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Revealed: 2 Franklin Templeton Funds hold CFAF 2 billion in Cameroon bonds

26, October 2026

Revealed: 2 Franklin Templeton Funds hold CFAF 2 billion in Cameroon bonds 0

Two funds linked to U.S. asset manager Franklin Templeton held Cameroon sovereign bonds with a combined face value of €3.11 million (CFAF 2.04 billion) as of June 30, 2026, according to portfolio disclosures filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bonds carry an annual coupon of 5.95% and mature on July 7, 2032. Of the two funds, Templeton Global Dynamic Income Fund held the larger position, reporting €2.89 million in face value, equivalent to approximately CFAF 1.90 billion. The bonds had a market value of $2.96 million in its portfolio as of June 30, 2026.

The second fund, Putnam Master Intermediate Income Trust, held €220,000 in face value, equivalent to CFAF 144.3 million, with a market value of $225,216. The fund changed its name to Franklin Master Intermediate Income Trust in July 2026. The name change, announced on May 15, did not affect its PIM ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. Its June 30 portfolio statement therefore still used the former name.

Fund’s Cameroon Bond Holdings Decline From 2023 Levels

U.S. regulatory filings show that Putnam Master Intermediate Income Trust held Cameroon sovereign bonds before becoming part of Franklin Templeton. As of March 31, 2023, the fund reported €360,000 in face value, with a market value of $279,603. The fund held the bonds before Franklin Templeton acquired Putnam Investments, a transaction completed on January 1, 2024.

By September 30, 2025, the fund’s holdings had fallen to €320,000 in face value, valued at $309,844. Nine months later, the position had declined further to €220,000, a reduction of €100,000, or 31.25%, from the amount reported at the end of September 2025.

The filings reviewed do not identify the transaction dates or the specific transactions behind the decline. A third Franklin Templeton portfolio reported holdings of the same bonds. As of January 31, 2026, Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunities Fund held €2.13 million in face value, equivalent to nearly CFAF 1.4 billion, with a market value of $2.22 million.

Because that holding was reported as of a different date, it cannot be added to the €3.11 million held by the other two funds as of June 30 to calculate Franklin Templeton’s total exposure to the bonds. The filings reviewed also do not establish whether other funds within the group hold the same securities.

Bonds Issued Under Cameroon’s 2021 Eurobond Offering

The bonds form part of Cameroon’s €685 million international bond issue in June 2021, equivalent to approximately CFAF 450 billion. The offering carried an annual coupon of 5.95% and was primarily intended to refinance the country’s 2015 Eurobond, which had a coupon rate of 9.5%. In a statement published on June 30, 2021, Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance said the offering had attracted 205 investors. Investor orders totaled €2.258 billion, but the government limited the amount raised to €685 million.

The portfolio disclosures filed with the SEC identify some of the funds holding these bonds several years after their issuance. They do not establish whether those investors participated in the original offering or acquired their holdings later on the secondary market. The CFAF 2.04 billion identified across the two portfolios as of June 30, 2026, represents the face value of the bonds held, not new financing received by Cameroon’s Treasury. Their market value, which differs from their face value, is reported in U.S. dollars in the American regulatory filings.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Martinez Zogo Affair: Biya must clean house and make way for a new generation

21, October 2026

Martinez Zogo Affair: Biya must clean house and make way for a new generation 0

Cameroon cannot move forward while the shadows of the Martinez Zogo affair continue to hang over the corridors of power.

The bitter rivalry between former intelligence chief Léopold Maxime Eko Eko and presidency heavyweight Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, as reflected in allegations surrounding the case, raises fundamental questions about accountability, the use of state power and the credibility of the institutions entrusted with protecting Cameroonians.

At the heart of this tragedy is the brutal murder of journalist Martinez Zogo—a case that has shaken public confidence and placed the conduct of powerful figures under intense scrutiny. Beyond the courtroom battles, competing accusations and alleged political intrigues lies a question that President Paul Biya can no longer afford to ignore: How can a nation restore public trust when a case of such gravity casts a shadow over people associated with the highest levels of government? The answer must begin with accountability, institutional integrity and the political courage to act.

Biya has a responsibility to ensure that the Martinez Zogo affair is not reduced to a contest between rival factions within the state apparatus. This is not merely a struggle between powerful personalities. It is a test of whether Cameroon’s institutions can establish the truth, protect the rule of law and ensure that no individual is beyond accountability.

