Monthly Archives: September 2026

Trump picks former Yaoundé security official Christian Ehrhardt as U.S. ambassador nominee to Cameroon

30, September 2026

Trump picks former Yaoundé security official Christian Ehrhardt as U.S. ambassador nominee to Cameroon 0

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated a diplomat with previous experience in Cameroon to lead the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé. On September 28, 2026, Trump sent the Senate the nomination of Christian Ehrhardt, also known in Cameroon as Christian Jové Ehrhardt, to serve as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cameroon. The White House identifies him as being from New York State.

The process is not yet complete. The U.S. Senate registered his nomination under reference PN1367-3 and referred it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Until the Senate confirms him, Ehrhardt cannot formally take office as ambassador.

Washington’s choice could return to Yaoundé a diplomat who previously worked there as regional security officer at the U.S. Embassy. In 2018, the Cameroonian government made him a Knight of the Order of Valor.

More recently, Ehrhardt returned to Cameroon in November 2025 in a different role, at a time when Washington was putting in place its policy of deporting migrants to third countries.

Nearly two decades in diplomatic security

Ehrhardt is a career U.S. Foreign Service officer. He joined the State Department in 2007 and has spent most of his career in diplomatic security, particularly the protection of U.S. embassies.

The Washington Post, which has detailed his career, reported that he spent nearly two decades in that field before he was called to Washington in 2025.

His assignments included Cameroon. He has also served in several other countries, including Algeria, Jamaica and the Central African Republic. Professional biographies circulated after his nomination also cite assignments in Sudan, Chad, Haiti, Libya and Iraq.

Ehrhardt graduated from St. Lawrence University and the U.S. Naval War College and speaks French and Spanish.

His career took a different direction in 2025. Ehrhardt now serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

He also oversees the Office of Remigration, a unit of about 15 people established as part of the Trump administration’s reorganization of its external migration policy.

The office negotiates with foreign governments to accept people deported from the United States who are not citizens of the countries to which they are transferred. These so-called third-country agreements are now part of the responsibilities held by the diplomat nominated for the Yaoundé post.

A return to Cameroon in November 2025

Cameroon was among the countries Ehrhardt visited after he took up his position in Washington.

On November 20, 2025, Félix Mbayu, Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Cooperation with the Commonwealth, received him in Yaoundé.

Ehrhardt led a delegation from Washington that included White House officials, according to Cameroon Tribune. Christopher J. Lamora, the U.S. ambassador at the time, also attended the meeting. After the talks, both sides publicly emphasized humanitarian, health and security cooperation. “The United States and Cameroon have been friends for many years and will continue to be,” Ehrhardt told reporters before referring to continued engagement between Washington and Yaoundé.

The Cameroonian Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic bulletin also records the meeting, although it dates it November 11, 2025, rather than November 20 as reported by Cameroon Tribune. The two sources nevertheless agree on the participants and the subjects officially discussed: humanitarian assistance, public health and regional security.

Since then, an investigation by the Washington Post, conducted as part of the “Deportation Project” coordinated by Forbidden Stories, has provided another perspective on the visit.

According to internal State Department documents reviewed by the U.S. newspaper, Ehrhardt played a central role in negotiations with several African countries to accept people deported from the United States who were not their citizens.

Up to 1,000 deportees planned for Cameroon

Cameroon is part of that arrangement. According to the Washington Post, the State Department reached an agreement with Yaoundé that allows the transfer of up to 1,000 third-country nationals to Cameroon.

By the end of June 2026, 36 people had already been deported from the United States to Cameroon under the arrangement, according to internal U.S. documents reviewed by the newspaper.

The financial component, however, requires an important distinction. The documents cited by the Washington Post do not show that Washington simply paid the Cameroonian government $30 million in exchange for accepting the deportees. Instead, the newspaper reported that the agreement provides for a $30 million grant to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to finance support activities in Cameroon.

