, suddenly, the Corsican autonomists for-
bid children to attend the republican school, threaten
to kill teachers who go to school, extort money from
shopkeepers, shoot citizens who go to vote, behead
state representatives, plant bombs in a peaceful
demonstration by women...
Would stakeholders be called upon to engage in
dialogue? Would the French President be publicly
called to moderation? Would NGOs and the media try
to justify these acts of war by the excessive centralism
of the French republic? Would the same means be
mobilized to try to discredit the French order-keeping
forces?
And what would happen if the leaders of this armed
rebellion openly signed deals for oil exploration in
Corsican waters? Would the authorities of the foreign
countries hosting them let them succeed, raise funds,
call for civil war, and broadcast their calls for crime or
for the murder of Mr Macron on social media?
In such a context, the ire of Cameroonian authorities
towards several NGOs which show guilty indul-
gence towards those whom they call “the alleged
separatists” is justifiable. While these NGOs are
slow to condemn the crime perpetrators, they rush
to severely track down and expose any unfortunate
behavior by the forces of order or collateral damage
to reinforce their terrible prejudices against Africa
and its legitimate leaders.
N° 85 / march 2020 3
CONTENTS
FOCUS INTERVIEW
08 • C ameroon and its fiscal burdening public 13 • J ames Durrant : « xxxxxxx»
companies
09 • C ameroon: Fiscal consolidation efforts
threatened by XAF2,624 billion debt owed by
state-owned companies
Publisher
10 • T he typical case of Sonara and Camtel Stratline Limited
Publication Director
11 • P ublic companies’ short-term debt reached Yasmine BAHRI-DOMON
128% of combined sales in 2018
Contributors
12 • T he burden of personnel costs on State Brice R. Mbodiam, Sylvain Andzongo, Idriss Linge,
Muriel EDJO.
companies
Operator
12 • C ameroon sets new measures to improve Médiamania Sàrl
www.mediamania.pro
the management of public companies and Maquette : Jérémie FLAUX,
institutions Corrections : Souha TOURE
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4 N° 85 / march 2020
NEWS IN BRIEF P 19-33 N° 85 / march 2020 5
COMPANY OF THE MONTH SABC invests XAF12 billion in new production line in Douala On February 26, 2020, the Minister of production line stems from the will SABC, leader of Cameroon’s brewery Industry Dodo Ndocke inaugurated a of the SABC group’s top management market, also owns Société des Eaux new production line at SABC’s plant to provide modern and efficient tools minérales du Cameroun (Semc) and located at Ndokoti, Douala. to Brasseries du Cameroun. This is Société camerounaise de verrerie This XAF12 billion investment aimed at boosting productivity, on (Socaver). It employs 3,000 people included, the leader of the one hand, and meeting the group’s and provides more than 100,000 Cameroonian brewery market now new requirements in terms of perfor- indirect jobs. It also has 2,900 sub- has 19 production lines, official mance and innovation on the other,” contractors and local distributors, sources indicate. The newly inau- SABC group says. 9 international-standard plants, 19 gurated line has an hourly produc- Indeed, this new investment is part production lines, and 40 distribution tion capacity of 45,000 60 and 65 Cl of a XAF65 billion 3-year strategic warehouses. Its activity also impacts bottles. investment plan initiated by the the lives of more than 6,000 farmers Internal sources reveal that the line, brewery group in 2017. The plan is in the country. built within 6 months, started pro- aimed at modernizing the facilities Brice R. Mbodiam duction since December 2019. “The to make them more efficient. 6 N° 85 / march 2020
MONTHLY STATISTICS
30%
XAF2,000 billion In January 2020, 7.8 million people were connected to the
internet in Cameroon, according to a report published by
Hootsuite and We Are Social, two organizations that moni-
tor internet and social media feed. With that number of
CEMAC countries have a yearly structural food deficit users, the internet penetration rate reached 30% in the
of about XAF2,000 billion. This was revealed by Daniel country in January 2020.
Ona Ondo, President of the CEMAC Commission while According to the same source, year over year, there is a
launching the session of the regional committee that 7.8% (570,000 new users) increase in the use of the internet
identifies products to be granted regional free circulation in Cameroon.
rights. That increase was driven by a high mobile penetration rate
This revelation seems like a formal invitation for eco- since most users browse the internet using smartphones,
nomic operators to massively invest in the retailing sec- the report indicates.
tor because of the existing opportunities. It also informs
about the opportunities in intra-community trade within
CEMAC (officially estimated at 3% opposed to 15% for the
UEMOA).
210
50 000 tons Comité régional de l’origine, CEMAC’s institution which
determines the country of origin of products to be granted
free circulation rights in the community, started a session
on February 20, 2020, in Douala.
Cameroon’s ambition, in the framework of its national
strategy for the promotion and development of the cashew Out of the 304 products being assessed, 210 were submit-
sector, is to reach a production of 50,000 tons in 2025. This ted by 15 Cameroonian companies (25 companies sub-
was revealed by Gabriel Mbairobe (photo), the Minister of mitted products for this reviewing meeting). The 15 com-
Agriculture and Rural Development, on February 3, during panies operate in various sectors including construction,
the annual conference of heads of central and decentra- cosmetics, and agribusiness, official sources indicate.
lized services of his ministerial department.
But before this deadline, Cameroon intends to make itself
known on the international cashew nut market by 2023,
the official indicated.