The allegations made in connection with this affair must be investigated impartially. Accusations are not convictions, and no one should be declared guilty outside a fair judicial process. But neither should political office become a shield against scrutiny. Anyone whose conduct is credibly implicated in wrongdoing must face the full force of the law, regardless of rank, influence or proximity to the presidency.

If Biya’s aides are found to have abused their positions, obstructed justice or participated in criminal conduct, they must be held accountable. Where credible concerns arise about an official’s ability to exercise public responsibilities while under investigation, the government should consider appropriate administrative measures consistent with the law and the presumption of innocence. Cameroonians deserve nothing less.

For decades, Cameroon’s political system has revolved around Mister Biya and a circle of long-serving CPDM officials. Whatever their individual contributions, the country must now confront a difficult question: has the concentration of influence among established power brokers become an obstacle to renewal, transparency and effective governance? The Martinez Zogo affair makes that question impossible to ignore.

Biya should initiate a comprehensive review of the responsibilities held by officials whose conduct is credibly called into question by the Zogo affair. Those directly implicated by reliable evidence should not continue to enjoy the privileges of office as though nothing has happened. Where necessary and legally justified, they should be relieved of their duties pending the appropriate processes. This is not a call for political revenge, nor should it become a pretext for one faction to eliminate another. It is a call to put the credibility of the state above the interests of individuals.

No CPDM official should be indispensable to the Republic. No political alliance should be more important than justice. And no office should be powerful enough to intimidate those seeking the truth. The objective must be a transparent government in which responsibility comes with accountability and public service is treated as a duty rather than a private entitlement.

Beyond the immediate demands of the Martinez Zogo case lies a broader national challenge: the nation is badly in need of a political renewal. Correspondingly, a cabinet reshuffle that simply moves familiar faces from one ministry to another will not address the deeper problems facing the country. Cameroon needs fresh thinking, new energy and a generation of leaders prepared to confront the realities of the twenty-first century.

Biya should use this moment to open the doors of government to competent young Cameroonians—women and men with professional experience, integrity, innovative ideas and a demonstrable commitment to the public interest.

Young people should not be appointed merely because of their age, nor should experienced officials be excluded simply because they are older. The guiding principles must be competence, integrity, accountability and measurable results. But a country with Cameroon’s youthful population cannot indefinitely treat young people as spectators in decisions that determine their future.

A renewed cabinet should prioritize employment, education, healthcare, affordable living, infrastructure, digital innovation, industrial development and support for entrepreneurs. It should also strengthen public financial oversight, improve service delivery and establish clear performance targets for ministers. Cameroon does not lack talent. It lacks sufficient opportunities to translate that talent into national progress.

From the universities to the private sector, from local communities to the diaspora, the country has young professionals and innovators capable of contributing to a more productive economy. They deserve a meaningful place in national leadership and not token appointments designed to give an appearance of change while leaving the old structures untouched.

The greatest danger is that public attention in the Martinez Zogo case will eventually fade, political alliances will shift and the Zogo affair will disappear beneath the weight of other national controversies. That must not happen.

Martinez Zogo was a journalist. His murder raises profound questions about the safety of media professionals, the protection of freedom of expression and the ability of citizens to scrutinize those who exercise public power.

A credible response requires an independent and fair judicial process, the protection of witnesses, respect for due process and the publication of reliable information wherever legally permissible. It requires investigators and judicial authorities to follow the evidence wherever it leads, without political interference.

It also requires the government to demonstrate that the protection of journalists is not a slogan reserved for international audiences but a commitment that applies within Cameroon itself. The pursuit of justice must not depend on who is accused, who is protected or which faction holds the advantage in the corridors of power.

If the evidence establishes individual responsibility, the courts must determine it. If institutional failures enabled wrongdoing, those failures must be exposed and corrected. And if public officials failed in their duties, their conduct must be examined through lawful and transparent procedures. Anything less would deepen public mistrust.

Biya faces a choice about how his government responds to this affair and the broader demand for political renewal. Biya as usual can allow the controversy to remain another chapter in the long history of rivalries within the state, or he can use it as an opportunity to reinforce the institutions of the Republic, demand accountability and open government to a new generation.

A meaningful response would include reviewing the positions of officials such as Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and Laurent Esso credibly implicated in the Zogo affair, ensuring that investigations proceed without interference, strengthening safeguards against abuses of power and appointing ministers on the basis of merit and integrity. It would also mean setting a clear timetable for reforms and requiring every ministry to demonstrate tangible results for the population.