The newspaper’s broader investigation found that the mechanism extends beyond Cameroon. By the end of June, the Trump administration had committed or pledged at least $410 million under similar arrangements with several dozen countries.

Some of the money goes directly to governments, while other funds pass through the IOM or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Officials from those organizations told the Washington Post that they did not participate in negotiations over the deportation agreements themselves.

Ehrhardt’s nomination therefore comes at a time when a diplomat responsible for part of the U.S. administration’s migration policy could become Washington’s principal representative in one of the countries with which he helped establish that system.

Embassy without a confirmed ambassador since January

The U.S. ambassadorial post in Cameroon has been without a permanent holder since Christopher J. Lamora left in January 2026.

Lamora arrived in Cameroon in March 2022 and held farewell meetings with Cameroonian authorities in early January. On January 12, he was notably received by External Relations Minister Lejeune Mbella Mbella before another meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. Since his departure, the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé has operated under acting Chargé d’Affaires John G. Robinson.

If the Senate confirms his nomination, Christian Jové Ehrhardt would therefore return to Cameroon with two experiences directly connected to the country: his previous service as a security official at the U.S. Embassy, for which Yaoundé honored him in 2018, and his role as a U.S. official involved in negotiations that made Cameroon a destination for third-country nationals deported from the United States.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Families demand justice for Cameroon’s ‘nightmare’ wave of murdered women

29, September 2026

Families demand justice for Cameroon’s ‘nightmare’ wave of murdered women 0

Courage Anushuni still cannot make sense of his pain after his mother Cameroonian teacher Geraldine Achia was beaten to death, with her husband the prime suspect.

“Having lost my mother is a nightmare. The shock is overwhelming. I cannot believe what happened,” said the 18-year-old, Achia’s only son, choking up as the words came out.

Anushuni is far from alone in the central African country where gender-based violence is on the rise.

Between January and April, around 50 femicides were recorded in Cameroon, according to the ministry for women and the family.

The figure matches that for the whole of 2023, climbing to 67 femicides reported in 2024 and 77 last year.

Last month alone saw nearly 10 women killed, the Stop Feminicides 237 (Stop Femicide 237) organisation said.

The growing toll has sparked anger from rights groups and the opposition, who accuse 93-year-old President Paul Biya’s government of inaction.

Even Ajara Nchout Njoya, star striker on the Cameroon national women’s football team, has spoken out, with her criticism of the “tragic wave” of femicides going viral on social media.

“Being a woman in Cameroon should never be a risk,” she wrote in late August.

– ‘Jaw broken’ –

At the home of Achia’s older sister in Emana, a working-class neighbourhood of the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, relatives set about organising her funeral, while struggling with the loss.

Surrounded by her family, Regina Mbatiabuh Ngukum became emotional as she described arriving at hospital to find her sister’s body laid under a sheet.

“I saw her disfigured face, covered with bruises from the blows, her mouth torn up and her jaw broken,” she told AFP.

Achia, who was in her 30s, met her husband in December and they married in a traditional wedding in July.

On the night she was killed between September 5 and 6, he said the pair got into an argument after Achia went on a night out, following which she came home with a half-empty beer bottle in her hand.

Her sister, who is adamant that Achia did not go out drinking, disputes that version of events.

At the hospital, she recovered her sister’s phone and discovered, while still in shock, a series of photos with Achia’s face covered in bruises.

– A murder every 10 minutes –

Senator Francoise Puene, who has been involved in the struggle for women’s rights for years, said several issues were behind the rise in murders.

“Women are speaking out more and more, but the economic crisis is also a factor. Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, violence has escalated,” the politician said.

Through her centre, Puene said she had helped more than 5,000 women become independent through small-scale loans, while teaching more than 300,000 people about women’s rights.

“According to the statistics, we’re seeing a murder every 10 minutes,” she told AFP.

“Just since you started interviewing me, two women have been murdered,” she said.

Psychiatrist Laure Justine Menguene blames a patriarchal society and a violent education where men “grow up with the idea that they are superior to women”.

