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The smartphone game Pokemon Go has yet to officially launch in any African country. That’s not stopping African Pokemon fans, who are already braving the continent’s unpredictable streets to find the virtual monsters.

Determined not to be left out of the augmented reality craze which has swept the US and Europe, resourceful gamers in major African cities have found ways to download the game.

"Pokemon Go" was among the top google searches in Kenya in July, Kenyan media reported. The Facebook group "Pokemon Go South Africa" has nearly 10,000 members – a figure which has almost doubled since last week. Meanwhile players, or "trainers," in other African hubs like Lagos and Accra are also spotting Pokemon, short for pocket monsters, in their cities. 

Pokemon addicts in Lagos

But the game is not without its perils. In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, enthusiasts are braving the city's chaotic highways to find Pokemon – often risking accidents.

"Lagos traffic is quite dangerous," player Simdie Onuora told DW. "You could be trying to get the Pokemon and when that happens - you are hit by a bike."

But traffic is not the only danger. Glued to their phones and lost in a virtual world, players can fall prey to street gangs. Lagos' female trainers in particular are concerned about security.

"Holding our phones in the hand and trying to find a Pokemon might invite the wrong crowd," said Tobi Ayeni.

"You want to catch a Pokemon your mind is saying: I need to catch that Pokemon, I need to level up. At that point you are not aware of your surroundings. All you are aware of is trying to catch a Pokemon," she added. "Once you get to that level, so many things can happen. Somebody can come and snatch your phone, somebody can come and beat you up, somebody can just come and steal your bag," Ayeni told DW.

Mobile revolution

Not long ago, playing Pokemon Go would have been unthinkable in Lagos, which is infamous for its patchy mobile coverage. Many Nigerians carry two, even three mobile phones subscribed to different networks to circumvent the headaches of dropped calls and lagging internet. But more improvements are on the way. According to Bloomberg News, internet providers have committed to 3G coverage in 90 per cent of the country and are starting a fibre network roll-out in six cities.

Bad traffic – good news for Pokemon trainers

Despite dangerous streets and dodgy internet connections, players in Nigeria, Africa's largest mobile market, are quickly becoming unstoppable. Even Lagos' notorious traffic jams, which often keep people stranded on the roads for hours, are an opportunity for Pokemon fans, who use the long hours spent in traffic jams to search for rare finds.

"Sometimes I deliberately pray that there is traffic congestion in the morning because when the bus stops you know that there are Pokemon around there," said Samod Biobaku. "Of course I hope to get to where ever my destination is in good time, but of course that subconscious part of me, that Pokemon part of me, always wants to run into traffic and catch as many Pokemon as I can!"

DW

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Rita Akana

08.Aug.2016

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Agro-industries producing vegetable oils and soap in Cameroon decided to import 16,000 tons of palm oil, to absorb the production deficit in this raw material in the country, we learned during a recent press conference of the Cameroon Oleaginous Refiners Association (Asroc).

According to Jacques Tchabgou, General Secretary of Asroc, 9,000 tons of imported palm oil and other derivatives were offloaded at the Douala Port during the first half of 2016, while 7,000 additional tons “are currently in the vessels” en route to Cameroon.

These imports are VAT-exempted and benefit from a preferential customs duty of 5%, different from the reference value of FCfa 1,500 per litre applicable as per the regulation, as specified by a text signed on 28 December 2015 by the Minister of Finance, Alamine Ousmane Mey.  

Through this decision, the government was authorising, based on a request from the Regulatory Committee of the oleaginous sector, global imports od 60,000 tons of palm oil and derivatives on the Cameroonian market throughout 2016.

As a reminder, despite the existence of agro-industries providing 60% of the national production of palm oil, against 40% for village farms whose yields have been increasing throughout the years, Cameroon has an annual “structural” deficit of 130,000 tons, according to official statistics.

BRM

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Rita Akana

05.Aug.2016

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The new Deputy General Manager (Dept. GM) of the International Bank of Cameroon for savings and loans (BICEC), subsidiary of the French group BCPE, is I. D. Kondo, we learned from a legal notice published on 2 August 2016. She takes over from Innocent Ondoa Nkou, who spent about twenty years at this function.

As a reminder, the former Dept. GM of BICEC was forced to resign after the discovery, in February 2016, of a funds misappropriation network within this bank. Using several over-billed and fictitious invoices, regularly paid to service providers “via a system outside of the procedure”, approximately FCfa 50 billion were thus embezzled over a 12-year period.  

At the centre of this network, reveals a report from Cobac, the watchdog of the banking sector in the CEMAC zone, were two managers of BICEC: Innocent Ondoa Nkou, Dept. GM, and Samuel Ngando Mbongue, Director of Accounts and Treasury, who was dismissed with four other employees.

BRM

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Rita Akana

04.Aug.2016

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During the session, the leaders examined the state of negotiations for the economic partnership agreement with the European Union to go operational.

The leaders have been expressing diverse opinions over the agreement that calls for the breaking of customs barriers. 

The Heads of States of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community during the sub regional summit examined and adopted the principle of rotation at the Bank of Central African States, BEAC.

In this regard, a Cameroon was given the post of vice Governor of the Bank of Central African States that has its head quarters in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

crtv

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Rita Akana

04.Aug.2016

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Cameroon’s government said it has begun implementing an interim economic pact with the European Union that will lead to the reciprocal reduction of trade barriers.

A decree signed by President Paul Biya and read on state radio early Thursday described the procedures that will now govern duty and quota-free access for the so-called interim Economic Partnership Agreement. 

The pact, approved by the European parliament in 2013 and ratified by Cameroon in 2014, allows for duty and quota-free access to the EU for all imports from the African nation. Cameroon will in turn gradually open its markets to selected EU goods. The EU says it’s Cameroon’s main economic partner and accounts for more than 41 percent of its combined imports and exports.

BloomberG

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Rita Akana

04.Aug.2016

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The decision was communicated on Monday following a tripartite agreement between the Ministry of Transport, the national airline and civil aviation authority of Cameroon.

 
The Cameroon Civil Aviation Authority (CCAA) lifted Camair-Co flights restrictive measures to Europe according to a statement issued on Monday, August 1st, 2016 by the Minister of Transport, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o.

The national airline of Cameroon will soon resume flights to Europe. This was after a tripartite consultation between the Ministry of Transport, Camair-co and the civil aviation authority of Cameroon.

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Rita Akana

02.Aug.2016

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