Business

South Africa's MTN has written to authorities in Nigeria asking for "leniency" and requesting a review of a $5.2 billion fine imposed on the telecoms provider for failing to cut off unregistered SIM card users, a regulatory source said on Tuesday.

MTN sent a copy of the letter addressed to telecommunications regulator NCC to Nigeria's presidency, the source said, without providing specific details about the review. A second source confirmed MTN had sent a letter.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Nov.2015

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Audit personnel from Francophone African countries are meeting in Yaounde to upgrade skills on performance- based auditing in in the continent. Chairing the three day seminar that opened on Tuesday 3rd November 2015 in Yaounde, Cameroon’s Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Supreme State Audit Office, Mbah Acha Rose Fomundam, underscored the importance of the capacity building workshop.

She urged the 32 participants drawn from 23 institutions charged with the control of public funds in Francophone Africa to sharpen skills that will render them more professional and effective in the management of public finances. The Minister Delegate also lauded the efforts of the state experts noting that the ongoing seminar will help empower them in producing equality reports that will meet international standards.

According to CREFIAF’s Manager of Capacity Development, Celestin Mgboa Ankamtsene, Supreme State Audit institutions are challenged to render state personnel performant and ensure that state financial institutions carry out transparent transactions. The Regional Council for the Training of Supreme Audit of Public Finance in Francophone Sub-Haran Africa with its French acronym, CREFIAF,is organised in partnership with the International Organisation of Supreme State Audit Institutions.

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Ngwa Bertrand

04.Nov.2015

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Cameroon’s performance, on the World Bank Doing Business ranking is dwindling, despite efforts by government to improve the business climate. According to the 2016 World Bank Doing Business Report, after a survey carried out in 189 economies, Cameroon is ranked 172th in 2016 as against 168th in 2015, thus dropping by four places.

The drop by Cameroon, going by World Bank indicators, is blamed on the lack of business-friendly reforms. The Doing Business fact sheet indicates that Cameroon was able to put in place two reforms in 2015 and none in 2016 in its efforts to improve its business climate.

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Ngwa Bertrand

30.Oct.2015

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The Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey has held very intensive and productive talks with the Chief Executive Officer of the Societe Generale Banking Group, Frederick Oudea in Yaounde. The meeting that took place on the 28th of October 2015 at the Ministry of Finance saw both men examining prospects of financing projects aimed at advancing the Cameroon’s economy and by extrapolation, the economies of the CEMAC sub region.

Minister Alamine Ousmane and Frederick Oudea also discussed ways of improving on existing partnership with other financial institutions in the country. Frederick Oudea indicated that the Societe Generale Group is determine more than ever before to build a reliable and sustainable relationship with Cameroon as it embarks on its economic development endeavours. The Societe Generale banking institution has been operating in Cameroon for 45 years.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Oct.2015

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The Minister of Transport, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o recently demoted from the ministry of defence and that of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey have signed an agreement handing over the maintenance of Cameroon’s airports to Aeroport du Cameroon, ADC- a company owned and managed by a Mebe Ngo'o tribesman.

According to the agreement signed on 27th October 2015, ADC has the authority to carry out renovation works on all airport facilities owned by the country. Minister Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o mentioned that the contract is intended to give airports in the country a face-lift.

The Director General of ADC, Thomas Owona Assoumou signed on behalf of his company. Apart from managing airport facilities, ADC also has the responsibility of increasing investments towards modernising airports.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Oct.2015

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Another cement factory has been officially commissioned in Cameroon bringing the number of cement companies to three. The Prime Minister, Head of Government happily cut the symbolic ribbon declaring Ciments de l'Afrique Cameroun (CIMAF) officially operational. The Moroccan based company which is effectively present in five different countries in Africa : Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville and which has been supplying cement in Cameroon for the past months is injecting 500,000 metric tonnes of the product into the market. Its ambitions are rather high considering that the company intends to step up production to about one million metric tonnes in the near future.

Figures provided by the various cement companies operating in Cameroon puts the production capacity at 3.6 million tonnes. Les Cimenteries du Cameroun (CIMENCAM),the oldest company in the country produces 1.6 million metric tonnes while Dangote Cement Cameroon, commissioned a few weeks ago, produces 1.5 million metric tonnes. Estimated demand for the country today stands at 2.8 million metric tonnes. This certainly entails that supply has already surpassed demand. The situation is expected to even change for the better when the Turkish company goes operational. MEDCEM is seriously constructing another factory in Douala and is expected to inject into the market additional 600,000 metric tonnes of cement. The Limbe cement factory project to be build by South Korea is still in the pipeline.

The influx of a medley of cement factories in the country is seen as a blessing and a timely response to the plea of many Cameroonians. The most disturbing thing however is the complete absence of the application of the law and demand whereby an increase in demand entails a drop in price. So far, the price of a 50 kilogramme of cement remains at FCFA 5,000 for cement from all companies. Cameroonians are still top come to terms with this rather funny situation. Is it an arrangement between the various companies to keep the price at the same rate, is the question on every lip? Is it because of high taxes? Is it bad faith? The danger in all these is the fact that the country is involved in quite a good number of projects, many of which demand the massive use of cement. This explains why projects such as road construction, hydroelectric dam buildings and other public buildings take so much from the State.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Oct.2015

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