Viviane Tathi Yende, whose Stop Feminicides 237 organisation has recorded 56 killings since the beginning of 2026, points the finger at alcohol and drug abuse, economic issues, tensions between traditional and modern ways of life and a feeling that abusers escape punishment.

“There is a great deal of impunity and a taboo around prosecuting the perpetrators of violence. Time and time again, the preference is for an out-of-court settlement,” she lamented.

– ‘Justice be done’ –

At the heart of the debate is how woman-killers are tried in the Cameroonian courts.

The law currently does not recognise femicide as a separate crime from murder.

“As long as there is no specific law, each judge will base their rulings on the facts presented to them and the criminal code,” argues investigating magistrate Martine Ahanda Tana.

For the judge, a law clearly defining femicide as a separate crime would allow the killing of women to be punished appropriately.

In response to the outcry, the family and women’s ministry announced last month that a bill on the issue — which has been in the works for years — will be considered during parliament’s November session after gaining widespread support.

But the sluggish pace of progress has been condemned.

The opposition MRC party has criticised the “criminal passivity” of the government of Biya, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist for nearly 44 years.

After several women were murdered between August 6 and 26 — some in the presence of their children — Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to take immediate action against gender-based violence.

“These killings are the latest signs that women in Cameroon, including domestic violence victims and survivors, have little protection or access to justice,” the watchdog said.

It accused the government of having “made a lot of promises to women” without keeping them.

The scourge is a continent-wide one: Africa has the highest femicide rate in the world, according to the United Nations, with three cases per 100,000 women, compared with 0.5 in Europe.

Several days after Achia’s death, her husband, who denies having killed his wife, was arrested more than 300 kilometres (186 miles) away from Yaounde and remains in detention.

Anushuni, who faces having to bury his mother, has but one wish: “that justice be done”.

Culled from AFP

Douala Convention calls for wider use of capital markets to finance CEMAC economies

29, September 2026

Douala Convention calls for wider use of capital markets to finance CEMAC economies 0

The first Diamond Capital Convention ended in Douala on September 25 with financial market operators calling for stronger financial education, more investment products, and greater use of capital markets to finance businesses and economies across Central Africa. Organized by Almasi Capital & Advisory from September 23 to 25, the three-day event brought together nearly 3,000 participants, according to the organizers. Discussions focused on financial education, legal and operational security in financial markets, and ways to channel more savings into productive investment.

The convention comes as the Central African financial market is expanding but continues to have a limited number of listed companies. At the end of 2025, the Central African Stock Exchange (BVMAC) had six listed companies and an equity market capitalization of CFAF 477.75 billion, according to data cited in a CEMAC report published by Cameroon’s Ministry of Economy. Free-float capitalization stood at CFAF 69.57 billion.

The market changed significantly in May 2026, when BGFI Holding Corporation became the seventh company listed on the Douala-based exchange. Its entry pushed BVMAC’s equity market capitalization from about CFAF 479 billion to CFAF 1.71 trillion, according to the exchange.

Financial education at center of market expansion

Against this backdrop, the Diamond Capital Convention sought to explain how the financial market works and expose participants to investment and financing options beyond traditional channels. Ingrid Obouh Fegue, Managing Director of Almasi Capital & Advisory and promoter of the convention, said attendance at the inaugural event showed strong public interest in the financial market. She added that the challenge now is to respond to that demand with more accessible information.

According to the organizers, financial education should begin earlier, from primary school through university, to build a broader pool of potential investors. Other proposals included improving transparency among companies, developing more suitable investment instruments, and strengthening the role of market intermediaries.

The convention also highlighted the need to diversify financing sources. Participants were told that bank credit alone cannot meet all financing needs, leaving room for bonds, investment funds, collective investment schemes, guarantees, securitization, and structured finance. Cameroon has increasingly used capital markets for public financing. The country raised CFAF 8.65 trillion from capital markets between 2010 and early 2025, including CFAF 1.2 trillion through BVMAC, according to Treasury figures reported by Business in Cameroon.

