Business

An aircraft of the DHL courier company has landed at the Douala International airport. Cameroon aviation officials announced earlier today that flights have resumed at the Douala International Airport this Tuesday, March 22 after 21 days of rehabilitation works. Cameroon Concord is aware that the second flight expected to touch down is the nation’s national airlines, the Camair-co to be received by the Minister of Transport, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo'o. 

Minister Alian Mebe Ngo’o was quoted as saying that "the track is ready for use". The CPDM member of government added that the work which began on February 20 will continue until the end of 2016. Six new baggage belts have been approved by the Airports of Cameroon (ADC), as well as four new tractors handling arranged on the tarmac.

Details

Rita Akana

22.Mar.2016

Hits: 3170

Frequent blackouts have been the order of the day in Douala neighbourhoods like Bonaberi, Ngangue and Deido, and the Moungo and Nkam Divisions of Littoral Region. Since February 16, 2016, areas like Bonaberi have been without electricity for four consecutive days, while others have enjoyed steady power at most for two hours each day.

To calm angry inhabitants in most neighbourhoods following the nightmare and damage caused by frequent power cuts, Energy of Cameroon, Eneo, has dispatched teams of youths to neighbourhoods, including Bonaberi, with fliers containing reasons for the blackouts. According to the flier, Eneo is strengthening the Logbaba-Bassa-Deido-Bonaberi energy transport line that entails replacing electric cables. As to the reason for the replacement, the flier states that it is due to the increase in household demand, supply to cement factories in the Bonaberi Industrial Zone and the desire to provide quality service to areas affected by the ongoing work.

Since the start of work on February 16, 2016, cables have been replaced on the Logbaba-Bassa-Deido and the Dangote-Bonaberi stretches, while the exercise is also going on the Deido-Dangote stretch. Areas seriously affected by the transport line, including Douala IV Council, Moungo and Nkam Divisions, will have to endure the discomfort of regular outages until work ends on March 22, 2016.

Details

Elangwe Pauline

17.Mar.2016

Hits: 2343

Popular messaging app WhatsApp is reportedly in a battle over encryption with the U.S. Government similar to the one involving Apple.

According to The New York Times, a federal judge has approved the monitoring of messages made via the Facebook-owned app in a criminal investigation, but end-to-end encryption makes it difficult.

Some officials want to see the company decrypt information related to the case, but it’s unclear if that is even possible.

Apple has been asked to allow investigators access to the encrypted iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters.

WhatsApp is believed to have nearly one billion monthly active users, but the Times says WhatsApp founder, Jan Koum is strongly against surveillance due to his background in the Soviet-controlled Ukraine.

The specifics of the case are not known, but it has been reported that it is not terrorism-related.

Earlier this month in Brazil, an executive with Facebook was jailed over a similar dispute in which Brazilian authorities wanted access to messages in a drug-trafficking case.

Twitter, Facebook and Google have also said they are standing by Apple and against creating so-called back doors to their devices by authorities.

Details

Elangwe Pauline

15.Mar.2016

Hits: 3420

Some of Africa's top scientists and policymakers have gathered in Dakar for a landmark forum they hope will start transforming African science, unleashing hidden potential for innovation and world class research.

Delegates attending the Next Einstein Forum (NEF) held in Senegal's capital Dakar say the goal is clear: To give African scientists the infrastructure they need to support their work and keep them on the continent, as well as offering them the visibility they need to expose their ground-breaking research.

Some 700 mathematicians and scientists from 80 countries including Nigeria, Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon and Zimbabwe attended the forum. It was named after the German-born scientist Albert Einstein who revolutionized the way we view space and time in the early years of the 20th century.

Being visible

Thierry Zomahoun, NEF chairman and founder, gave delegates one example of an African scientist who was not enjoying the visibility he deserved.

"You know there's a guy here that everyone should be running after who has solved a 70 year problem in immunology. 70-year problem! That will help improve vaccines," he said.

Zomahoun was referring to Wilfred Ndifon, a Cameroonian scientist who is using a mathematical approach to develop a flu vaccine and who believes his method could also be used to design vaccines for other viral diseases such as yellow fever, dengue and even Zika.

