Business

Each end of year, it is common to have shortages of domestic gas in Cameroon. Used to this occurrence, users of the commodity either line up in the various stations of SCTM, the leader of the market, or for those capable of affording it, the next option is the purchase of gas from the black market where a bottle of 12 Kg can be found for 10,000 FCFA (instead of usual 6,500 FCFA) during this period.

This year however, this phenomenon seems too early. Indeed, for almost a week now, acquiring domestic gas in Yaoundé and Douala has become very difficult. According to retailers, the product has  not been supplied for some time now despite the increase in demand. A huge lie, according to Maloum Bra, the head of the Société Camerounaise des Dépôts Pétroliers (SCDP) division in Yaoundé. “We are always called by the Ministry of Trade concerning this matter which has no foundation. The only one, unfortunately, is the upcoming end of year”, he says in the governmental daily.

“We supply all eight distributors of domestic gas each day. So where do the bottles go? That is the mystery to solve. The SCTM alone received 19 tons of gas on October 5, 2015. This corresponds to almost 2,000 bottles. In addition to this, SCTM has another station in Douala which receives 2,000 bottles that are sent to Douala. This makes a total of 4,000 bottles daily for this distributor only. Others also come daily and are supplied according to their exact demands, no less than what they ask for. 8,000 bottles are provided daily for Yaoundé and we can deliver more, considering the actual surplus of butane in Douala. These claimed shortages are therefore very confusing”, he adds.

 

Clearly put, both the SCDP and the Cameroonian population suspect domestic gas suppliers, especially the leader of the market, the SCTM (almost 50% shares of this market), to be behind this end of year shortages, with the complicity of retailers so as to benefit from the price surge likely to occur a month from now

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Ngwa Bertrand

09.Oct.2015

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The Japanese International Cooperation Agency known as JICA has promised to ameliorate Cameroon’s Small and Medium Sized Entreprises through the Kaizen Project. To this effects experts of the Japanese Kaizen Project met on the 6th of October 2015 with stakeholders at the Ministry of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to discuss their action plan. During the three hours discussion, the Japanese Senior Consultant Kazurhiro Okamoto presented three main power points that constitute the Japanese action plan to be implemented within two years. 

Remarkable among them, was the decision to train more than 40 Cameroonian business consultants within two years. The other points raised were based on contributing ideas of developing business projects and creating strategies to follow up business enterprises. The Minister of Small and Medium Sized-Enterprises, Social, Economy and Handicraft, Laurent Serge Etoundingoa, lauded the efforts of the Japanese Business Firm, saying the project will help ameliorate productivity in the Cameroon business sector.

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Ngwa Bertrand

08.Oct.2015

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Cameroon’s current public debt raised to 3,811 billion FCFA by June 2015, says the Autonomous Amortization Fund (CAA in French), in its latest statistical bulletin. This debt represents 23.4% of Cameroon’s GDP, hence way less than the 70% of GDP standard used in the CEMAC.

However, comparing these statistics to last year’s first semester, CAA states that Cameroon’s public debt has attained 28.8% since it was only of 2,968 billion FCFA in June 2014, thus 19.5% of the country’s GDP. According to the IMF which continues to worry concerning the increasing growth rate of debt over the last 3 years, mainly caused by the fact that the largest part of this debt non-concessional, the country’s debt growth is exactly as it should meaning it will reach 38% of GDP in 2019 (as forecast).

“Cameroon’s debt remains low, mainly due to the important relief from 2006, but it is now rapidly growing. The debt sustainability analysis shows a risk level associated to the external debt which passed from “low” to “moderate”, due to the actual increase of undefined external debt. However, actual trends suggest that Cameroon’s overall public debt should double its percentage of PIB between 2012 and 2019”, revealed the Bretton Wood institution in 2014, after an evaluation mission.

This forecast is within the range of the possible considering all the significant projects which require equally important funding. It is his consideration of these projects that pushed the Cameroonian president to scale down the country’s debt level for 2015 to 1,700 billion FCFA including an incoming 650 billion FCFA – Eurobond.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Oct.2015

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Sub-Saharan Africa countries are continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace, due to a more challenging economic environment. Growth will slow in 2015 to 3.7 percent from 4.6 percent in 2014, reaching the lowest growth rate since 2009, according to new World Bank projections.

These latest figures are outlined in the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, the twice-yearly analysis of economic trends and the latest data on the continent. The 2015 forecast remains below the robust 6.5 percent growth in GDP which the region sustained in 2003-2008, and drags below the 4.5 percent growth following the global financial crisis in 2009-2014. Overall, growth in the region is projected to pick up to 4.4 percent in 2016, and further strengthen to 4.8 percent in 2017.