For participants, however, expanding the market also requires a stronger understanding of how financial products work. Joël Ekamby, who attended the convention, said the sessions provided practical knowledge on investment and asset management.

“Financial education is very important, especially for us in Africa. During the convention, I was able to gain knowledge, particularly about asset management, which is not yet firmly rooted in our habits,” Ekamby said.

BVMAC has also moved to expand the pool of potential issuers. In February 2026, the exchange launched BVMAC ESPro, an incubation program designed to prepare large companies and SMEs to access equity and bond financing. The exchange has set a target of reaching 100,000 securities accounts by the end of 2026.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Dion Ngute in Buea: Peace cannot be a slogan; Prime Minister must go beyond dialogue

29, September 2026

Dion Ngute in Buea: Peace cannot be a slogan; Prime Minister must go beyond dialogue 0

After nearly a decade of bloodshed in Southern Cameroons, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute’s renewed call for peace deserves attention. His recent engagement in Buea with administrative officials, traditional rulers, religious leaders, political and community figures is, in itself an acknowledgement that the conflict cannot simply be allowed to continue indefinitely. Reports from the September 2026 consultations indicate that authorities and community leaders are exploring dialogue, reconciliation and direct engagement with those still involved in the armed conflict.

But the central question is no longer whether Cameroon needs peace. The question is what kind of peace is being pursued and what political courage is required to achieve it.

Dion Ngute should listen again to the message Pope Leo XIV delivered during his April 2026 visit to Cameroon. Speaking to President Biya, the Holy Father said that peace must not be reduced to a slogan. He insisted that genuine peace must be lived and translated into institutional practice. The Pope also stressed that governing requires listening to citizens and involving them in the search for lasting solutions. That message goes to the heart of the Ambazonia crisis.

Peace cannot simply mean persuading a few remaining fighters to lay down their weapons while leaving untouched the political grievances that helped produce the conflict in the first place. Nor can peace be reduced to meetings in Buea, declarations from Yaoundé or the creation of another fund. Peace requires addressing the substance of the dispute.

If Ngute genuinely wants to leave behind a lasting settlement, he has an opportunity that goes beyond convening traditional rulers and religious leaders. As Head of Government and a prominent Anglophone figure, he can take the concerns emerging from the conflict directly to President Paul Biya and insist that the government examine the political questions that have remained unresolved. One such question is the fate of imprisoned Anglophone separatist leaders, including Sisiku Ayuk Tabe.

The Sisiku Ayuk Tabe issue has acquired renewed legal significance. In March 2026, Cameroon’s Supreme Court reportedly annulled the previous appellate proceedings involving Ayuk Tabe and other separatist leaders and ordered a fresh hearing before a differently constituted panel. That development creates an opening for the government to consider whether continued imprisonment is compatible with a broader process of reconciliation and political dialogue.

A comprehensive peace initiative should therefore place the release of political detainees and prisoners connected to the Anglophone conflict on the negotiating table, alongside credible guarantees for justice and accountability for abuses committed by all sides. The second—and perhaps more fundamental—question is constitutional.

There is historical evidence that the Cameroon created at reunification in 1961 was a federation of two constituent states. Cameroon’s own National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism describes the establishment of the Federal Republic of Cameroon on 1 October 1961, while British parliamentary records from the period document the agreement that reunification would take place on a federal basis. The federal system was subsequently replaced by a unitary structure following the 1972 referendum.

Whether a restoration of the 1961 federal arrangement is ultimately acceptable to the Cameroonian state and its citizens is a political question for negotiation. But it cannot simply be dismissed from the peace conversation if it remains one of the central constitutional demands associated with the Ambazonia crisis. Prime Minister Ngute therefore has a choice before him.

Prime Minister Ngute can continue to promote community dialogue, peace funds and appeals to fighters to surrender. Those initiatives may have a role. But if they are not accompanied by a serious examination of the political grievances at the centre of the conflict, they risk treating the symptoms while leaving the underlying dispute unresolved.