Biya now understand that the measure of leadership is not the number of loyalists surrounding a president. It is the strength of the institutions that remain when personalities change.

Cameroon needs a state that serves its citizens rather than one perceived to serve competing networks of influence. It needs institutions that command respect because they are impartial, not because they are feared. And it needs a government capable of turning the energy of its youthful population into jobs, opportunity and national prosperity.

The Martinez Zogo affair must never become a convenient weapon in a political war between powerful individuals. Nor should it be allowed to fade without a credible determination of the truth. Biya should demand accountability from every official whose conduct warrants scrutiny, ensure that the justice system is free to do its work and pursue a genuine generational renewal of the cabinet.

Those found responsible for wrongdoing must face the law. Those who have lost the confidence necessary to discharge their responsibilities should be assessed through fair and appropriate procedures. And those appointed to lead the next chapter of Cameroon’s development must be selected for their integrity, competence and ability to deliver results. This is not simply about removing individuals. It is about changing the standards by which public office is exercised.

Cameroon is bigger than any president, minister, intelligence chief or presidential adviser. Its future cannot be held hostage to the rivalries of powerful men. Its institutions must be stronger than the personalities who temporarily occupy them. Biya must put the Republic first: accountability for the Martinez Zogo affair, integrity in public office and a new generation of capable leaders ready to move Cameroon forward.

History will not be defined by how long a government remains in place, but by whether it leaves behind institutions that citizens can trust and a country in which the next generation can believe.

Cameroon deserves justice. Cameroon deserves renewal. And Cameroon deserves a future beyond the rivalries of its political establishment.

To this I put my name

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Trump administration aims to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar of US citizenship

15, October 2026

Trump administration aims to strip Rep. Ilhan Omar of US citizenship 0

The Trump administration is investigating Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar reportedly in an effort to build a case for stripping her of US citizenship and eventually deporting her. 

The Somali-born Minnesota Democratic congresswoman is a frequent target of criticism from US President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

The Department of Homeland Security is now targeting her for political reasons as part of the Trump administration’s clampdown on the opposition, according to US officials and other people familiar with the probe, cited by the Wall Street Journal.

On Monday, Homeland Security agents raided her Washington, DC home, seizing her cellphone, notebooks, personal computers and passport.

The probe is investigating the process by which the 44-year-old Omar obtained her US citizenship.

Omar’s family, who had spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya, were granted asylum status in the United States and arrived in New York City in 1995

However, it took five years before she was accepted as a US citizen at the age of 17.

The probe aims to investigate the congresswoman’s immigration history to revoke her citizenship and deport her, according to the WSJ report.

The raid takes place as approximately three weeks remains to midterm elections in which she is seeking re-election.

A dozen people, including some of Omar’s relatives, have received subpoenas for testimony before a federal grand jury in Minnesota, a person familiar with the proceedings told the WSJ.

Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, is also under investigation as part of the probe.

In the meantime, Omar remained defiant, slamming the Trump administration for false accusations.

She described the move as an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate political opponents through smear campaign, emphasizing that she will not be silenced.

“Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” she wrote on the US social media platform X, confirming her safety while adding, “I will not be silenced.”

Gendarmerie officer reports death threats in Martinez Zogo Murder Trial

14, October 2026

Gendarmerie officer reports death threats in Martinez Zogo Murder Trial 0

Lieutenant Colonel Ayissi Nanga, a Cameroonian gendarmerie officer, told the Yaoundé Military Court on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, that he had received death threats since being called to testify in the trial over the murder of journalist Martinez Zogo. The officer requested protection while confirming that he remained willing to testify. The presiding judge acknowledged his statements and instructed the government prosecutor to take steps to ensure his safety.

It was shortly after 8 p.m. when Ayissi Nanga appeared before the judges. He explained that the information he possessed exposed him to risks and that he had decided to speak despite the alleged threats. Describing the dilemma he faced, he referred to a choice between the court’s anger and his own life. However, he did not identify the source of the threats or name anyone he suspected of making them. Ayissi Nanga is scheduled to testify after Lieutenant Colonel Dieudonné Bialo, whose cross-examination is still underway before the military court. Currently the deputy commander of the South Gendarmerie Legion, Ayissi Nanga headed the Mfoundi Gendarmerie Group at the time of the events in January 2023. He was involved in the initial investigation into the journalist’s murder before joining the joint police-gendarmerie commission assigned to the case.