Sharp drops in the price of oil and other commodities have brought on the recent weakness in growth. Other external factors such as China’s economic slowdown and tightening global financial conditions weigh on Africa’s economic performance, according to Africa’s Pulse. Compounding these factors, bottlenecks in supplying electricity in many African countries hampered economic growth in 2015. 

“The end of the commodity super-cycle poses an opportunity for African countries to reinvigorate their reform efforts and thereby transform their economies and diversify sources of growth. Implementing the right policies to boost agricultural productivity, and reduce electricity costs while expanding access, will improve competitiveness and support the growth of light manufacturing,” says Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa.

According to Africa’s Pulse, several countries are continuing to post robust growth. Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania are expected to sustain growth at around 7 percent or more per year in 2015-17, spurred by investments in energy and transport, consumer spending and investment in the natural resources sector.

Gains in Poverty Reduction

Africa’s Pulse found that progress in reducing income poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has been occurring faster than previously thought. According to World Bank estimates poverty in Africa declined from 56 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2012.  At the same time, Africa’s population saw progress in all dimensions of well-being, particularly in health (maternal mortality, under-5 mortality) and primary school enrollment, where the gender gap shrank.

 

Yet African countries continue to face a stubbornly high birth rate, which has limited the impact of the past two decades of sustained economic growth on reducing the overall number of poor. Countries still lag behind those in other regions in making progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). For example, Africa will not meet the MDG of halving the share of population living in poverty between 1990 and 2015.

Weaker Commodity Prices

 Sub-Saharan Africa’s rich natural resources have made it a net exporter of fuel, minerals and metals, and agricultural commodities. These commodities account for nearly three-fourths of the region’s goods exports. Robust supplies and lower global demand have accounted for the decline of commodity prices across the board. For instance, the drop in the prices of natural gas, iron ore, and coffee exceeded 25 percent since June 2014, according to the report.

Africa’s Pulse notes that overall decline in growth in the region is nuanced and the factors hampering growth vary among countries. In the region’s commodity exporters—especially oil-producers such as Angola, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria, as well as producers of minerals and metals such as Botswana and Mauritania, the drop in prices is negatively affecting growth. In Ghana, South Africa, and Zambia, domestic factors such as electricity supply constraints are further stemming growth. In Burundi and South Sudan threats from political instability and social tensions are taking an economic and social toll.

Fiscal deficits across the region are now larger than they were at the onset of the global financial crisis, the report finds. Rising wage bills and lower revenues, especially among oil-producers, led to a widening of fiscal deficits. In some countries, the deficit was driven by large infrastructure expenditures. Reflecting the widening fiscal deficits in the region, government debt continued to rise in many countries. While debt-to-GDP ratios appear to be manageable in most countries, a few countries are seeing a worrisome jump in this ratio.  

 “The dramatic, ongoing drop in commodity prices has put pressure on rising fiscal deficits, adding to the challenge in countries with depleted policy buffers,” says Punam Chuhan-Pole, Acting Chief Economist, World Bank Africa and the report’s author. “To withstand new shocks, governments in the region should improve the efficiency of public expenditures, such as prioritizing key investments, and strengthen tax administration to create fiscal space in their budgets.” 

Moving Forward

 Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will be repeatedly tested as new shocks occur in the global economic environment, underscoring the need for Governments to embark on structural reforms to alleviate domestic impediments to growth, the report notes. Investments in new energy capacity, attention to drought and its effects on hydropower, reform of state-owned distribution companies, and renewed focus on encouraging private investment will help build resiliency in the power sector. Governments can boost revenues through taxes and improved tax compliance. Complementing these efforts, governments can improve the efficiency of public expenditures to create fiscal space in their budget.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Oct.2015

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Sub-Saharan Africa countries are continuing to grow, albeit at a slower pace, due to a more challenging economic environment. Growth will slow in 2015 to 3.7 percent from 4.6 percent in 2014, reaching the lowest growth rate since 2009, according to new World Bank projections.

These latest figures are outlined in the World Bank’s new Africa’s Pulse, the twice-yearly analysis of economic trends and the latest data on the continent. The 2015 forecast remains below the robust 6.5 percent growth in GDP which the region sustained in 2003-2008, and drags below the 4.5 percent growth following the global financial crisis in 2009-2014. Overall, growth in the region is projected to pick up to 4.4 percent in 2016, and further strengthen to 4.8 percent in 2017.

Sharp drops in the price of oil and other commodities have brought on the recent weakness in growth. Other external factors such as China’s economic slowdown and tightening global financial conditions weigh on Africa’s economic performance, according to Africa’s Pulse. Compounding these factors, bottlenecks in supplying electricity in many African countries hampered economic growth in 2015. 