Pope Leo’s intervention provides a useful standard: peace must be more than language; it must become reality. During his visit to Bamenda, the Pope listened to traditional, religious and community representatives and emphasized reconciliation and peace in a region deeply affected by the conflict.

For Ngute, the real test is therefore not how many meetings he holds in Buea. It is whether he is prepared to carry the difficult message from the people of the Northwest and Southwest to the highest level of government.

We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are of the opinion that Ngute should sit with President Biya and present an informed assessment of what is required for a political settlement: the humanitarian and legal questions surrounding detained Anglophone leaders, the release or review of cases involving conflict-related detainees, meaningful engagement with representatives of the various sides, and serious consideration of constitutional arrangements—including the federal option that existed at reunification in 1961. That would transform the current peace initiative from another government program into a genuine attempt at political reconciliation.

Dion Ngute has repeatedly occupied a difficult position: he is a senior representative of the government, an Anglophone son of the country with numerous wives coming from both sides of the river Mungo. That gives Ngute an unusual responsibility. His legacy will not ultimately be determined by the number of peace meetings he convenes, nor by the size of a peace fund. It will be judged by whether he used his position to confront the difficult political questions that have kept Cameroon’s English-speaking regions at war.

The time for peace slogans has passed. The time for political courage has arrived. If the current initiative is to succeed, Yaoundé must be prepared not merely to ask the remaining fighters to come out of the bushes, but also to ask what political settlement would make it possible for them—and the communities they claim to represent—to believe that there is a future worth returning to.

That is the deeper meaning of Pope Leo XIV’s message. Peace is not a slogan. It is a political commitment, a constitutional conversation, and ultimately a choice to confront grievances rather than postpone them.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Former Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn is set to travel to Douala

28, September 2026

Former Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn is set to travel to Douala 0

Former Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn is set to travel to Cameroon for the Experience Summit 2026 in Douala, marking his first executive keynote in Africa.

The event will take place on October 1 and 2, with Kahn delivering a keynote focused on leadership, innovation and team performance.

Kahn, who left his Bayern role in 2023, announced his upcoming trip on X with the message: “Douala, see you on October 1.”

The 57-year-old has also continued to follow elite football closely. In a recent LinkedIn post, Kahn warned Germany coach Jurgen Klopp that “the biggest risk for Klopp is the enthusiasm surrounding Klopp” after Germany drew 1-1 with the Netherlands before losing 1-0 to Greece.

Source: Tribuna.com:

Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass in Paris draws many more than expected

27, September 2026

Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass in Paris draws many more than expected 0

Pope Leo XIV’s open-air Mass on Saturday proved to be a huge event, drawing 200,000 more people than had registered to attend.

The event drew people of various faiths and ages, highlighting the church’s enduring influence despite secular trends.

Here, according to estimates from the organizers and the Paris police department, are some of the eye-popping numbers:

600,000: the number of people who registered to attend the Mass.

800,000: the Vatican’s estimated number of people who actually turned up.

2,400: priests and deacons, plus about 100 bishops.

About 3 kilometers (nearly two miles): the length of the security zone closed to road traffic for the event — stretching from Place de la Concorde, up the Champs-Elysées and past the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the famous avenue.

Dozens: babies and young children that people brought out of the crowd to receive a papal caress on the head from Leo as he rode slowly down the Champs-Elysées aboard the popemobile.

4 meters (13 feet): the top-to-bottom length of a golden cross hung above the stage on Concorde Plaza.

14,500: police officers, gendarmes, military personnel and firefighters mobilized in Paris for the second day of the papal visit.

27 million: the expected cost of the visit in euros (the equivalent to nearly $31 million).