Zomahoun, who is also CEO of the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences, complained that there were more African engineers in the United States than in the whole of Africa. He also deplored the miniscule size of Africa's contribution to the world research effort, which accounted for just 1 percent.

"We need to reverse that trend," he said.

Infrastructure

There was widespread agreement at the forum that scientists across Africa needed to be able to develop global scientific solutions without having to send their data, or themselves, abroad to complete their research.

But that difficulty will only be resolved once Africa invests more in higher education. John Silvanus Wilson Junior, President of Morehouse College in the United States said higher education was booming in sub-Saharan Africa.

"In the first decade of this century enrollments doubled to 5 million, we should be proud that it doubled to 5 million. The problem is we need 22 million to keep pace with the world. 22 million in higher education. We don't have the infrastructure for it right now," Wilson added.

Neshwa Issa, an assistant professor of physics from Sudan, shares this frustration at the lack of resources, which she has experienced first hand.

"If we don't have the infrastructure to produce something, how can we come up with something. We need the basics, at least we need the labs," she said.

Grace, a Nigerian student at the African Institute for Scientific Sciences in Senegal, said studying abroad was unavoidable, explaining that she had no choice but to finish her PhD abroad.

"But of course I'm planning to come back to Africa," she told DW.

Getting a grant for scientific research can be very difficult. But strategies are being put in place by individuals for individuals. Usually they are associated with social or personal endeavors and include

crowd-funding. Dr Jane Kengeya Kayondo from the Africa Research Excellence Fund says they focus on post-doctorate fellowships, people who have got their PhD but only within the last five years and are therefore too early in their careers for anyone to have noticed them. There are also African scientists who have abandoned research and gone on to do other things, or who left for Europe or the US at the first opportunity.

"We want to retain them in Africa so they can use their excellent ideas here," Kayondo said.

(DW)

Details

Elangwe Pauline

15.Mar.2016

Hits: 3848

The leaders of the Indian company, Cameroon Automotive Industry (CAIC) have announced on Thursday that the first vehicles made in Cameroon should be in circulation next year. Roger Ndjakam, the local representative of the Indian company said the foundation stone will be laid on June 2016. The Cameroon government, through the Mission Planning and Industrial Zones Management has made available to the Indian company, a field of 15 hectares with right to extend as the project develops. 

The government has also allocated 1.5 billion FCFA to develop part of the site for the company to start work. Cameroon Concord gathered a process for the recruitment of 20 senior engineers and technicians who will be trained and serve as trainers during the project has began. During the meeting on Thursday, the Minister of Industry, Mines and Technological Development, also completed the installation of the steering and monitoring committee of the Indian project to build two car plants in Douala ( Littoral) and later in Kribi (south), where 18 hectares of land have already been identified at the industrial port complex. Government sources say it is an investment worth 92 billion FCFA which should create 4,000 jobs.

It is vital to include in this report that all foreign investments coming into the country are centered only in the Francophone zone. Dangote Cement that was original earmarked for Tombel in the South West region, was politically moved to Douala.

Details

Rita Akana

12.Mar.2016

Hits: 3578

The National Institute of Statistics says Cameroon is one of the pioneers in the Central African Sub region to possess a National Index for Statistics Development. The document was presented to stakeholders in Yaounde on March 10, 2016. It seeks to influence decision making in the development of the country. Officials of the National Institute of Statistics explained that the blueprint document is the first to be produced in Cameroon. The document reveals an appreciable level of data production and development in Cameroon which stands at over 0.63/1 or 63 per cent. It is a new beginning but shows strides made by the country in that sector, the Unit Head for Computer and Statistics in the Ministry of Arts and Culture stated. « Our statistical system is performant in the CEMAC sub region, » he disclosed. 

The Deputy Director General of the National Institute of Statistics, Joseph Guy Benjamin She Etoundi stressed on the need for the document to facilitate the collection of information for the national database. He stated that the index will serve as a measuring stick to setting up national development strategies. The National Index for Statistics Development is a 28-page document that spells out best practices on data collection. It was produced in 2015 and contains methodology and components for efficiency in use by institutions to gather data for decision taking. The index has components on governance, coordination, material and human resources as well as the volume of data collection, production and development.

Details

Cameroon Tribune

11.Mar.2016

Hits: 2030