Business

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide financing worth FCfa 25 billion to the State of Cameroon, in order to be part of the construction of a road of 67.5 km between Mintom and Lélé, in South-Cameroon, we learned during a mission undertaken by the heads of JICA in Cameroon.

The road project is part of the Djoum-Ketta route, itself a component of the highway which should link Sangmélima (Cameroon) to Ouesso (Congo); which AfDB presents as "the missing link of the Yaoundé-Brazzaville intercapital". With this Japanese funding, Cameroon should be able to reach the necessary amount for the construction of the Cameroonian half of this cross-border highway.

As a reminder, the Cameroonian component of the Sangmélima-Ouesso road should cost FCfa 119.8 billion, of which the major part has already been raised through different investors such as BADEA, IDB, AfDB, the Saudi Development Fund, the Kuwait fund... The total length of road to work on covers 651 km, of which 335 km are in Congo and 216 km in Cameroon.

(BIC)

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

16.Dec.2015

Hits: 1335

Strangerconsulting, an online advertising and media design company, has launched its new website, pointers24.com. The cutting-edge website which features a unique and fresh user interface is currently focused on listings and  sales of goods in Cameroon for free.

Pointers24 is a totally free classifieds website where people are able to search  for items such as mobile devices, homes for rents, clothing, cars and bikes, furniture, household items, land for sale and many other  goods. This exclusive service by Pointers24 is intended for those wanting to buy or sell "everyday consumer items."

Pointers24 is offering a valuable service to its customers. For instance, free listings for flats and rooms to rent.Landlords or home owners could use the platform to advertise apartments,linking landlords and would-be tenants, car dealers could insert their cars for sale.Listings for Car rentals,jobs,services, electronics and other items all over Cameroon.Customers from Cameroon and elsewhere worldwide are able to check the classified listings online  and find the latest postings.

Pointers24 has a very active social media presence.Placing ads on pointers24 will bring in more potential buyers from Facebook and all other social media channels.According to the project manager of pointers24, all ads are shared on the company's Facebook page which tends to get a higher proportion of traffic to the listings.Placing an ad on pointers24.com will instantly  connect you directly with a potential buyer.

The website’s founder,Max Marcel  explains that pointers24 is a  vital necessity due to increased presence of internet devices and fast internet providers in Cameroon. People browse the internet more and  keywords related to searching  for goods online are generated from IP adresses originating from Cameroon on a minute by minute basis.

Eventhough the overall  internet penetration  rate in Cameroon is still low, compared to other sub-saharan countires, services like this  will help  boost  and  educate local traders more about how to use the  internet or how easy it is to potential buyers  on pointers24.com.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

16.Dec.2015

Hits: 2385

The Ministry of Public Contracts has launched activities to schedule contracts to be financed by the 2016 Public Investment Budget. The exercise kick-started in Yaounde on December 14, 2015 with the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts, Abba Sadou, disclosing that all is being done to publish tenders in January 2016 with all contracts expected to be signed by April. Minister Abba Sadou said his team was working towards enabling the execution of public contracts during eight months. The meetings are holding on the theme; “Challenge: Launch of Bids as from 1 January 2016, Signing of all Relevant Contracts Latest 30 April 2016: Through the Commitment Expected of all Stakeholders of the System.” Similar gatherings are expected to open in Regional headquarters with Governors to chair. The early scheduling of contracts seeks to surmount challenges that range from lateness in the launch of tenders to the non-respect of contract award procedures.

The lack of visibility with regard to contract award and the non-mastery of projects have also been pointed out. Minister Abba Sadou decried the fact that only a quarter of programmed contracts were received at the level of Central Tenders Boards as at August 201. The Minister revealed that 7,785 contracts for a cumulated amount of FCFA 1,496 billion were programmed. As at November 30, 2015, the Central Tenders Boards received 270 as against 430 tender files that were programmed. Over 99 per cent of tender files at the level of devolved services were forwarded with activities recording 100 per cent success. Contracts notified stand at 98 per cent with contracts executed at 80 per cent and already 60 per cent received. At the central level, over 95 per cent of tenders were launched with 90 per cent already signed and 30 per cent executed and received.