“The end of the commodity super-cycle poses an opportunity for African countries to reinvigorate their reform efforts and thereby transform their economies and diversify sources of growth. Implementing the right policies to boost agricultural productivity, and reduce electricity costs while expanding access, will improve competitiveness and support the growth of light manufacturing,” says Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa.

According to Africa’s Pulse, several countries are continuing to post robust growth. Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania are expected to sustain growth at around 7 percent or more per year in 2015-17, spurred by investments in energy and transport, consumer spending and investment in the natural resources sector.

Gains in Poverty Reduction

Africa’s Pulse found that progress in reducing income poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has been occurring faster than previously thought. According to World Bank estimates poverty in Africa declined from 56 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2012.  At the same time, Africa’s population saw progress in all dimensions of well-being, particularly in health (maternal mortality, under-5 mortality) and primary school enrollment, where the gender gap shrank.

 

Yet African countries continue to face a stubbornly high birth rate, which has limited the impact of the past two decades of sustained economic growth on reducing the overall number of poor. Countries still lag behind those in other regions in making progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). For example, Africa will not meet the MDG of halving the share of population living in poverty between 1990 and 2015.

Weaker Commodity Prices

 Sub-Saharan Africa’s rich natural resources have made it a net exporter of fuel, minerals and metals, and agricultural commodities. These commodities account for nearly three-fourths of the region’s goods exports. Robust supplies and lower global demand have accounted for the decline of commodity prices across the board. For instance, the drop in the prices of natural gas, iron ore, and coffee exceeded 25 percent since June 2014, according to the report.

Africa’s Pulse notes that overall decline in growth in the region is nuanced and the factors hampering growth vary among countries. In the region’s commodity exporters—especially oil-producers such as Angola, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria, as well as producers of minerals and metals such as Botswana and Mauritania, the drop in prices is negatively affecting growth. In Ghana, South Africa, and Zambia, domestic factors such as electricity supply constraints are further stemming growth. In Burundi and South Sudan threats from political instability and social tensions are taking an economic and social toll.

Fiscal deficits across the region are now larger than they were at the onset of the global financial crisis, the report finds. Rising wage bills and lower revenues, especially among oil-producers, led to a widening of fiscal deficits. In some countries, the deficit was driven by large infrastructure expenditures. Reflecting the widening fiscal deficits in the region, government debt continued to rise in many countries. While debt-to-GDP ratios appear to be manageable in most countries, a few countries are seeing a worrisome jump in this ratio.  

 “The dramatic, ongoing drop in commodity prices has put pressure on rising fiscal deficits, adding to the challenge in countries with depleted policy buffers,” says Punam Chuhan-Pole, Acting Chief Economist, World Bank Africa and the report’s author. “To withstand new shocks, governments in the region should improve the efficiency of public expenditures, such as prioritizing key investments, and strengthen tax administration to create fiscal space in their budgets.” 

Moving Forward

 Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa will be repeatedly tested as new shocks occur in the global economic environment, underscoring the need for Governments to embark on structural reforms to alleviate domestic impediments to growth, the report notes. Investments in new energy capacity, attention to drought and its effects on hydropower, reform of state-owned distribution companies, and renewed focus on encouraging private investment will help build resiliency in the power sector. Governments can boost revenues through taxes and improved tax compliance. Complementing these efforts, governments can improve the efficiency of public expenditures to create fiscal space in their budget.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Oct.2015

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Facebook Inc said it would launch a satellite in partnership with France's Eutelsat Communications to bring Internet access to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The satellite, part of Facebook's Internet.org platform to expand internet access mainly via mobile phones, is under construction and will be launched in 2016, the companies said on Monday. (on.fb.me/1JPiTZC) The satellite, called AMOS-6, will cover large parts of West, East and Southern Africa, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. "To connect people living in remote regions, traditional connectivity infrastructure is often difficult and inefficient, so we need to invent new technologies," Zuckerberg said. 

The Internet.org platform offers free access to pared-down web services, focused on job listings, agricultural information, healthcare and education, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging services. Growth in the number of people with access to the Internet is slowing, and more than half the world's population is still offline, the United Nations Broadband Commission said last month. Facebook has nearly 20 million users in major African markets Nigeria and Kenya, statistics released by it showed last month, with a majority using mobile devices to access their profiles. The company opened its first African office in Johannesburg in June. Tech news website The Information reported in June that Facebook had abandoned plans to build a satellite to provide Internet service to continents such as Africa.

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Ngwa Bertrand

06.Oct.2015

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