Culled from Crux

Chinese firms hold 66% of major road contracts in Northern Cameroon

27, September 2026

Chinese firms hold 66% of major road contracts in Northern Cameroon 0

Chinese companies account for nearly CFAF 306 billion in road construction contracts across Cameroon’s Adamawa, North and Far North regions. Of the roughly CFAF 465 billion in major road projects currently listed in those regions, Chinese contractors are carrying out 10 of the 16 contracts, representing about 66% of their combined value, according to a Public Works Ministry document reviewed by Business in Cameroon.

Chinese contractors are involved in four road programs: reconstruction of the Ngaoundéré-Garoua road, construction of the Maroua-Bogo-Pouss road, rehabilitation of the Maroua-Moutourwa and Magada-Yagoua sections under the Far North Territorial Development Project (PAT), and rehabilitation of the Mora-Kousseri road. The projects are financed in part by the African Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank, with counterpart funding from the Cameroonian government.

However, the scale of those awards contrasts with slow progress on several projects. On Ngaoundéré-Garoua, all five lots were awarded to Chinese companies, and none is more than 5% complete 10 months after work began. On Magada-Yagoua, the Sinohydro/Stecol consortium has completed between 14% and 19% of the work even though more than 80% of the contract period has passed.

Zhonglin International Construction, which is handling one section of Mora-Kousseri, received a formal notice on September 2, 2026, for failing to deploy enough supervisory staff. The ministry has threatened to terminate the contract if the company does not address the shortcomings identified.

CCCC Holds Nearly CFAF 88 Billion in Contracts

Among the Chinese groups involved, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has the largest contract portfolio, through two subsidiaries. China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC) is carrying out two Ngaoundéré-Garoua lots worth about CFAF 58.8 billion, while China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) has another lot valued at CFAF 29.2 billion. Together, the contracts are worth nearly CFAF 88 billion.

The Sinohydro/Stecol consortium, formed by two PowerChina subsidiaries, has contracts worth CFAF 68.6 billion for the Magada-Guidiguis and Guidiguis-Yagoua sections of the PAT. CGCOC Group was awarded about CFAF 63.3 billion in contracts covering Ngaoundéré-Garoua and Maroua-Bogo-Pouss.

China International Water & Electric is also working on Ngaoundéré-Garoua under a CFAF 26.1 billion contract. Xinjiang Communications Construction Group has a CFAF 24.1 billion contract on Maroua-Bogo-Pouss, while Zhonglin International Construction is working under contracts worth CFAF 35.5 billion on Mora-Kousseri.

Sotcocog Is the Main Non-Chinese Contractor

The remaining contracts are spread among several non-Chinese contractors. Chadian company Sotcocog, which has operated in Cameroon since 2011, is involved in three contracts worth about CFAF 75 billion, including projects carried out with STAPORT. It is working on Maroua-Moutourwa and on two Mora-Kousseri lots.

Progress also varies across its projects. The Sotcocog/STAPORT consortium received a formal notice on September 21, 2026, over the Maroua-Moutourwa project. By contrast, SOTCOCOG is nearing completion of the Mora-Tchakamari section of the Mora-Kousseri road, where work is about 93% complete.

Two other consortia are working on Mora-Kousseri: SOMAF, partnered with Turkey’s Metag İnşaat, under contracts worth about CFAF 38 billion excluding taxes, and the Nigerian consortium AA Hatlad Construction-JFA Construction, with contracts worth about CFAF 47 billion excluding taxes. Cameroonian companies have only a limited presence as lead contractors on these major road projects, many of which are backed by international lenders.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Pentagon quietly adds dozens to tally of troops wounded amid war on Iran

26, September 2026

Pentagon quietly adds dozens to tally of troops wounded amid war on Iran 0

The United States Department of War has quietly added dozens to the tally of troops wounded amid the unprovoked war on Iran, the database shows.

A web portal for the War Department this week increased the total number of personnel wounded since the start of the illegal US-Israeli military aggression against Iran to 861.

Data published on the Defense Casualty Analysis System, also known as the DCAS database, publicly shows that 29 US sailors and eight Marines had been added to the list of wounded military personnel this week.