N° 85 / march 2020 7
Cameroon and its fiscal burdening public companies The government’s portfolio in the companies owned by Cameroon supposed to be. Instead of providing productive sector is officially estima- were non-compliance with budgetary the government with dividends it ted at 127 companies and other ins- discipline, failure to control opera- should expect, these companies are titutions. According to the Ministry ting costs, lack of various steering rather always requiring financial of Finance, these entities provide tools, poor governance and increased support. about 40,000 jobs. As such, they are dependence on state subsidies. Since Due to that fact, over the years, the an important tool for job creation 2006, all these problems have created government has multiplied initia- and even for the development of the scandals that had led many general tives to encourage public enterprises national economy. directors of companies to prison. to try and raise financing in capital However, a report ( focused on Apart from the poor governance and markets and from some internatio- Cameroon’s economy) published in lack of competitiveness, which seem nal investors. However, the com- September 2013, by the International to be the trademark of state-owned panies seem to prefer government Monetary Fund (IMF) informs that companies in Cameroon, there is a subsidies to the capital markets. most of these state-owned compa- real financing problem. Currently, the government fears nies and public institutions perform Faced with the ever-increasing fund the unproductive companies, with rather poorly. solicitations from state-owned com- abysmal debts, could become a For instance, during the February panies, Cameroon is planning to stop real fiscal burden in the long term. 25, 2016, cabinet council held in subsidizing these companies, which Illustrations! Yaoundé, it was revealed that the are more like money pits instead of Brice R. Mbodiam main problems encountered by state the productive structures they are 8 N° 85 / march 2020
FOCUS Cameroon: Fiscal consolidation efforts threatened by XAF2,624 billion debt owed by state- owned companies According to a country profile While assessing the volume of 554.5 billion and XAF352.4 billion published on October 10, 2019, assistance to be provided to public at the end of 2017. The other by the rating agency Moody’s, the enterprises in 2019, the govern- public enterprises that closed debt of state-owned companies in ment estimated the overall debt this top five were the Electricity Cameroon constitute a threat to of 37 public or publicly owned Development Corporation fiscal consolidation efforts. enterprises (excluding the nume- (XAF140.4 billion) and Sodecoton The document, based on 2016 indi- rous public institutions) at more (XAF113.1 billion). cators, states that the debt of these than XAF2,624.4 billion (about The problem is not their indebted- entities (the National Refining $4.7 billion) in 2017. That year, the ness but the difficulties encounte- Company [Sonara] excluded), was country’s GDP was estimated at red by these companies in gene- about 8.2% of that year’s GDP. $34.8 billion. rating sufficient income to repay According to government data, Sonara, Camtel, and Camwater their debts. this ratio reached 13.5% of GDP were among the top three indebted at end 2017, Sonara’s debt being public enterprises with respective included this time. debts of XAF763.2 billion, XAF N° 85 / march 2020 9
FOCUS
The typical case of Sonara and Camtel
Sonara benefited from a significant is crucial to economic stability. billion FCFA (more than 4 times of its
portion of the $750 million Eurobond For Camtel, unlike Sonara (whose turnover).
issued in 2015 by the government. capital is shared by the government, The Presidency of the Republic has
It is currently being repaid. It also para-public entities and the private taken strong measures and paved
obtained several credit lines from sector), it is fully-owned by the the way for a partial privatization of
international and local banks. In government. Due to that fact, the the structure. Information not yet
April 2019, the company borrowed government’s budget is fully exposed officially confirmed suggests that this
$160 million from a petroleum trader to its debt. The company massively could benefit Huawei, which is owed
before being hit by a fire in May 2019. borrowed, from Exim Bank China a substantial part of the company’s
It is hard to imagine how Sonara, notably, for large-scale projects. The debts.
already structurally in deficit, could most important of those projects In the framework of its economic and
repay its debt. The current shutdown is the SAIL (cable system between financial programme with the IMF,
of its operations will further weigh Cameroon and Brazil) whose bene- Cameroon has already taken some
on the external deficit, due to the fits are not yet visible. measures to reduce its state-owned
need to continue to satisfy local de- On top of that, at end 2017, the companies’ debts.
mand for petroleum products, which company’s debts rose to over XAF409
Public companies’ short-term debt
reached 128% of combined sales in
2018
debt represented 144% of turnover.”
This constitutes a major budgetary
risk for the State, CTR says.
In detail, we learn, more than 70%
of this debt is carried by compa-
nies active in oil and gas, post and
telecom, and water sectors.
Oil and gas public companies bear
the heaviest burden with 27.6% of
debt, and the National Refining
Company (Sonara) tops the list. It
should be noted that Sonara’s debt
level has always been a source of
concern for both the Treasury and
the local banking sector.
The post and communications
sector comes second with 23.3% of
debt; a situation due to the heavy
indebtedness of the incumbent
telecoms operator, Camtel, to
Only 27% of public enterprises public companies (CTR). its partners, notably the Chinese
“have a balanced operation” while The state body reveals that as of 31 equipment manufacturer Huawei.
the majority is in deficit with a high January 2018, “the short-term debts” Meanwhile, the water sector
level of indebtedness, according to of these public entities “represent recorded 19.6% of the total debt of
the Technical Commission for the 128% of the combined turnover, public companies at 31 December
Rehabilitation of Public and Para albeit down compared to 2017, when 2018.