His role on that commission has come up repeatedly during Dieudonné Bialo’s testimony. Bialo explained that he replaced Ayissi Nanga after the latter was admitted to the War College in Yaoundé. However, questioning has also focused on Ayissi Nanga’s continued participation in some of the commission’s work despite that reported replacement. The precise circumstances of the change in personnel are among the issues raised by the defense.

Ayissi Nanga’s testimony may therefore help clarify how the initial investigation was organized and conducted. However, his appearance on October 13 provided no indication of what information he intends to share with the judges or whether the threats he says he has received are connected to his involvement in the investigation. The officer spoke while the court was considering whether to adjourn the hearing. The cross-examination of Dieudonné Bialo by defendant Léopold Maxime Eko Eko, former director general of the General Directorate for External Research (DGRE), had not yet concluded. The government prosecutor wanted proceedings to continue so that the next witness could subsequently be heard. At this stage, no details have been provided in court about the security measures prosecutors will take to protect Ayissi Nanga before his testimony.

Source: Sbbc

Russia launches major attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, causing power cuts

1, October 2026

Russia launches major attack on Ukraine’s energy grid, causing power cuts 0

Russia unleashed a widely anticipated air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid on Wednesday, hitting power facilities and infrastructure around Kyiv and other regions in the heaviest combined attack on energy sites in months.

The strikes, in which Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed, followed days of intensifying drone barrages primarily on the capital, a prelude to what many Ukrainians expect to be a winter of attacks intended to plunge cities into cold and darkness when Ukraine is short of air defences.

Ukraine’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said it had imposed emergency power cuts as a result of the attack in Kyiv and three surrounding regions – the first time such a measure had been imposed in the capital since the spring.

Russian attacks last winter, which brought record-low temperatures, ravaged power and heating systems, forcing Ukrainians to adapt to dire circumstances.

Capital shrouded in smoke

Some of the capital’s trams and trolley buses ground to a halt due to the outages as people headed home from work. Kyiv’s water utility said pressure in the water system was reduced.

“Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure,” Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said on X after the attacks overnight.

“Since summer, there’s barely been a day without an attack on our energy infrastructure. But a combined strike of this scale hasn’t happened since the end of last heating season.”

Kyiv residents awoke on Wednesday to a city shrouded in fog from the smoke of attacks, which authorities said damaged a key power plant and other energy facilities around the capital.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defences had intercepted 254 of 285 Russian drones deployed until early evening.

It said 174 drones were high-flying and faster jet-propelled models, which are harder to intercept. Russian forces had also launched a ballistic missile attack.

A child was among the seven dead across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, with critical infrastructure coming under attack in five regions. Further damage was reported in another five regions, he added.

Zelensky visited a military command post near the town of Lyman near the eastern frontline and praised what he said were gains against Russian forces during a counteroffensive.

He said Ukrainian forces had recaptured 176 sq. km. (29.3 sq. miles) of territory since the start of the operation.

Russia said its forces had struck power plants in the Kyiv region, an industrial complex in Odesa region, and port infrastructure in Ismail in the southwest.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said debris had been found at a Western embassy, but offered no further details. The overnight attack triggered a more than 12-hour air-raid alert.

Drone strikes continued in Kyiv into the early evening.

Near-constant daytime sirens and explosions have become a fixture of daily life in Kyiv, where drone attacks have killed around a dozen people over the past week alone.

Source: France 24

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

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

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:

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.

World leaders gather at UN amid wars, AI fears and global divisions

22, September 2026

World leaders gather at UN amid wars, AI fears and global divisions 0

Under a global cloud of wars and bitter divisions, world leaders meet at the United Nations this week facing new fears that runaway artificial intelligence could threaten humanity even as climate shocks and escalating prices are already making life much tougher for hundreds of millions of people.

The annual high-level gathering at the U.N. General Assembly will also be consumed with major wars in Iran , Gaza , Ukraine, Sudan , Congo and Myanmar and a persisting question: Can the leaders do anything to end them?

And what can they do about the relentless rise of global warming threatening the future of the planet, the growing inequalities within and among nations, and shocks to the global economy as blocked shipping routes and supply chains increase the cost of living and slow growth?

The future of the United Nations will also definitely be on the agenda. At 81, its powers are still the victorious nations from World War II, not the 21st century’s major global players. The U.N.’s 193 member nations have agreed to a wide-ranging reform package that includes updating key institutions such as the powerful U.N. Security Council, where the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France hold inordinate sway because of their veto power. Reform, however, is easier said than implemented.