According to a review of the Pentagon’s public database of personnel killed and wounded during US conflicts and other offensives overseas, the first three members of the US military were killed, and five more were wounded on March 1 in the war against Iran.

Hundreds more have been added to the database since then, with the Pentagon increasing the tally by 37 this week without offering any explanations from military officials.

Earlier this month, The Washington Post, in a report citing six Department of War insiders, revealed that more American forces have died across the West Asia region during the US-Israeli war on Iran than are reflected in the US Department of War’s publicly available “casualty records.”

The insiders, who were described as being familiar with the department’s internal casualty accounting data, told the newspaper that at least 22 US military personnel had died, four more than the 18 fatalities listed by the department’s “Defense Casualty Analysis System.”

Iran has experienced two major rounds of unprovoked US-Israeli military aggression over the past Iranian year (March 2025-March 2026).

The first was a 12-day war in June 2025, during which more than 1,000 people were killed in Iran, including women and children, according to Iranian official figures.

The second round began on February 28, when joint US-Israeli strikes targeted locations across Iran.

The war continued for around 40 days before a ceasefire was reached in April. Iranian health authorities reported that more than 3,500 people were killed during the aggression, including hundreds of women and children.

The two rounds of attacks also resulted in the martyrdom of dozens of senior Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists, as well as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Civilian and economic infrastructure was also damaged in several parts of the country.

During both wars, Iranian armed forces responded with forceful retaliatory strikes against the attacking forces, while maintaining military pressure that contributed to the eventual ceasefire.

Manyu Division: ‘NguidEjagham’ App Launched

24, September 2026

Manyu Division: ‘NguidEjagham’ App Launched 0

In a historic milestone for the preservation of cultural heritage, the Nguid Ejagham Development Initiative in a dynamic cooperation with Ekume Ejagham NRW Germany has officially launched “Nguid Ejagham (Ejagham Academy),” a groundbreaking web-based application designed to revitalize and sustain the Ejagham language. Accessible globally at https://ejagham.org, this digital platform serves as a modern bridge connecting the indigenous Ejagham people of Manyu Division, Cameroon, to their linguistic roots, no matter where they reside in the world.

The primary objective of the initiative is to enhance the daily use and learning of the Ejagham language, focusing specifically on the dialect spoken in Central Ejagham within Eyumojock Sub-division. In an increasingly globalized world where indigenous languages face the threat of erosion, “Nguid Ejagham (Ejagham Academy)” offers an innovative solution by transforming smartphones and computers into interactive classrooms.

The mastermind behind this technological feat is Tambendiparrah Tanyi, a German-trained engineer and professional Senior IT Consultant. Driven by a passion for his roots and a vision for digital cultural preservation, Mr. Tanyi spearheaded the technical development of the platform. To ensure the application met world-class standards, he built a collaboratively dedicated and talented technical team, including Mr. OjongTabot, a Senior Software test Lead, and Mr. Roland Eta, a pharma technical support engineer.

The resulting platform is an all-in-one educational ecosystem. The app features a comprehensive digital dictionary, grammar guides, and structured practice exercises to guide beginners and intermediate speakers alike. For advanced utility, it incorporates an AI-powered translator and an interactive AI Tutor. Users can also immerse themselves in Ejagham culture through curated stories, proverbs, idioms, daily phrases, and a dedicated culture map.

With the application now fully functional and publicly available, a global call to action is being extended to every Ejagham indigene across the diaspora—from Limbe, Buea, Kumba, Douala, Yaoundé to Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Community leaders emphasize that the success of this initiative relies entirely on community ownership.

Parents are highly encouraged to use the application to teach their children the language of their ancestors, ensuring that the next generation does not lose its identity. Likewise, adults wishing to improve their fluency or reconnect with their heritage are urged to integrate the app into their daily routines.