10 N° 85 / march 2020FOCUS The burden of personnel costs on State companies In 90% of Cameroonian public enter- equipment, and most of all it ham- generally finances the most impor- prises, personnel costs exceed 30% pers the competitiveness” of these tant, costly and urgent operations. of the annual turnover, the public companies, “despite the significant Officially, in 2018-2019, the govern- body in charge of the Rehabilitation support provided by the State in the ment injected CFA73.4 billion into of Public and Para public companies framework of plan agreements.» A 15 public companies, within the found. plan agreement is a deal the govern- framework of plan agreements. As at In some cases, CTR says, these ment signs with a struggling state 31 December 2018, a bit over CFA45 expenses are “above 70%” of the com- company in to order to revive it and billion had been effectively disbursed panies’ turnover, leaving no room for make it more competitive. by the Treasury, according to a report optimizing operations or financing Before the deal is signed, the by the Technical Commission for the investments. partners should first identify the Rehabilitation of Public and Para This bad personnel costs to turnover operations which, if carried out suc- public companies. ratio “results in the accumulation of cessfully, should boost the company’s debts and the non-renewal of aging development; then the government Cameroon sets new measures to improve the management of public companies and institutions In a circular signed on December 31, 2019, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze (photo), prescribed special monitoring of the Program- oriented Budgeting in public institu- tions in Cameroon. The official indicated that special emphasis should be placed on the harmonization of formats for the presentation of budgets of public ins- titutions, their annual performance reports as well as their adminis- trative and employment accounts. The transmission, by public esta- blishments, of their administrative accounts for the financial year 2019 to the Minister in charge of Finance mitted to the Minister in charge of Budget Directorate of the certified must be made no later than July 30, Finance by 15 January at the latest, is financial statements, the auditor 2020. maintained. reports, resolutions, and delibera- Furthermore, the requirement that “Any request for funding, tax relief, tions by applicants’ corporate bodies the annual budgets and investment loans or government approval by and the administrative accounts plans of the said establishments, state-owned companies, private (depending on the situation) of accompanied by a statement of companies with minority public the due financial year,” Louis Paul personnel, the debt situation, and an participation and public institutions, Motaze stresses. internal clearance plan, be trans- is subject to the transmission to the 12 N° 85 / march 2020
INTERVIEW
James Durrant
“We are building a bauxite mine
in Cameroon”
James Durrant, Head of exploration and exploitation at the Minim Martap and
Ngaoundal bauxite deposit, which could transform Cameroon into the world
leading bauxite producer, recently visited the country. During the visit, he was
interviewed by Business in Cameroon, with which he discussed every detail of the
project.
On July 11, 2018, Camalco, the ject through exploration and of the Minim Martap Project
subsidiary of the Australian into engineering. During 2019, development. Concurrent to
Junior Mining Company Ca- Camalco delivered a very large the engineering development
nyon Resources, was granted and high-grade resource up- we continue to increase our
three exploration licenses grade on the Project. This was understanding of the resource
for the Minim Martap and completed within the first year though additional drilling
Ngaoundal bauxite deposits. of the 3 term and was achieved and on-site investigation pro-
What progress have you made due to the high quality of work grammes. These additional
so far on these sites? done by the Camalco local works will allow us to take the
Cameroonian technical team on Project status from Resource
Camalco secured the tenements the project site. to Reserve, the highest level of
in July 2018 and was granted a Immediately following the deposit classification.
3-year exploration license. The resource upgrade the Camalco Alongside all of this we have
exploration license detailed team began the engineering begun the environmental and
obligations to progress the Pro- design and development phase social assessments, known as
N° 85 / march 2020 13INTERVIEW
ESIA studies, for the project. ting for many decades in the source has been demonstrated
This is a key component and future. to be exceptionally high quality,
initially seeks to understand possibly the best quality known
the baseline social and envi- Since obtaining the non-re- bauxite in the world. The depo-
ronmental conditions and then newable licences, what re- sit, however, is a long way in-
integrates designs and manage- sults have exploration works land and critical to the success
ment measures into the Project yielded? of the project is working with
development planning to mini- Camalco delivered an inter- the Government and Camrail to
mise adverse effects and maxi- nationally recognised mineral successfully design a solution
mise the benefits of the Project resource upgrade in mid-2019, for the bauxite to be transpor-
to the local population of the having had the exploration ted on the existing rail network.
Adamawa region. license for only 1 year. This is The Camalco team has engaged
The engineering, resource defi- incredibly quick and we must a wide range of international
nition and ESIA activities are thank our employees, the com- experts to help work out the
not only essential to the suc- munities and the government concept of operations for the
cessful development of the pro- for their support in allowing rail operations which will be
ject, but are obligations under us to progress the project and presented to Camrail in the
Cameroon and international receive these results. The results near future.
law. Camalco is committed to were very positive and gives The Minim Martap Project is
developing the Minim Martap Camalco great confidence that located a long way from the
Project in a sustainable manner the Minim Martap Project will coast and the logistics for the
that complies with all laws and be a successful long-term Pro- Project are the largest chal-
obligations, but also provides ject for Cameroon. lenges faced by Camalco. Based
development and opportunities Now that the resource is under- on our detailed work completed
to local communities. stood, the engineering, mining to date, we are very confident
and environmental and social that we will have a successful
On 17 September 2018, phases take priority. Typically solution for the transport and
Camalco launched the «last engineering includes a series of beneficiation of the bauxite that
phase of research» on the detailed assessments – inclu- will work for our logistics par-
Minim Martap-Ngaoundal ding, from mining to shipping, tners and the State and people
project. What does this phase from the number of trains to the of Cameroon.
actually involve? number of people, from opera-
The last phase of research refers ting systems to environmental Before your arrival, and
to the final stage of drilling and support systems. This is a very after several years of explo-
studies that will allow Camalco large work program and one ration and negotiations,
to start construction of the that the whole team is currently the American-Indo-Emi-
Minim Martap Project. focused on. rati consortium, Cameroon
As with all mining projects, it Camalco is on target to com- Alumina (CAL), was unable
is the resources in the ground plete all of the studies well to conclude an investment
that counts, but it is also vital to under the required 3 years time agreement on this mining
design solutions that allow the frame. project with the State of
bauxite to mined and processed Cameroon. What are the pos-
in Cameroon and exported in What challenges have you sible scenarios at the end of
a profitable and sustainable faced in the framework of this your 3-year contract with the
way that will ensure that Minim project? State of Cameroon?
