Business

The Director of the French Development Agency, Hervé Conan has said the agency in partnership with the Ministry of External Relations are working to get Cameroonian Diaspora to invest back home. He was speaking on January 20, 2016 in Yaounde shortly after his audience with the Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella. Hervé Conan revealed that the project to support the productive investment of the Cameroonian Diaspora was concluded on July 3, 2015 in the presence of the two Heads of State. For the past months, the document to recruit a focal person to pilot the project is being finalised. “We are examining ways to encourage Cameroon Diaspora to invest in their country of origin so that they can play a role in the economic development of their country”, Hervé Conan told the press after the audience. 

On the heels of the French Development Agency Director was the Ambassador of the Federation of Russia to Cameroon, His Excellency Nikolay Ratsiborinskiy who was also received in audience by the External Relations Minister. Both officials discussed on the state of relations between Cameroon and Russia and how to foster security, economic and diplomatic ties between both countries. Minister Mbella Mbella and the Russian Diplomat equally talked about the possibility of a meeting between President Putin’s representatives to the African Union submit in Addis Ababa and the Head of the Cameroonian Delegation to the AU summit. He described Africa’s bid to be represented in the UN Security Council as important.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Jan.2016

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The 2016 cocoa season is seemingly a better one for farmers with the price on a steady rise. Producers say the price a week ago stood at over FCFA 1,500, up from FCFA 1,000 per kilogramme same time last year. They say the international market is doing well, with transactions prompting an increase in prices. Demand has for some time surpassed supply, with market forces doing the rest. New customers/markets have come into play, with China, Eastern Europe and Africa (particularly Côte d’Ivoire with over 50 per cent of production that is evaluated at two million metric tonnes per annum) prompting price hikes. This notwithstanding, the price is not enjoyed by all cocoa producers, notes the National President of the Cameroon National Cocoa and Coffee Producers, André Belebenié. He explained that the price of cocoa per kilo might remain at FCFA 2,000 at the international level, but the FCFA 1,600 that will be given out to producers in Bokito in the Centre Region will not be the same amount paid to those in Nkonjock in the Littoral Region. 

“Cocoa farmers in some villages near Kumba in the South West Region, Yabassi in the Littoral Region and other villages in the East Region will barely sell their produce at FCFA 1,200 when business is at peak on the international market,” said Mr Belebenié. He explained that accessibilty and nearness to the Douala Seaport plays against many farmers who are in remote zones. The National President of the Cameroon National Cocoa and Coffee Producers disclosed that price increase also depends on the quantity of produce. Selling over 50 tonnes of cocoa can prompt an increment of FCFA 80 as against FCFA 20 for 10 tonnes. Group sales in cooperatives have contributed, with sellers appreciating quality and quantity. However, the prices fluctuated early this month and have since yesterday January 19, 2016 witnessed an increase in the international market. Government intends to scale up production to 600,000 tonnes by 2020 as against 200,000 today. Producers however wonder how production can stagnate at 200,000 tons for over five years at a time more investors are joining the sector.

The sector, according to Belebenié, is evolving and the country boasts of sustainable manpower added to its technical capacity. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Trade are however challenged to work out reliable figures for the cocoa sector in Cameroon. The association wants better implication of producers in the implementation of best practices as well as in support to decision-makers. Producers prefer direct subvention-farm tools and inputs as a means of scaling production, contributing to the country’s GDP and improving the lot of Cameroonians.

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Ngwa Bertrand

21.Jan.2016

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YAOUNDE - The local units of Orange and MTN owe Cameroon nearly $166 million in unpaid taxes, including on games, Cameroon's corruption board said on Wednesday.

A wide-reaching probe into the telecoms sector, carried out by anti-corruption commission CONAC, found that taxes totalling 176 billion CFA francs had gone unpaid from various companies, also including Camtel and Viettel. 

The amount paid by each company was not clear and the companies were not immediately available for comment.

The report is another blow for MTN, which is already contesting a $3.9 billion fine in Nigeria for failing to disconnect users with unregistered SIM cards.

Unregistered SIM cards can be used for criminal activity - a growing concern in Nigeria facing the threat of militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

MTN successfully lobbied to get the fine reduced from $5.2 billion in December.

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Ngwa Bertrand

21.Jan.2016

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The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has revealed that three mobile telecom operators have defrauded the state of over 176 billion FCFA. The commission that met on Tuesday, January 19, 2016, with the various stakeholders in the telecommunications sector in Cameroon named the three mobile operators as Orange, MTN Cameroon and Camtel. The anti corruption body also made some recommendations to clean up the sector. 

According to the report presented by the President of the NACC, Rev. Dr. Dieudonné Massi, the three telecom companies successfully duped the state due to irregularities in the mobile telecom service, tax evasion and unpaid royalties. The report of the Committee also denounced the deliberate silence of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART).

The anti corruption leaders noted that Cameroon Viettel, the newest mobile operator in Cameroon has simultaneously and illegally been operating under the name Nexttel, without any amendment to the concession agreement that binds it to the State of Cameroon.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Jan.2016

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During a consultation meeting organised on 13 January 2016 in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, the Minister of Trade and operators of the rice sector agreed not to pass on the rice import tax reinstated in Cameroon, on the final selling price of this foodstuff in the Cameroonian market.

An agreement which reassures consumers, who feared an increase in the price per kilogram of rice on the local market, from the moment the 2016 Finance bill comes into effect, in which the 5% tax on imported rice is reinstated, 8 years after its removal following the riots of end February 2008.

Rice is one of the food staples in Cameroon. But the country barely produces 100,000 tons, for a national demand of sometimes 300,000 tons per year. The gap is therefore filled in by massive imports, which officially cost about a hundred billion of FCfa per year.

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Ngwa Bertrand

17.Jan.2016

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The Cameroon Consumer League has accused two mobile telephone companies of false advertising and fraud on the 4G services. Both the South African and the French telecom giants have been dragged to court. In its first complaint, the Cameroon Consumer League noted that the South Africans and the French, engaged since December 16, 2015 to false advertising on the 4G network with the key promise to make the fastest connection on the Internet. It thus led consumers to shell out more money to access this alleged new service. 

The Telecommunications Regulatory Agency in Cameroon recently revealed that 4G is not yet effective because some important parameters of the specification books of these mobile operators are being developed. However, it refrained from punishing operators for false advertising vis-à-vis Cameroonian scam consumers. Correspondingly, the Cameroon Consumer League is demanding that both companies perform a damage control policy and pay compensation to customers and the payment of damages should be determined by the law. The trial court in Yaoundé, may decide the case on January 28, 2016.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Jan.2016

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