The ministry meted out sanctions to two persons and 47 enterprises in 2015 for malpractices. Procedures are equally underway against 140 companies for default or for abandoning construction sites. The implementation of the road map of the Ministry during 2013-2015 is said to have enabled the State to make budgetary savings of more than FCFA 300 billion. The Ministry of Public Contracts is banging on the operationalisation of the technical platform of the online procurement system dubbed the Cameroon Online E-procurement system, (COLEPS) to speed up the award and execution of 2016 public investment contracts. Over 736 project owners and delegated project owners, tender boards and private enterprises involved in public procurement have been trained on the use of the Korean innovation. Contractors are expected to henceforth compete for the award of contracts through a web portal from where they will monitor the process that goes right to the award of contracts and execution.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

15.Dec.2015

Hits: 1306

President Jacob Zuma appointed Pravin Gordhan as finance minister on Sunday, in a dramatic U-turn that gave South Africa its third finance chief in a week after a selling frenzy in the markets. The shock announcement restoring Gordhan to the post sent the rand surging nearly 5 percent on Sunday evening, but failed to quell a tide of criticism of the president. "This is reckless by President Zuma, he is playing Russian roulette with the South African economy," opposition Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said. Zuma sacked Nhlanhla Nene from the ministry late on Wednesday, sparking a wave of criticism and financial turmoil, and replaced him with the relatively unknown lawmaker David van Rooyen.

The removal of Nene, who was keen to rein in government spending in Africa's most industrialized economy, sent the rand currency to record lows, sparked a sell-off in bank stocks and sent yields in both local and dollar-denominated debt soaring. The JSE All-share index lost 169.6 billion rand ($10.68 billion) between Thursday and Friday. "Critics would say having a finance minister serving only two days doesn't bode well for the reputation of South Africa," said Mohammed Nalla, head of research at Nedbank Capital.

"International investors are probably thinking: Why didn’t the president make a much more considered decision in the first place?" Many economists had questioned van Rooyen's ability to steady an economy hammered by falling prices for commodity exports that range from coal to gold. Nene's reluctance to rubber-stamp an ambitious plan to build a number of nuclear power stations to ease severe electricity shortages, a project that might cost as much as $100 billion, is also seen as contributing to his downfall. "On the 9th of December 2015, I announced the appointment of a new Minister of Finance, Mr David van Rooyen," Sunday's statement from the presidency said.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

14.Dec.2015

Hits: 1453

The night of Thursday, December 10 to Friday, December 11, 2015 was certainly very long for Senators and cabinet ministers who took part in a plenary session consecrated to the adoption of the 2016 Finance Bill of the Republic of Cameroon. The Finance Bill which contains the 2016 State budget balanced in income and expenditure at FCFA 4,234.7 billion was adopted by the Senate during a more than eight-hour long plenary sitting that spilled over to about 6:45 am, Friday December 11, 2015, leading to the endorsement of the bill.

But before the adoption of the bill, cabinet ministers took turns to the rostrum of the Senate to respond to several questions within the framework of controlling government action. One of Senate’s Vice Presidents, Paul Tchatchouang who opened a series of questions to members of government quizzed the Minister of Finance on what government is doing to improve on the tourism sector in the wake of falling oil prices in order to boost State revenue. Alamine Ousmane Mey, in his response, stated that government is leaving no stone unturned in her quest to develop the tourism sector in the country. He said the 13^th session of the National Tourism Board chaired on Thursday December 10, 2015 by the Prime Minister has instituted accompanying standards to boost tourism potentials and hence increase revenue source.

On the payment of indemnities for those whose property have been damaged in the course of the construction of Yaounde-Douala express road as was asked by Senator Jean-Marie Mama, Finance Minister assured that compensation will be paid to them progressively. On whether the Finance Bill reflects the aspiration of grassroots people, Alamine Ousmane Mey reiterated that the proposed budget which was drafted with instructions from the President of the Republic, gives priority to poverty alleviation and attenuating high cost of living by increasing allocation of investment budget to growth-driven sectors like energy, agriculture, infrastructure amongst others.

Transport Minister, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o again was interrogated on the situation of the national airliner, Camair-Co. He told Senators that two audits are to be carried out by CONSUPE and an international firm (Boeing Consulting) as a prerequisite move to rejuvenate the company. After the autopsy of Camair-Co is completed, FCFA 30 billion will then be pumped in to resuscitate the ailing air carrier, he said. Other questions centered on road infrastructure, agriculture, programming of investment projects as well as civic education and moralization.

(Cameroon Tribune)

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

14.Dec.2015

Hits: 1448

The Cameroonian Minister of Small and Medum Size Enterprises(SME), Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, officially opened on 5 December 2015 in Douala, the 4^th edition of PmExchange, the SME show organised by Entreprises du Cameroun (ECAM), an employer’s group focused on the development and promotion of SMEs.

In total, 150 exhibitors are participating in PmExchange 2015, including Moroccan and French companies.

In addition to the trade fair, PmExchange 2015, which ends on 9 December, is marked by thematic workshops and B to B meetings between economic operator

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

10.Dec.2015

Hits: 1360