The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has two new shareholders, including Cameroon’s public pension fund, the CNPS. The Pan-African Corporation announced the news on June 20, 2023.

“We warmly welcome CNPS and SBM Capital Market Securities as investors in AFC. This step is evidence of AFC’s role as a preferred partner for infrastructure investment on the continent, to deepen economic integration, enable import substitution, and develop Africa’s manufacturing and industrial capacity,” commented Samaila Zubairu, CEO of AFC.

While the investment’s amount and the stake acquired by the CNPS are yet to be known, the move should, according to the pension fund, help it achieve its goal of bringing its annual return on financial investments to around XAF40 billion by 2026. “For the next five years, we intend to double the [financial investment income from 2021],” said CNPS boss, Alain Olivier Mekulu Mvondo Akam, in an interview with Cameroon Tribune, a state-owned newspaper. He referred to the increase in return on investments from only XAF7 billion in 2017 to XAF20.5 billion in 2021.

Last year, gains from financial investments stood at XAF24.2 billion, thus up by 18% YoY,   according to official data from CNPS. They are expected to increase further in 2023 following CNPS’s recent participation in the capital of Chanas Assurances Vie, another public pension fund investment. CNPS has joined the insurance company’s shareholding alongside the National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH), the state’s entity responsible for oil and gas exploration and production. These two state-owned enterprises have also recently offered to buy the assets of British investment fund Actis in ENEO, Cameroon’s power utility.

Established in 2007, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) is a pan-African financial institution that addresses the continent’s infrastructure deficit.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Cameroonian public treasury earned 51 billion FCFA from taxes during the acquisition of Guinness Cameroon by the French group Castel. This comprises 36 billion FCFA from capital gains tax and 15 billion FCFA from registration fees, according to Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana.

The official revealed this to the parliament on June 23, 2023, while answering concerns voiced by one of the deputies, Daniel Ngalle Etongo, who feared Castel’s domination of the local market (80%) and the deal’s impact on consumers (price hike). The deputy also feared that the transaction violated antitrust laws. In response, Minister Atangana said the acquisition was in line with the Central African Economic Union’s common market rules.

“Notwithstanding the strengthened dominant position of the acquiring company, the acquisition of Guinness Cameroon SA by the Brasseries et Glacières Internationales SA (BGI, parent company of the Castel Group) is in line with the common market rules within the Central African Economic Union. This is subject to the involved companies’ adherence to the commitments they have made,” Atangana said. 

Investment program

“This acquisition operation was not within the national jurisdiction of the State of Cameroon but fell exclusively under the Community Council of Competition and the CEMAC Commission. It is now up to Cameroon, in perfect understanding with the CEMAC Commission, to ensure strict compliance with the commitments made, particularly in terms of planned investments in production tools, expansion and improvement of the distribution network, preservation and creation of jobs, and consumer rights protection. The Ministry of Commerce has ensured this, especially as beer is one of the products whose prices are subject to prior approval,” he added.

Announced on July 14, 2022, by both brewers involved, the purchase of Guinness Cameroon by Castel was approved on March 28, 2023 by the CEMAC’s Competition Community Council.

The CFA300 billion includes a 200 billion FCFA investment program to boost Guinness products in Cameroon over 5 years. This involves building three new production lines in Yaoundé, Garoua, and Bafoussam. These lines will have an annual production capacity of 2.1 million hectolitres. The details were revealed to the press on December 13, 2022, by Stéphane Descazeaud, MD of Société anonyme des boissons du Cameroun, a local company controlled by Castel. The Cameroonian government will see to it that these commitments are implemented.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroon remains the largest energy supplier in the Cemac region, with a total installed capacity of 1,750 MW, equivalent to the combined capacities of Congo, Gabon, and E. Guinea.

