Politics

It is five years now since the bank created to boost agricultural activities in the country was announced. Cameroonian farmers are certainly taken aback to see that such a long period has elapse without any possibility of them rushing to the bank to get the necessary finances to fund their activities. As the days pass by, hopes are rekindled with the setting up of the structures therein to enable the bank effectively go operational. The bank’s administration has been set up and the initial capital put in place to enable the institution functional. But on the ground, nothing has changed.

This state of affairs has been troubling Cameroonians, considering that agriculture represents more than half of the country’s non-oil export revenue and employs almost 60 per cent of the working population. Ninety per cent of rural households are, in one way or another, employed in agriculture, and approximately one-third of them earn their living from export crops. The announcement by the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry of the setting up of microfinance in charge of supporting farmers and ensuring their social security is another welcome initiative.

Farmers, in effect, received the news with mixed feeling especially as they haven’t been able to reap the fruit of the much pampered agriculture bank. In any case, they have continued to operate within their historic precincts financing their activities with their meagre savings, Njangis, contributions, common initiative groups and cooperative societies. In addition, pending the effective functioning of the agricultural bank and the microfinance institutions, government has not stopped providing subventions to farmers through their various cooperatives and other groups. This is being done through the various projects in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Some of them include: projects in charge of in-puts such as fertilizers, chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides) and seedlings. But this has not been enough to solve the problem.

Agriculture, it should be recalled, is more of a private sector economic activity. Government’s action should in the real sense constitute assistance. Unfortunately, many Cameroonians continue to think that government must play a primordial role in developing the sector. This entails that the creation of financial institutions ought not to be the sole source of funding for many a farmer. That said, local financial institutions of the private sector have not been of great assistance to the agric sector. Commercial banks for instance, continue to see agriculture as a highly risky sector and so, are not ready to give out loans to farmers. The conditions remain draconian. And whenever such loans do come in, there is sometimes lack of follow up to ensure that such projects are effectively implemented. It is not the first time a bank is being created to promote agriculture in Cameroon.

The faith of the Rural Development Fund (FONADER) remains engraved in many minds. Created for farmers, the bank became a financial haven for the well-to-do. At the end of the day, loans were disbursed to people who were neither agriculturalists nor potential ones. The announcement of another bank brought back minds to the woes of FONADER and this explains why many continue to think and wish that the slow takeoff of the new structure should be a measure to avoid the errors of the past.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Oct.2015

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Central African Republic will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 13, the electoral commission said on Wednesday, reviving delayed efforts to restore democracy in a country rocked by fighting since 2013. The polls were initially to have been held on Oct. 18 but were postponed, in part due to violence in the capital.

A run-off presidential vote will be held on Jan. 24 if needed, state radio said. The elections are intended to usher in a government with authority to restore order in one of Africa's most turbulent states and pave the way for the departure of U.N. and French peacekeepers. Central African Republic was plunged into turmoil in 2013 when Muslim rebels from an umbrella group called Seleka seized power in the majority-Christian country.

Seleka handed power to a transitional government in 2014 under international pressure but months of violence followed, killing thousands and resulting in the effective partition of the country. The murder of a Muslim man in the capital in late September triggered inter-communal violence that killed at least 40 people, forced 40,000 to flee and destroyed homes, shops and humanitarian offices.

In August a transitional council adopted a new constitution, which will be put to a referendum one week before the elections, the radio said. All the main political groups say they support it so it is likely to be adopted.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Oct.2015

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It is five years now since the bank created to boost agricultural activities in the country was announced. Cameroonian farmers are certainly taken aback to see that such a long period has elapse without any possibility of them rushing to the bank to get the necessary finances to fund their activities. As the days pass by, hopes are rekindled with the setting up of the structures therein to enable the bank effectively go operational. The bank’s administration has been set up and the initial capital put in place to enable the institution functional. But on the ground, nothing has changed.

This state of affairs has been troubling Cameroonians, considering that agriculture represents more than half of the country’s non-oil export revenue and employs almost 60 per cent of the working population. Ninety per cent of rural households are, in one way or another, employed in agriculture, and approximately one-third of them earn their living from export crops. The announcement by the Chamber of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Forestry of the setting up of microfinance in charge of supporting farmers and ensuring their social security is another welcome initiative.

Farmers, in effect, received the news with mixed feeling especially as they haven’t been able to reap the fruit of the much pampered agriculture bank. In any case, they have continued to operate within their historic precincts financing their activities with their meagre savings, Njangis, contributions, common initiative groups and cooperative societies. In addition, pending the effective functioning of the agricultural bank and the microfinance institutions, government has not stopped providing subventions to farmers through their various cooperatives and other groups. This is being done through the various projects in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Some of them include: projects in charge of in-puts such as fertilizers, chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides) and seedlings. But this has not been enough to solve the problem.