The Nguid Ejagham Development Initiative calls upon all sons and daughters of Manyu to not only actively use the platform but to support its growth through continuous engagement and advocacy. By embracing this digital tool, the Ejagham community can ensure that their beautiful language remains vibrant, spoken, and celebrated for generations to come.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in Mulheim, Germany

Enugu Air launches first international route with 2 weekly Enugu-Douala flights

24, September 2026

Enugu Air launches first international route with 2 weekly Enugu-Douala flights 0

Nigerian carrier Enugu Air launched its first international service on September 23, 2026, with a direct route between Enugu and Douala that gives Cameroon a new air connection to southeast Nigeria.

The airline, which is owned by Enugu State, will operate two flights a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, with a 76-seat Embraer E170. Douala becomes its first international destination.

The inaugural aircraft departed Akanu Ibiam International Airport and landed at Douala International Airport, where officials held a welcoming ceremony, before it returned to Enugu. The flight confirmed the start of a route announced a few days earlier.

Flights from Enugu are scheduled to depart at 12:45 p.m. and arrive in Douala at 1:45 p.m. Return flights will leave Douala at 2:30 p.m. and reach Enugu at 3:30 p.m.

Ugonna Agubuokwu, director of operations, said the schedule was designed in part to provide connections with Lagos and Abuja. Enugu Air already serves Port Harcourt, Kano, Owerri, Asaba, Benin City and Warri within Nigeria.

“Today, we take our first major step beyond Nigeria. Enugu to Douala. Nigeria to Cameroon. The Southeast to Central Africa. And this is only the beginning,” Enugu Air Managing Director Tolu Ita said at the launch.

A New Gateway to Southeast Nigeria

Enugu Air is not the first airline to offer direct flights between Nigeria and Cameroon. Air Peace already operates the Lagos-Douala route and still showed availability for subsequent weeks in September 2026.

The difference is the location of the new connection. Enugu Air links Douala directly with southeast Nigeria, which means air travelers no longer necessarily have to pass through Lagos to reach Enugu. The airline also offers connections to Douala through Enugu for passengers from Lagos and Abuja. The flight complements an existing land corridor centered on Enugu. The city forms the Nigerian end of the roughly 438-kilometer Yaoundé-Bamenda-Enugu corridor. On the Cameroon side, another 35 kilometers of the Babadjou-Bamenda section opened in September 2025.

The Ekok-Mfum bridge over the Cross River also forms part of the Bamenda-Mamfe-Abakaliki-Enugu route. The new service therefore adds an air connection to cross-border links that have largely relied on roads.

Trade Estimated at CFA414.12 Billion

The route also connects two countries with significant merchandise trade, much of which takes place outside formal customs channels. According to Cameroon’s National Institute of Statistics (INS), the country officially imported CFA149.83 billion worth of Nigerian goods in 2024 and exported CFA22.85 billion worth of goods to Nigeria.

The INS also estimated unrecorded imports from Nigeria at CFA176.58 billion and Cameroon’s exports outside formal channels at CFA64.86 billion. Combined, merchandise trade between the two countries would therefore have reached CFA414.12 billion in 2024. On the import side, informal trade accounted for 54.1% of the estimated CFA326.41 billion in goods that entered Cameroon from Nigeria.

The Enugu State government has highlighted these commercial ties as part of the case for the route. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, commissioner for Trade, Investment and Industry, said traders and manufacturers in southeast Nigeria previously had to use more complex routes to reach Central African markets. He said the Douala connection should shorten those journeys.

Two Weekly Flights, but No Traffic Forecast Yet

The key question is how much demand Enugu Air will find on the route. Neither the airline nor the Enugu State government has disclosed an annual passenger forecast, the inaugural flight’s load factor or a commercial target for the service.

Before the launch, the booking system reviewed by ch-aviation showed two weekly flights through October 28, 2026. That date reflected the booking horizon available at the time and does not mean the service will end after October.

Bookings beyond October, whether Enugu Air maintains its twice-weekly schedule and any future increase in frequency will provide the first indications of whether the route can establish itself over the longer term.

Source: Business in Cameroon

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