Martap Project will be opera- The Minim Martap Project re- The current engineering and
14 N° 85 / march 2020INTERVIEW “The limiting factor in the region is the capacity of the rail infrastructure” study phase of the project is needs to show the key outcomes ment opportunities, rail and designed to finalise the opera- of the studies that comply with transport corridor upgrades as tional details of the Project and Cameroon laws and interna- well as revenue to the State. from the results of these studies tional mining conventions. A Camalco will be able to finalise key focus of these studies, in 60 years after its inde- an investment agreement with addition to proving the long- pendence, Cameroon, which the State of Cameroon. term commercial viability of the has a significant mining The investment case is descri- Project, is the positive impacts potential, still waits for bed by presenting an enginee- the Project will bring across all the construction of its first ring report called the bankable sections of Cameroon society industrial mine; despite the feasibility study (BFS). The BFS via investment, skilled employ- arrival of many junior miners N° 85 / march 2020 15
INTERVIEW We are “very confident about the very high quality of the Minim Martap and Ngaoundal bauxite” like yours. What makes you development process to ensure particular, junior miners different from other mining that we can start operations in are increasingly accused of companies that come to Ca- as short a timeframe as possible applying for mining licences, meroon? and then increase the scale of just to speculate on stock The mining business is a very the Project over time. exchanges and not out of real difficult business. It involves We, like the people of Came- interest. What is your opinion very large sums of money, long roon, are anxious and focussed regarding this claim? periods of time and a conti- on having the Project in opera- We are very confident that nuously changing investment, tion as quickly as possible and Camalco has demonstrated competitive and political land- then remaining in operation for through our work completed scape. the many decades in the future. on the Minim Martap and Camalco is approaching the de- Ngaoundal Projects over the velopment of the Minim Martap Based on several examples last 18 months that we are not Project in a staged or phased in Africa, and Cameroon in speculating on the Project, we 16 N° 85 / march 2020
INTERVIEW “Camalco has demonstrated through our work completed on the Minim Martap and Ngaoundal Projects over the last 18 months that we are not speculating on the Project” are building a bauxite mine in over the last 18 months and the and Mandoum licenses which Cameroon. support and commitment of the you fully own since the exit Camalco has focused on Cameroonian Camalco team of Altus Strategies in October employing and offering oppor- based on the camp near the 2018. What are your plans for tunities to skilled and talented town of Bobodji and the com- these other two bauxite depo- Cameroonian mining professio- munity surrounding our opera- sits? nals and we are going to build tions in the Adamawa. The Birsok and Mandoum a long term and successful Pro- depositis are minor bauxite ject in this country. At Canyon Resources, there deposits that are located near Junior mining companies have has been much more talk in to the Minim Martap deposit. sometimes, deservedly so, re- the last two years about the The limiting factor in the region ceived a bad reputation throu- Minim Martap and Ngaoun- is the capacity of the rail infras- ghout Africa. Camalco would dal project, but very little has tructure. ask to be judged by our actions been said about the Birsok Camalco plans to incorporate N° 85 / march 2020 17
INTERVIEW
“Camalco is committed to developing the Minim Martap Project in a sustainable manner that complies with all laws and obligations, but also provides development
and opportunities to local communities”.
the Birsok deposit into the long- and Ngaoundal deposits in Martap and Ngaoundal bauxite,
term mining plan for the Pro- Cameroon. the hard work of all of our team,
ject and improve the capacity that we will deliver a success-
of the rail line by working with Finally, what makes Canyon ful and long term mining and
Camrail (Cameroon Railways) Resources run so much for industrialised project for Came-
on staged rail upgrades over Cameroonian bauxite? roon and all stakeholders in the
time. The Minim Martap and Ngouan- Project.
dal together are a world-class Camalco believes in the qua-
Apart from the aforementio- bauxite deposit and the world lity of the Minim Martap Pro-
ned bauxite deposits, all of is currently looking for high ject, the skills of our team in
which are located in the Ada- quality bauxite to support the Cameroon, the fundamental
maoua region, Cameroon has growing alumina and alumi- long-term requirements of the
another in Fongo Tongo, in nium industries. global aluminium industry and
the western region. Is it also We are competing against simi- the ability of Cameroon and
of some interest to Canyon lar high quality bauxite depo- Camalco to make the Project a
Resources? sits in Guinea Conakry, but Ca- success.
Camalco is 100% focused on malco is very confident that the
developing the Minim Martap very high quality of the Minim
18 N° 85 / march 2020PUBLIC MANAGEMENT Cameroon launches vast programme to service 320 water abstraction devices Forty years ago, to facilitate access of maintenance. The government Eloundou Essomba, received the very to drinking water for its populations launched a vast rehabilitation pro- first rehabilitated water abstraction (in rural areas notably), Cameroon gramme to service them, according device. launched the project Scanwater. The to official sources. This device, which is now in good project consisted of the construction The first rehabilitation in the working condition, will provide of water abstraction devices in some framework of the programme was drinking water to more than 1,800 localities, to supply drinking water. launched in Njoré, in the Centre people who were previously exposed After years of good services, these region. On 26 February 2020, the to waterborne diseases. devices went out of use due to a lack Minister of Water and Energy, Gaston INS forecasts 2% inflation rate in 2020, down from 2.5% in 2019 his year, inflation could drop from 2.5% in 2019 to 2.0%, the National Institute for Statistics (INS) of Cameroon forecasts. The institute based its forecast on favorable climatic conditions, impro- vement of security conditions in the crisis regions (Northwest, Southwest and the Far-North) and the absence of internal or external shocks. According to the institute, the special status granted to the Northwest and Southwest in 2019, and the various easing measures issued during the great National dialogue should improve the security situation and of some local products (rice, raw palm eyebrows, eyelashes, wicks and favour the resumption of economic oil, sorghum, millet, kola nut,“Eru/ textile products produced for the activities. That resumption will