Agriculture, it should be recalled, is more of a private sector economic activity. Government’s action should in the real sense constitute assistance. Unfortunately, many Cameroonians continue to think that government must play a primordial role in developing the sector. This entails that the creation of financial institutions ought not to be the sole source of funding for many a farmer. That said, local financial institutions of the private sector have not been of great assistance to the agric sector. Commercial banks for instance, continue to see agriculture as a highly risky sector and so, are not ready to give out loans to farmers. The conditions remain draconian. And whenever such loans do come in, there is sometimes lack of follow up to ensure that such projects are effectively implemented. It is not the first time a bank is being created to promote agriculture in Cameroon.

The faith of the Rural Development Fund (FONADER) remains engraved in many minds. Created for farmers, the bank became a financial haven for the well-to-do. At the end of the day, loans were disbursed to people who were neither agriculturalists nor potential ones. The announcement of another bank brought back minds to the woes of FONADER and this explains why many continue to think and wish that the slow takeoff of the new structure should be a measure to avoid the errors of the past.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

29.Oct.2015

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Boko Haram militants launched an onslaught on the Cameroonian village of Yam Gazawa, late on Monday burning down buildings and stealing livestock. The attackers completely destroyed 9 houses - including the home of the traditional ruler and killed two of his relatives. Yam Gazawa is located in the Maya Tsanaga Division in the Far North region.

In another attack on Wednesday, a member of a non state policing group in Mora was murdered by Boko Haram fighters. Our intelligence officers in the Far North region are now saying that both the Cameroon government spokesman and minister of communications, Issa Tchiroma Bakary and the Cameroon military spokes person, Colonel Didier Badject have politicized the coverage of the war against the Nigerian Islamic sect.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Oct.2015

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The health of the Vice Prime Minister at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of relations with the assemblies, Amadou Ali, has reportedly improved and the patriarch of Kolofata is responding to treatment. However, Cameroon Concord has learnt that the health of the ageing Vice Prime Minister has created tension within cabinet circles involving Prime Minister Yang Philemon and the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Planning, Abdoulaye Yaouba.

A request by Minister Abdoulaye Yaouba to visit Amadou Ali his political Godfather in a French hospital, met with a stone wall in the Star Building putting both men at daggers-drawn positions. The premier categorically refused the request stating to Hon. Yaouba Abdoulaye “You are not a member of the Vice Prime Minister’s family.”

This kind of “du jamais vu” rebuff that is not very common in CPDM leadership has angered some members of government who usually travel abroad for lame and ridiculous reasons.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Oct.2015

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Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting grouping India and her African partners officially opened on 27 October 2015 in New Delhi. The Heads of State and Government from Africa or their representatives who are in New Delhi, for the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) will have two draft documents to approve as they meet this 29 October 2015 to examine ways of facing issues that affect their people. One is called a Draft Political Declaration and the other, the Africa-India Framework for Strategic Cooperation. Experts from the African continent and their Indian colleagues met in New Delhi on Monday 26 October to fine-tune the documents which the Cameroon Minister of External Relations, Lejeune Mbella Mbella taking the floor in the 4th position yesterday 27 October 2015 qualified the draft as excellent.

Having as theme, “Reinvigorated Partnership, Shared Vision,” the IAFS which is the most representative ever in terms of representation and participation is out to reassert Africa and India on the global stage as they both look for solutions to their common problems. The Minister of External Affairs of India, Sushma-Swaraj who co-chaired the opening ceremony of the Foreign Affairs Ministers with his colleague from Zimbabwe, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi outlined some of the concerns that India and Africa face saying their historical ties and common challenges warrant that they work collectively in order to meet global challenges. Most foreign Ministers who took turns to speak at the opening ceremony noted that since the first summit in India in 2008 and the second in Addis Ababa in 2011 their gatherings have been “a celebration of the close partnership between Africa and India.

It is an acknowledgement of our shared history as well as our future prospects. From our struggle against colonialism and apartheid, we have emerged to jointly accept the challenges of a globalizing world,” they argued. They equally agreed that financing for development is critical in pushing forward their common ambitions and in ensuring better living conditions for the over two billion inhabitants of India and Africa. Their exclusion from major world decision-making structures like the United Nations Security Council has been another issue echoed by most speakers at the opening session of the Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting in New Delhi . From Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, South Africa, Cameroon and others all the Foreign Affairs Ministers expressed the determination of their countries to press harder for the voice of Africa and India to be taken into consideration as they constitute about a third of the world’s population and can no longer wait and watch others decide for them.

Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella pointed to the global challenge of terrorism which he said is holding back development and progress in India and Africa. He cited the case of Boko Haram extremists now wreaking havoc in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon saying such retrograde forces require a multilateral approach to be stifled. All parties hope that consultations at the highest political levels will give a new thrust to their age-old partnership by providing opportunities to redefine the future together. Meeting at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi, the Foreign Affairs Ministers after the official opening ceremony also had bilateral discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India to look at issues relating to their specific countries and India. Within that context, Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella of Cameroon met Honourable Ms Sushma-Swaraj at 15:22 PM local time (10:40 AM in Cameroon). In all, trade, telecommunications, agriculture, education, healthcare, climate change, blue economy, investments, technological development are some of the topics that figure prominently on the agenda of the summit which continues today with the Foreign Ministers finalizing the draft documents for adoption by the Heads of State and Government tomorrow.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Oct.2015

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