In a special report focused on energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development revealed that the country holds the largest share of installed power in the Cemac region, accounting for 48% of the total capacity of 3,700 MW. Gabon follows with 780 MW, representing 21% of the sub-regional total, ahead of Congo with 640 MW (18%), and Equatorial Guinea with 350 MW (10%). These figures imply that the capacity of the Songloulou hydroelectric dam (384 MW) in Cameroon surpasses that of Equatorial Guinea as a whole.

Despite this lead over other Cemac countries, Cameroon still faces significant challenges in providing efficient electricity access to its entire population. To address this issue, the country has undertaken multiple energy projects in recent years. As a result, all turbines of the Nachtigal dam (420 MW) are set to be operational by 2024. This single infrastructure project will then account for nearly 66% of Congo’s current total capacity and about 54% of Gabon’s.

However, compared to other African countries with the same level of development, Cameroon is behind. For example, Côte d’Ivoire has an installed capacity of 2,230 MW, 480 MW more than its Central African peer. This means that even the full commissioning of its Nachtigal dam will not bring Cameroon to the same level as Côte d’Ivoire. Also, around 10% of Côte d’Ivoire’s electricity production is exported to other West African countries (Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Liberia, notably), whereas Cameroon often finds itself in production deficits of up to 100 MW at certain times of the year, according to its power utility Eneo. Similarly, the Central African country is only aiming for a capacity of 5,000 MW by 2030, while its West African counterpart rather eyes 6,000 MW.

The major barrier to a developed electricity sector, according to Cameroonian authorities, is the lack of financial resources to carry out projects and the shortcomings in the country’s energy policy. Yet, the country boasts the third largest hydroelectric potential in sub-Saharan Africa (12,000 MW), behind the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Bank of Central African States (Beac) has presented its view on how the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has impacted the Cemac economies in 2022. In a recent economic and statistical bulletin, the institution observed a V-shaped impact resulting from the conflict.

On a good note, “the economic growth went from 1.8% in 2021 to 2.9% in 2022 thanks to a good impetus in the oil and gas sector in the region, despite a slight decline in the non-oil sector”. However, before the war started, Beac was expecting a 3.2% growth, meaning the war caused a loss of 0.3pts.

Although there has been an improvement in the prices of crude oil and natural gas on the international market, with positive financial repercussions for Cemac countries, demand was less vigorous. Beac points out that gross domestic demand has made a smaller contribution to Cemac growth in 2022, even though it remains the main driver of real growth in the region (2.1 points in 2022, against 7.4 points in 2021), with a slight decline in the contribution of private consumption (3.5pts in 2022, against 4.0pts in 2021) and that of public consumption and gross investment (- 1.1 points and – 0.4 points respectively).

The Russia-Ukraine war has also triggered strong inflationary pressures in the Cemac, as many countries in the region depend on Russian wheat and construction raw materials from Ukraine. In 2022, due to higher food prices, inflation rose to an annual average of 5.6% and 6.7% year-on-year, compared with 1.7% and 2.6% respectively a year earlier. Before the outbreak of the war, Beac forecasted inflation to be 2.1%.

A good point of the conflict, Beac found, is an improvement in the public finances of Cemac countries as a result of “the upward trend in the prices of exported products (…), particularly crude oil”. Overall, the budget balance, including grants, reached 2.5% of GDP in 2022, compared with -1.2% of GDP in 2021. Before the start of the crisis, it was forecast at 0.5% of GDP, an increase of 2.0 percentage points.

About money supply and its counterparts, the Beac noted “a surge in the monetary system’s net foreign assets, which doubled to CFA2,863.8 billion; a 4.7% deceleration in the monetary system’s net claims on CEMAC countries, to CFA8,585.1 billion; a 7.7% rise in loans to the economy, to CFA9,912.3 billion; and a currency coverage ratio of 73.1% (against 64.0% in 2021), up 6 basis points on the level projected before the war”.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The partnership with the Dutch port of Antwerp is the most beneficial that the port of Douala has. This was stated by the Douala Autonomous Port (PAD), the State company that manages the eponymous port.

The PAD made the statement in a technical note issued on the sidelines of a mission of Antwerp port officials to Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. The mission began on June 19, 2023.