boost Okok”, etc.) will surely stifle their creation of wigs and similar hair the supply of markets, increase the exports so as to ensure a better supply products, cocoa-free sweets as well offer of goods and services in the in local markets,” INS points out. as chocolates and other high-cocoa regions. On the other hand, the INS notes, the concentration products. In addition, INS informs, the various prices of some imported products The INS also fears an increase in incentives offered by the government should rise in 2020 due to the appli- fish prices due to the government’s to companies willing to establish in cation of the 5%-50% taxes on them. decision, in early February 2020, to economically deprived areas could The products concerned are beauty ban the importation of fresh and also boost production in the crisis products, cigarettes, motorcycles frozen fishes from China. This ban zones. “The exit duties provided by the with a cylinder capacity exceeding is issued as a prevention against the 2020 finance law for the exportation 250 cm3, hairs, wigs, wools, beards, Coronavirus outbreak. N° 85 / march 2020 19
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT 3,336 teachers received XAF1.5 bln of undue salary adjustments over the 2012-2018 period In Cameroon, 3,366 teachers under The amounts received by the launched by Cameroon in April the Ministry of secondary education teachers vary between XAF30,000 2018. Thanks to Coppe, Cameroon collected XAF1.59 billion of undue and XAF10 million. Indeed, some tea- identified and removed 10,000 ficti- salary adjustments over the 2012- chers who should normally receive tious public servants from its payroll 2018 period. This is revealed by the XAF14 million as salary adjustments saving XAF30 billion in 2019. The General Directorate of the Budget, received XAF25 million instead. servants removed were either absent which posted the results of the task Following the discovery, the General from their working posts, dead but force set up to verify (and require Directorate sent claim for refund to not declared or have resigned. refund if necessary) the salary adjust- the teachers concerned. ment of teachers under the Ministry This verification is part of Coppe, of Secondary Education. the physical counting operation 2020 legislative election : Constitutional court cancels elections in 11 constituencies in the North-West and South-West regions On 25 February, the Constitutional Democratic Front (SDF). According argued that because of the secu- Council annulled the parliamentary to the SDF, the elections were not rity requirements imposed in these elections of 9 February in 11 consti- conducted in some constituencies two English-speaking regions of tuencies in the North-West and due to insecurity. Cameroon, new polling stations were South-West regions. The SDF also accused Elections instead created so that voters would These are the constituencies Cameroon (Elecam), the body in vote in peace, far from reprisals by of Menchum-North, Bui-West, charge of organizing the elections, of separatists. Mezam-South, Bui-South, Bui- «violating the electoral code by grou- This argument was not sufficient to Centre, Mezam-Centre, Momo-East, ping several polling stations in polling convince judges of the constitutional Menchum-South, Momo-West, centres.» Because of these groupings, council. Elecam now has between Mezam-North and Lebialem. it was hard for some voters to iden- 20 and 40 days to organize partial The Council’s decision followed tify their polling stations. elections. appeals lodged by the Social Elecam, to defend the grouping, 20 N° 85 / march 2020
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT End frauds and manipulations that usually occur at Cenadi, Louis Paul Motaze asks new officials Last February 21, in Yaoundé, “undue salaries, undue promotions tious public servants from its payroll. officials newly appointed at the and pensions that, unfortunately, According to the Ministry of Finance, Centre national de développement increase the state’s budget.” the savings amounted to about de l’informatique (Cenadi), which For many years now, Cenadi has been XAF30 billion yearly. In addition, processes public servants’ salaries, the center of numerous fraudulent 7,800 former servants have recently were inaugurated by the Minister of practices that costs the public trea- been invited to show proof of their Finance Louis Paul Motaze. sury many billions every year. After disability and reversionary pensions. During the Ceremony, Louis Paul many payroll sanitation operations, They are suspected of unduly recei- Motaze asked the newly appointed the government launched COPPE, a ving such pensions. officials to end the various fraud and physical counting operation, in 2018. manipulations frequently observed Thanks to this operation, it identified at the Cenadi. These are namely and removed more than 10,000 ficti- N° 85 / march 2020 21
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT Cameroon to elaborate strategy to involve women in fight against maritime crimes In the coming weeks, the Ministry of the gender approach in the fight of Transport in terms of security, Transport will develop a strategy to against maritime crime. ensures the protection of women involve women in the fight against During the meeting, it was revealed who transport goods by sea. maritime crimes. This is the result of that Cameroon has been taking all Let’s note that the ICC is the body negotiations led by the Inter-regional the necessary steps to involve wo- in charge of strengthening activi- Coordination Centre (ICC) for Safety men in the maritime sector through ties oriented towards cooperation, and Security in the Gulf of Guinea. training and professional integration. coordination, pooling, interoperabi- Indeed the Minister of Transport However, the Minister of Transport lity of systems as well as the imple- Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe and confessed, «as far as maritime crime mentation of the regional strategy Alexandra Amling, a consultant for is concerned, women are barely on security and safety within the this center, met on February 24, in involved.» Nevertheless, the French common maritime space in Central Yaoundé, to discuss the impacts of Navy, which supports the Ministry and West Africa. BNCRF dismantles contraband network in Douala In mid-February, fraud repression products,” the BNCRF indicates. health of consumers,” the repression agency BNCRF conducted a light- In the framework of the raid, a agency says. An investigation was the- ning raid in Douala. During the network that distributes adulterated refore opened in order to dismantle the raid, boxes of “Château Barreyres” whiskeys was also discovered in the entire manufacturing process of these branded wines of suspicious origin Bonamoussadi district. “The alleged various “deadly whiskeys.” (photo) were seized. Part of those trafficker was about to make a deli- According to the Chamber of were presented to the media. very of Chivas (12 and 18-year-old) Commerce, Industry, Mines and “It turns out that the wine in question and Jack Daniels whiskeys, stamped Handicrafts (Ccima), smuggling, did not come from the company BVS, with fake labels, to a local snack bar. counterfeiting, and illicit trade which has exclusive distribution rights Following a denunciation by the ma- activities in Cameroon cause losses for this brand in Cameroon. The ware- nager of this establishment, BNCRF estimated at XAF255 billion every houses of this marketing area have officers also seized these liquors, year. been sealed for selling contraband which represent a great danger to the 22 N° 85 / march 2020
