Business

The South African mobile operator giant is back on stage with several packages for Cameroonians.

MTN has signed a three-year renewable contract with the governing body of Cameroon football league to sponsor football in Cameroon, particularly League 1 and League 1. , and has introduced a service for video games. The agreement was reached on Thursday in Yaounde.

The leading mobile network operator in Cameroon will have to spend CFA 1billon every year on football.

MTN Cameroon has been very connected with Cameroon football. Between 2002 and 2013, it was the leading sponsor of local football leagues.

The mobile network giant is also on the market with a new service for Cameroonians known as Game+ . This service gives subscribers the opportunity to play video games and  download video and audio files for just CFA 50 per day.

 The company says the campaign spans only one month.

This move comes at a time when the thirst for video games is becoming unquenchable in Cameroon.

MTN has been facing stiff competition from her rivals (NEXTTEL and Orange, especially). The newcomer, Nexttel has forced MTN to adopt several marketing strategies, especially in the provision of mobile data.

Currently, most students in Cameroon have switched to Nexttel for mobile data. With just CFA 100 Nexttel offers 100 megabytes meanwhile MTN offers just 75 megabytes for the same amount (even though there were several packages, none of which could beat Nexttel’s).

Previously, MTN was offering 50 megabytes for internet connection and 100 megabytes for communication on  WhatsApp.  This package did not very much satisfy most subscribers since they hardly used up the 100 megabytes for WhatsApp.

There are three leading mobile network operators in Cameroon (MTN, Nexttel and Orange) and a less competitive rival (Camtel). Orange is a French company meanwhile Nexttel is from Vietnam. Camtel is aCameroonian parastatal company.

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Rita Akana

11.May.2017

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Cameroon is hosting an international forum on digital economy from 15th to 17th May 2017 with the principal ambition of emerging as “technology leader in Africa”.
The forum is to be held in Yaoundé under the theme, “How to successfully carry out digital economy in Cameroon”.
The objectives of the event include, but not limited to, creating the atmosphere for a successful transition of Cameroon to a digital economy; presenting the advantages of digital economy in Cameroon; highlighting the political will of Paul Biya to resolutely promote the development of digital economy in Cameroon; and mobilizing international funding for innovative projects in the digital economy sector in Cameroon.

Close to 200 official participants will attend the forum, including ministers, representatives of African and international development institutions, representatives of civil society groups, digital operators, business leaders, investors, teachers of sciences, and media persons.

Some of the top names on the list are Jean Louis (president of International Partnership, journalist and former secretary general of “La Francophonie”); Ben Marc Diendere [(from Canada) senior vice-president of communication at Coop Federée]; Alaya Bettaeib[(from Tunisia) who is the director of ESPRIT Incubator]; Sergio Lopes from Portugal(chairman and chief executive officer of Sitvarius).

 
There will be workshops as well as a Digital Trade Show where Cameroonians will showcase their know-how in the field of digital technology.

The forum is a continuation of the International Economic Conference held in Yaoundé in May 2016 under the theme, “Investing in Cameroon, Land of Attractiveness”.

Detailed information is contained in a press release issued by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications on Tuesday (also available on its website). The website of the forum is equally open for greater detail.

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Rita Akana

10.May.2017

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Douala traders have filed a petition against Chinese traders, accusing them of spoiling the market, by selling at relatively odd prices, since they have the monopoly of the market. They also say the Chinese Embassy is refusing to issue them business visas as well, because the officials feel they must buy from Chinese wholesalers in the country.


Chinese Importers are accused of refusing to sell their goods to Cameroonian Nationals, and prefer to give it to their Chinese brothers, so that Cameroonians completely go out of the market‘ situated at Akwa.
Locals only get goods after Chinese have chosen the best, at a relatively high rate, and because they want to keep business going, they have no choice than to buy them at the exaggerated high prices.
They also complain that Chinese wholesalers  sell goods at whole sale prices to Cameroonian retailers, at an unaffordable rate to discourage them from buying, so that they(Chinese) will dominate the market.
With all these practices, many Cameroonians have fallen out of stock, and are finding it hard to make ends meet in their businesses.
They have decided to take their destiny into their hands, by insisting that Chinese should remain on wholesale front, and not intervene on the retailing floor, because that is the initial base of their agreements.