“To date, the collaboration has yielded 14 capacity-strengthening grants for PAD employees and a project supporting the establishment of a port-related professions training center,” the note reads.

The visit aims to renew the partnership between the two ports with an enhanced focus on accelerating the modernization of the port of Douala. Throughout the mission, “the PAD will outline its requirements for the development of specific economic zones at the Douala port, towards implementing the principles of an industrial-port complex”.

Besides the Douala port, the Port of Antwerp works in partnership with the deep-water port of Kribi, southern Cameroon. “The Autonomous Port of Kribi (PAK) and the Port of Antwerp have been diligently formulating a new, more ambitious agreement that covers a broader range of activities and better aligns with the Port of Kribi’s challenges,” said Patrice Melom, Director General of PAK, on July 1, 2021.

According to Melom, the PAK’s challenges include “increasing its reception capabilities and operational performances, making its industrial zone more appealing to foster value and traffic generating logistical and transformational activities; improving accessibility and connectivity with the hinterland; and ensuring harmonious integration into its environment through sustainable and inclusive development of its zone of influence.”

Source: Business in Cameroon

The first annual meeting of the board of directors of Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SHN) was held on 13 June, where the initial purchase deal of Savannah Energy’s assets in the Chad-Cameroon pipeline was put on the shelf.

Adolphe Moudiki, managing director of Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH), has suffered another setback in his bid to buy shares in Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (Cotco), which manages the Cameroon side of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline.

Following the board of directors’ meeting held in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé on 13 June, the acquisition by SNH of 10% of Savannah Energy’s assets in Cotco was “frozen” following a decision by the chairperson of the board Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, who is also secretary general of the presidency.

Arm wrestling

Contested by Chad, the initial agreement – which was concluded on 19 April and amounted to $44.8m – has been at the heart of a tug-of-war between the Chadians and Cameroon.

The quarrel came to a head the following day, on 20 April, with the recall of the Chadian ambassador based in Yaoundé. Since then, Cameroon has stepped up its efforts to mollify tensions, with President Paul Biya sending Ngoh Ngoh to N’Djamena for talks with Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.

Biya also asked his trade minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, to pass on Cameroon’s agreement for Chad to buy out the assets of Malaysia’s Petronas in Cotco to the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).

This “corporate open sesame” – essential under regional agreements – should enable N’Djamena to hold 53.7% of the shares in the company that manages the Cameroonian section of the pipeline – an objective that Déby Itno and his government were particularly keen to achieve.

A freeze, before the rest

However, N’Djamena did not accept Savannah Energy’s presence and remained determined to oust it from Cotco. A new round of negotiations was then held in Paris on 24 May at the Cotco board meeting.

The Chadian side – supported by Menguele Judith Clairence, the Cameroonian finance ministry representative on Cotco’s board – came up against Moudiki, who was in favour of maintaining the agreement with Savannah. The meeting ended without a definitive winner.

A few days later, however, the SNH chief attempted to replace Clairence. On 8 June, he was turned down by the presidency, which thereby signalled its agreement with Chad. Five days later, in a new round of talks, Ngoh Ngoh, obtained a freeze on the deal between Savannah and the Cameroonian oil and gas company.

The Chadian government has taken note of this decision, quietly welcoming it. But the decision is not yet final, as further negotiations are undoubtedly still to come on Cotco’s shareholding structure.

It appears that this oil dispute being contested by N’Djamena and Yaoundé is far from over.

Source: Africa Report

Cameroon has installed surveillance cameras in Douala to enhance security, an official has said.

The newly installed cameras are aimed at ensuring wider online monitoring and surveillance as well as helping police curb crime, said Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general of the presidency.

The move is one of the answers to new forms of crime and persistent terrorist attacks and threats to public order in some parts of the country, Ngoh said Thursday while officially inaugurating the National Command Center for video surveillance in Douala, the economic capital of the country.

Cameroon aims to eventually install 24,000 surveillance cameras in its 10 regional capitals as well as border towns, Ngoh said.