FINANCE Ministry of Finance plans to initiate SMEs to crowdfunding On February 20, the Ministry of Finance will organize a natio- nal workshop on the theme “Crowdfunding: Participatory finan- cing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)” in Douala. According to the organizing commit- tee, the aim is to provide information on how this type of funding works. They will also present the oppor- tunities and advantages offered by crowdfunding and share the expe- rience of local start-ups and project holders who have had the opportu- nity to use this type of financing. In addition, the main pitfalls and key success factors for the implemen- tation of a national policy for the development of this type of financing will be identified. (XAF1.1 billion) was 42.8% between Africa currently accounts for only According to rare data produced by June and September 2017. “At 0.1% of global crowdfunding activity. the Bank of Central African States this rate, the total funds raised by South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria (Beac), the annualized growth rate of Cameroon on this platform could be dominate the continental market the amounts raised by Cameroonians multiplied by 17 by 2025,” the Beac while Cameroon ranks only 18th. on the Kiva crowdfunding site projects. Gabon and Safacam’s bonds get listed on the BVMAC Today, Feb 21, two bonds issued in the financial market regulator, after brokerage firm of Société Générale the Central African region last year investors oversubscribed to that Cameroon. were listed on the Unified Stock bond. According to our sources, Safacam, Exchange of Central Africa (BVMAC), The second bond listed is that an agro-industrial unit that produces the stock exchange announces. of Société Africaine Forestière et palm oil and rubber in the Littoral The first is Gabon’s 2019-2024 Agricole du Cameroun(Safacam) in region of Cameroon, raised XAF2 bond, with an interest rate of 6.25% Cameroon. Though this operation billion during the operation. thanks to which the country raised was conducted discreetly, Business The arrival of these two bonds on the XAF126 billion in Q4-2019. Initially in Cameroon learned from sources BVMAC now allows their holders to set at XAF100 billion, the envelope close to the Central African Unified trade on the secondary market of requested by Gabon was revised Stock Exchange that it was arran- the Unified Stock Exchange of the upwards following authorization by ged in late 2019 by Sogebourse, the Central African region. N° 85 / march 2020 23
FINANCE British firm The First Group eyes both investors and investment opportunities in the Cameroonian real estate sector On February 19, 2020, in investments in the United Arab tion has begun,” says Mohamadou Yaoundé, British firm The First Emirates, The First Group could Dabo. Group’sexecutives presented invest- also transfer its Dubai investment “We were among the first promoters to ment opportunities in the real estate model to Cameroon. This is at least understand the tremendous potential of sector in Dubai to Cameroonian the dream of Mohamadou Dabo, offering private investors the opportu- economic operators. president of the Moda Group and nity to buy hotel rooms and suites and According to official sources, this representative of The First Group in furnished apartments in our high-end presentation was aimed at wooing Cameroon. establishments, located in very popular Cameroonian investors into acquiring “After working with The First Group in districts of Dubai. This strategy is our assets in The First Group’s real estate Dubai, we thought there is potential in plan to expand into promising new projects in Dubai (construction of Cameroon. So, we invited executives to markets and supports our commitment high-end infrastructure or luxury discuss with Cameroonian authorities to developing great properties, brands, residential properties namely). the possibilities of transposing the same and services that offer attractive In addition to seeking partnerships concept realized in Dubai to Cameroon. returns to our investors,” said The First with Cameroonian investors for The feedback is positive and the reflec- Group. Cameroon raised over XAF2,000 bln via issuance of government securities over the past decade Within 10 years, we have built a rich, solid and fruitful partnership thanks to which we raised XAF2,000 billion to address the State’s cash flow problems and finance some investment pro- jects.» This was revealed by Louis Paul Motaze on 20 February 2020, in Douala, during the celebration of Cameroon’s partnership with local banks it approved as primary dealers on the BEAC’s government securities market. Indeed, in 2010, in view of its ever-in- creasing need for financial resources to enable the accomplishment of its the main driving force in the market backers like the IMF and the World sovereign missions, Cameron had with an average of XAF300 billion Bank are not pleased with the more decided to resort to the capital mar- raised every year. than XAF2,000 billion the country ket to diversify its budget’s financing «For all those operations, the raised via issuance of government’s sources. In that regard, the country Treasury has not had any payment securities. issued its first bond in late 2010. defaults or deferred repayment,» In various reports on the This issuance was aimed at raising the Finance Minister said during the Cameroonian economy, these two XAF200 billion. meeting. Louis Paul Motaze was thus financial partners consistently go This successful operation was praising the quality of Cameroon’s against the government’s propensity followed by its first fundraising ope- public securities that have attracted to incur debt at non-concessional rations on the BEAC’s government both national and foreign investors interest rates instead of concessional securities market (created in 2011). over the past 10 years. loans, which weigh less on the public Nine years later, Cameroon remains Let’s note that some international debt. 24 N° 85 / march 2020