The issue of the Chinese Embassy refusing to issue Cameroonians Business Visas to go and replenish their stock is a serious concern. They frown that Visa issuing authorities always refuse Cameroonians visas, and refer them to the discriminatory Chinese wholesalers in Cameroon.


This conflicting situation resulted in a serious fight last week in the Chinese market, and Cameroonian business people have launched a petition with 100 signatures against the Chinese, asking the government to bring the Chinese to order, by making the cooperation a win-win for both parties.

Locals also lament that, when they buy from Chinese, they are not given official receipts. Chinese receipts do not have information like the tax payer’s number, Business Registration number, address of the seller, or even Tax information, which simple means the government is hard on Cameroonians and soft on the Chinese, and the business people say this must stop.

Last year, Chinese merchants were accused of using dodging methods to repatriate money from their import and export businesses.

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Rita Akana

10.May.2017

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A delegation from the Central African Republic is in Cameroon to seek help, especially in the field of communication.

The delegation which is lead by the country’s minister of communication was received on Monday by Issa Tchiroma Bakary, government’s spokesperson and minister of communication.

Speaking after a meeting with the delegation, Mr Tchiroma disclosed that the Central African Republic had ‘nothing’ in the aftermath of the armed conflicts that she has witnessed, adding that he and Cameroon were ready to help her.

“Unfortunately today everything is completely destroyed. They have to start from scratch…” Tchiroma said. “In terms of radio, television, the printing press in their country; they have nothing,” he continued,

Mr Tchiroma went further to reveal that he had received orders from the head of State to help any nation in need of “the experience that we have at home”.

“The reason why, open-heartedly, we are ready to receive all the managers,” Tchiroma said, adding that the state-broadcaster, Crtv; SOPECAM and the Advanced School of Mass Communication had received instructions to welcome the delegation.

He added that the second item on their agenda was to make it clear that problems could be solved without necessarily passing through war.

The Central African Republic has been devastated by internal armed conflicts for several decades. Most of her presidents have obtained power through violence. It is against the backdrop of reconstruction that the special delegation was dispatched to Cameroon.

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Rita Akana

09.May.2017

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The Cameroonian Ministry of Agriculture has officially launched phase 2 of Grassfields Integrated Participative Development projects in the region of the North-West, for an amount of FCfa 29.4 billion; and rural development of Mount Mbappit in Noun, West region, endowed with an amount of FCfa 16.6 billion.

This overall envelope of nearly FCfa 46 billion, which represents more than 90% of the financing necessary for the implementation of phase 2 of these two projects, we learned, has been provided by the Islamic Development Bank (Banque Islamique de Développement - BID). Through multiform support to producers, these two projects aim to substantially increase production of potatoes, corn, palm oil, rice and cassava in the North-West and West provinces of Cameroon, in order to improve farmer revenues.

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Rita Akana

06.May.2017

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Cameroon's youngest insurance company has taken the Insurance sector in the country by storm . ZENITHE Insurance has today in Douala launched an online platform . E-INSURANCE the product from this company is an instrument which enables people to subscribe to insurance services . This innovation has come to outclass the old age tradition of physical contacts and  cumbersome paper works making subscription and delivery of insurance services simple, reliable and credible.

Unveiling the E - INSURANCE to press men in Douala, Friday the company's Managing Director, NDECHAM Michael  says the move was motivated by the fast penetration of the internet in the country which sadly doesn't tally with the dismal rate of insurance subscription (2 percent). Where as insurance remains an indispensable element in the protection of persons and goods. " E-INSURANCE has come to give every one in and out of the country the chance of benefitting from insurance coverage. Through this product, time and distance has been reduced and payments made easier via bank cards, paypal or mobile money. " he emphasised. The Online platform is accessible across the globe.

Before this revolution, ZENITHE insurance had distinguished herself through  the sale of insurance guarantees which permits public contract companies to subscribe to flexible conditions outplaying the monopoly of banks who complicated the process with delays.
In the past 10 years, the company has registered 30 billion francs CFA of paid incidents and occupies the 6th position amongst 15 companies operating in Cameroon.ZENITHE offers insurance services in  Health, travel, auto-mobile, risk , transport ,  civil responsibilities amongst others. It is a certified ISO 9001- 2015 Company.

The company's vision is to demystify the myth that insurance is only for the rich, as everyone is entitled to insurance coverage. Mr NDECHAM intends to draw inspiration from the success of telecom operators to  make insurance " a basic commodity" in Cameroon.

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Rita Akana

05.May.2017

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