Behind the scenes, there will be speculation about who will lead the United Nations next. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ second five-year term ends Dec. 31 and no clear successor has emerged.

This meeting is still pivotal

There is still no question that the U.N. remains THE gathering place for its 193 member nations and their leaders. Some 130 heads of state and government are expected to speak at the General Assembly starting Tuesday along with dozens of ministers.

Among the headliners will be U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emanuel Macron. Both will speak Tuesday after Guterres’ opening “state of the world” address. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian speak Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whom New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani wanted arrested for his treatment of Palestinians in Gaza until he learned he has no such authority — will address the assembly on Thursday. For a second year, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won’t be coming to the U.N. because the U.S. has refused to give him a visa. He will nonetheless address the assembly by video the same day.

The United States, under its agreement with the U.N. to host the organization, is required to allow diplomats from all member nations to attend meetings.

Equally telling is who else isn’t coming. China’s President Xi Jinping is meeting Trump in Washington on Wednesday, yet he is skipping — some diplomats say snubbing — the U.N. gathering and sending a vice president instead. Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t coming either, and Indian President Narendra Modi has backed out.

France’s U.N. ambassador, Jerome Bonnafont, said it is “extremely critical” for world leaders this week to support the U.N. as the place where the world’s nations meet — especially at a time of such polarization.

“We believe in multilateralism,” he said, “and we believe that the high-level week is the occasion for countries in the world to reaffirm that they prefer cooperation and dialogue to confrontation.”

United Nations has not had a great year

There is no doubt it’s been a tough year for the world body. It has been pushed to the sidelines when it comes to its key responsibility of ensuring international peace and security and trying to end major conflicts in the Mideast and Ukraine. The U.S. failure to pay billions of dollars in outstanding arrears has left the organization’s finances in rocky shape.

But veteran U.N. watcher Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s global issues and institutions program director, says 2025 was even worse.

A year ago, he said, people were contemplating that Trump would use his U.N. speech to announce that the United States would leave the world organization. Trump didn’t announce a pullout last September and the U.N. muddled through the past 12 months with financial troubles that forced cutbacks to its peacekeeping operations and humanitarian aid.

In recent days, the U.S. paid $725 million of its dues to the U.N.’s regular operating budget for this year, enough to keep the Trump administration from losing its vote in the General Assembly. The payment was a strong indication Trump will keep the U.S. in the United Nations.

The U.N. is no longer “in freefall,” Gowan said, but it “is stuck in an open-ended or permanent crisis.” Put more graphically, he said, “The U.N. may not be in emergency care like it was last year, but it does seem to be trapped in a trauma center for the foreseeable future.”

Former U.N. deputy secretary-general Mark Malloch-Brown, a United Nations Foundation board member, said, “While the world still trusts the U.N., the global public is eager for change.”

AI is pushing toward the center of the agenda

The future of artificial intelligence has pushed to the forefront of global concerns, with its speeding advances and the dawning recognition that there are no industry controls, let alone any global guardrails for a technology that has many advantages but also many disadvantages and unknowns.

Days before the global gathering, leaders of three major AI companies warned about the technology getting out of human control and called for a pause, but Trump dismissed their concerns as “a hoax,” and urged continued advances to keep the U.S. ahead of China.

The U.N. Security Council added a high-level meeting on AI to its agenda on Wednesday afternoon, a sign of the growing apprehension and need to address the issue. It was already slated to hold a high-level meeting on Ukraine with Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning.

For the U.N. chief, this will be his last assembly meeting with global leaders. He previewed his speech last week, telling U.N. reporters that power is shifting in “an era of deep uncertainty.”

“At a time when the world faces three existential threats,” he said, “international cooperation is more necessary than ever.”

Others will be vying for the spotlight on issues from rising sea levels and funding education to the fight for gender equality. Hundreds of private meetings will also convene in U.N. cubicles, hotels, diplomatic missions and restaurants.

Esther Brimmer, a senior fellow in global governance at the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs in the Obama administration, said in-person meetings can help countries hash out ideas that get implemented months later.

She called the situation in 2026 “much more serious and complex than in decades past.”

“With that said, I’m also not without hope as well,” Brimmer said. “Over the past decades we’ve learned a lot about international cooperation.”

Source: AP

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