AGRIBUSINESS Daniel Ona Ondo : “CEMAC countries have a yearly structural food deficit of about XAF2,000 billion” CEMAC countries have a yearly struc- invitation for economic operators to six CEMAC countries, institutions like tural food deficit of about XAF2,000 massively invest in the retailing sector the above-mentioned committee was billion. This was revealed by Daniel because of the existing opportunities. created. This committee identifies Ona Ondo, President of the CEMAC It also informs about the opportuni- products within the CEMAC region to Commission while launching the ties in intra-community trade within be exempted from taxes. To be exemp- session of the regional committee CEMAC (officially estimated at 3% ted, such products should include a that identifies products to be granted opposed to 15% for the UEMOA). certain percentage of raw materials regional free circulation rights. To reverse the trend and boost pro- into the production process. This revelation seems like a formal duction as well as trade between the IDB and the Government fund livestock and fisheries development project in the North- West Last February 20, the North-West the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). fight against poverty in the North- region’s development mission It is aimed at funding projects in the West region. Since 2016, the region Mideno officially launched a project livestock and fish farming sectors and the South-West have been for the development of livestock and by granting microcredits to the victims of violence perpetrated by fisheries. population. separatists fighting for the partitio- The project is financed to the tune According to its officials, this new ning of Cameroon. of XAF750 million by Cameroon and project is an important tool in the Beef price jumped by 3.5% in 2019, following resumption of exports to Nigeria In 2019, food prices have been among neighboring countries (Nigeria in This is the case of the Amchidé bor- the main driving forces behind the particular), the INS explains. der, officially reopened since May 15, rise of the inflation in Cameroon. Indeed, because of the exactions 2019. This town is the hub of trade That year indeed, inflation surged to started by Nigerian Islamist sect between Nigeria and Cameroon in 2.5%, the highest since 2015. Boko Haram in 2013, Cameroon the Far North region. Among the food products that closed its Northern borders with At the same time, several livestock contributed to the rise was beef, the Nigeria in 2015. Let’s note that the markets, closed for years due to the National Institute of Statistics (INS) Northern region is the main beef insecurity created by Boko Haram, reports. production area in Cameroon. were also relaunched. Consequently, According to the institute, after a In 2019, following the relative peace exports of Cameroonian beef to drop of 2.1% in 2018, the price of beef that ensured after fights led by the Nigeria have been boosted, leading to in Cameroon increased by 3.5% in Cameroonian army against Boko higher prices on the local market. 2019. This sharp rise is mainly due to Haram, Cameroon decided to open the resumption of beef trades with some of its borders with Nigeria. N° 85 / march 2020 25
AGRIBUSINESS PCP-Afop to train 3,500 people in agropastoral and fishing sectors in 2020-2021 The agropastoral and fishing training programme, 40 young people will be production sectors in the course of programme PCP-Afop, steered by welcomed in each of the above-men- the year. “The young people are cur- the Ministries of Agriculture and tioned centres, for a 2-year training rently being placed at large production Livestock, has just launched the course. basins. These basins are enrolling recruitment of the 6th class of This means that more than 3,500 1,500 young people in around 15 stra- residents for its 88 training centres young people will be trained in agro- tegic sectors, including nine plant and scattered around Cameroon. pastoral and fishing trades between six animal sectors,” said Pierre Blaise According to information revealed 2020 and 2021. Ango, the programme’s national during the 17th meeting of the stee- In addition to this training, PCP-Afop coordinator. ring committee of this government plans to dispatch trainees across INS fears rise in fish prices amid ban of fish imports from China In Cameroon, fish prices could soon Cameroon’s second-largest supplier meet the national demand estimated go up, according to a note recently of fish products. Operators involved at about 400,000 tons yearly. published by the National Institute of in the importation of frozen fishes According to figures from the Statistics (INS). buy 50.6% of their supply from Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries The INS explains that this rise should African countries (Mauritania, and Animal Industries (Minepia), be spurred by the government’s Senegal), 19.6% from Asia (China) Cameroon imports 200,000 tons decision, in early February 2020, and 12.9% from Europe (Ireland). of fish every year to complement to ban the importation of fresh or The fish imports boost local pro- the low national production. Those frozen fish products from China. This duction, which went from 252,214 imports cost the country about measure was issued as a prevention tons in 2014 to 292,675 tons in 2018. XAF170 billion yearly, the same against the Coronavirus epidemic. Despite a 40,461 tons increase over a source indicates. As the institute reveals, China is 4-year period, this is not enough to 26 N° 85 / march 2020
INDUSTRY Guinness Cameroon claims hourly whisky bottling capacity of 2,200 Guinness Cameroon reveals that the “Guinness Cameroon SA is the Cameroonian brewery market). hourly whisky bottling capacity of its first brewery, in Cameroon and the Guinness Cameroon SA is also plant (officially launched in Douala Central African sub-region to bottle Diageo group’s second subsidiary on September 7, 2017) is 2,200 scotch outside Scotland,” the brewery in Africa (Nigeria being the first). bottles. group indicates. Let’s note that Cameroon is Diageo’s The local subsidiary of British Initially a brewery group, Guinness fourth-largest market in the whole brewery group Diageo made the Cameroon SA also went into the world, according to Andy Fennel, revelation in the presentation docu- importation and marketing of wines then Diageo’s chairman for the ment elaborated for the celebration to diversify its offers in a market African region, during his visit to of the group’s 50 years presence in dominated by SABC (subsidiary Cameroon in 2014. Cameroon this year. of Castel that controls 74% of the Counterfeit paints - producing network dismantled in Yaoundé In Cameroon, the fraud and counter- Edzoa, used to mix expired paints Not only did the accomplices buy the feit repression unit of the Ministry with good ones. With the complicity counterfeited products but, they also of Commerce recently dismantled a of some hardware stores’ managers, supply the fraudsters with expired network of counterfeit paints produ- the fraudsters introduce the mixed paints to be used, official sources cers in Yaoundé. products into the commercial circuit indicate. Those fraudsters, discovered in Elig- of Yaoundé and environs. Cameroon launches Profeaac to boost domestic timber trade On Feb 25, Cameroon officially Funded by partners such as the with locally produced and processed launched Profeaac, a project for French Development Agency (AFD), wood.” the Promotion and Formalization the Centre for International Forestry “We will not only raise awareness of Artisanal Timber Exploitation Research (CIFOR) and German coo- about the sources of supply in the in Central Africa. Endowed with a peration agency, Profeaac is aimed at communes of Mindourou in the East budget of XAF3 billion, this project boosting the domestic timber trade. and Dzeng in the Centre. We will also will be implemented over a period of According to project coordinator educate on the consumer markets in 4 years, in the Central and Eastern Guillaume Lescuyer, «Profeaac will big cities,” he adds. regions of the country. strive to supply the domestic market N° 85 / march 2020 27