Source: Xinhuanet

South African mobile operator MTN Group (MTNJ.J) said on Wednesday that its Cameroon operations were threatened by the seizure of its bank accounts in the country as part of a dispute in which it plays no part.

MTN Cameroon’s accounts with more than 14 billion CFA francs ($22 million) have been frozen by Cameroon court order since September 2022, as the company was brought into a loan dispute by a Cameroonian businessman, MTN said.

Following a court decision on June 9, the funds were to be transferred into an escrow account managed by the court registrar, MTN Cameroon CEO Mitwa Ng’ambi told a press conference in Douala on Wednesday.

“A threat to our operations is a threat to everything we have built in service to Cameroon over the last 23 years,” she said, adding that the company will use “all possible means to put an end to the imminent miscarriage of justice”.

MTN is Africa’s largest mobile carrier and its Cameroon subsidiary has one of the biggest networks in the country, with over 12 million users.

Ng’ambi said the matter has caused difficulties in paying service providers and employees and could hurt MTN’s more than 800 Cameroonian employees and an additional 200,000 people who work for suppliers and others.

The controversy stems from a dispute between Cameroonian business mogul Ahmadou Baba Danpullo and South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB) (FSRJ.J) over a real estate loan, said MTN’s Ng’ambi.

After the bank liquidated a number of properties belonging to Danpullo in South Africa, the businessman retaliated by having a Cameroonian court freeze the accounts of South African companies including MTN and Chococam, owned by Tiger Brands, she said.

Melvin Akam, MTN Cameroon general manager of regulatory and corporate affairs, said the seizure of the company’s accounts was “abusive, fraudulent and unacceptable.”

A spokesperson for Danpullo’s company, the Baba Danpullo Group, declined to comment.

South Africa’s foreign ministry on Tuesday urged company executives to continue pursuing all legal avenues available.

“Unfortunately, these latest developments will challenge the extent and appetite for investments into Cameroon,” it said.

($1 = 628.7500 CFA francs)

Source: Reuters

Cameroon’s internet domain name is “one of the most popular” in Africa, commented Ebot Ebot Enaw, MD of the National Agency for Information Technology and Communication (Antic), last week during the opening of the 3rd edition of the National Forum on the Domain Name System (DNS).

The event was held in Bertoua, in the East region of Cameroon. “The “.cm” domain is one of the best in Africa right now. It is reliable and stable, which is great news for developers and companies who want to be seen on the Internet. It is one of the top three most popular domain extensions on the whole continent,” confirms Albert Kamga, head of the standardization and cooperation division at Antic.

This success of the Cameroonian internet domain name came after the sharp reduction in registration fees. From CFA35,000, the fees were first reduced to CFA7,000 on May 26, 2015, to promote the domain name. Later, during a promotional campaign organized from July 1 to October 1, 2020, the fees were further reduced to CFA2,000 FCFA. During this short period, 21,476 new customers were attracted, Antic reported.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Cameroonian Jacques Edjangue has been confirmed Thursday as the Vice President for People and Talent Management of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group. Since June 20, 2022, Edjangue had held the same position but as an interim, after stepping down as Acting Director of the Human Resources Management Department and the Language Services Department.

Jacques Edjangué holds an MBA from Colorado State University, USA, a degree in English Literature from the University of East Anglia, UK, and a degree in Leadership and Negotiation from Harvard University, USA. He holds two Master’s degrees from the University of Buea in Cameroon, one in interpretation and the other in translation. He also holds a Master’s degree in Afro-American literature from the University of Yaoundé I.

Before joining the AfDB 21 years ago, Jacques Edjangué headed the language and conference services of the Secretariat of the International Panel of Eminent Personalities, set up by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union. He was also the personal interpreter for Ketumile Masire, former President of Botswana and facilitator of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Appointed deputy director and deputy permanent representative at the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) in 2000, he represented the OIF at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has 28 years of experience in multinational institutions.

Source: Business in Cameroon