INFRASTRUCTURE CHEC appointed for the exploitation and maintenance of Kribi-Lolable expressway Chinese construction company This appointment should be much to The construction of the infras- CHEC, that built the 38.5-km Kribi- CHEC’s delight. Indeed, the company tructures has, by the way, been Lolable expressway connecting to that pre-funded Cameroon’s share relaunched, according to internal Kribi deep seaport, will exploit and in the construction to the tune of sources at the Autonomous Port of maintain the said expressway. XAF38.6 billion has since been asking Kribi (PAK). This is revealed in a release signed, to participate in the management of Started on January 1, 2015, Kribi- on February 20, 2020, by Cameroon’s the expressway. Lolable expressway is expected to be Minister of Public Works Emmanuel The designation of the operator/ delivered on October 31, 2020, after Nganou Djoumessi. In the release, concessionaire in charge of the a 28-month extension. According the official indicates that in the exploitation and management of the to the Ministry of Public Works, framework of a public-private par- expressway was one of the condi- currently, the completion rate of the tnership, Cameroon attributed the tions required to lift the suspension works is about 90%. designing, construction equipment, imposed, in June 2018, by Eximbank exploitation and maintenance of the on the disbursements of funds in Kribi-Lolablé expressway to CHEC. favor of the project. Mbanga-Bakoko social housing : Construction companies ordered to deliver works by end 2020 In Cameroon, companies working visit in Douala last February 20. the fault of companies in charge. on the construction of the social During the visit, the officer noticed Many missions conducted on the housing at Mbanga-Bakoko are that the execution rate of the field over the 10 years revealed ordered to deliver the houses before construction contracts launched 10 that many of those companies do end 2020. This order was instructed years ago is no more than 50%. not have good financial standing. by Ahmadou Sardaouna (photo), This glaring lateness in the project The contracts with many of them Director-General of Société immobi- aimed at providing additional 10,000 have been canceled but never lière du Cameroun (SIC) during his social houses to the government is reattributed. 28 N° 85 / march 2020
INFRASTRUCTURE Construction of XAF74 bln Bongor-Yagoua road launched On Feb 28, 2020, Chadian President The Bongor-Yagoua bridge (XAF74 Cameroonian side. It also includes Idriss Deby Itno and Cameroon’s billion) will be funded by a loan and related works mainly constituted Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute the European Union. The financial of socioeconomic infrastructures officially launched the construc- costs will be borne by both countries (border crossings and warning tion of the Bongor (Chad)-Yagoua at the rate of 58% for Cameroon and devices) bringing the total cost of (Cameroon) bridge. 42% for Chad. As for the construc- this construction project to about The 620-meter long infrastruc- tion work, it is planned to last 36 XAF92 billion. ture should boost trade between weeks and entrusted to the Razel The project is one of the major Cameroon and Chad. It will be built Cameroun-Razel Fayat-Sotcocog integration projects currently being over the Logone river and should consortium. implemented in the CEMAC region. be the second bridge connecting According to the AfDB, apart from Indeed, there is also the project for Chad and Cameroon. The first one the said bridge, the construction the extension of Cameroon’s railway being the Nguéli bridge connecting project includes 14.2 km of driveways towards Chad and the construction Kousseri, in Cameroon, to Ndjamena, divided as follows: 7.4 km at the of the Sangmélima (Cameroon) - Chad. Chadian side and 6.8 km at the Ouesso (Congo) road. 45-km Yoko-Lena road section open to the public On February 19, 2020, the Ministry of Public Works conducted the techni- cal acceptance of Yoko-Léna section (45.241 km) of the Batchenga-Ntui- Yoko-Lena-Tibati road. According to the ministry, this stage consists of assessing the technical quality of the infrastructure and its compliance with the specifications. It emerged that, despite some minor flaws, the work is as requested. The minor flaws concern the horizontal marking and painting on the mileage markers from kilometre point 200 +100 to kilometre point 201 +100. Chinese company Sinohydro, in charge of the work, promised to correct them. The infrastructure is therefore now open to traffic with a one-year gua- rantee. During that guarantee period, Sinohydro will have to correct any construction defects that may occur. Final acceptance will take place at road infrastructure with the fol- cost of the works is XAF23.39 billion, the end of the guarantee period. lowing characteristics: a 2 x 3.5 m which corresponds to the initial The work carried out since February pavement in asphalt concrete and a 2 amount allocated to the project. 2017 was completed in August 2019. x 1.50 m dual-layer pavement, with a It consisted of the construction of a reference speed of 80 km/h. The total N° 85 / march 2020 29
TRANSPORTATION ADC purchases XAF760 mln worth of airport support equipment Aéroports du Cameroun (ADC), boost the operation of airports and Yaounde-Nsimalen, Garoua and in charge of airport platforms in thus boost quality of services,” ADC Bamenda airports. Cameroon, informs it recently says delighted. In addition, elevators and escalators acquired new manufactured sup- The company adds that the acqui- have been renovated at the Yaoundé- port equipment by French Miloco sition of all these equipment is part Nsimalen airport. The apron area was Production. of the high management’s airport also renovated and a power station The French company delivered 40 infrastructure and equipment built for the production and distribu- container handling trucks, twenty- modernizing policy in the framework tion of emergency energy. Four auto- six 20-foot pallet trucks, 15 luggage of the company’s 2017-2022 strategic buses were also purchased for the carrying trolleys, 2 covered luggage plan. transshipment of passengers at the trolleys and 30 container storage In the framework of that plan, ADC international airports of Yaoundé- benches. “These acquisitions, valued has already purchased 1,396 seats Nsimalen, Douala, and Garoua. at nearly XAF760 million, will surely for boarding lounges at Douala, 30 N° 85 / march 2020
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