The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) on Monday approved a EUR 88 million loan to Cameroon as direct budget support to finance the country’s COVID-19 crisis response.

The loan, to the country’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Budget Support Programme (PABRC), falls under the framework of the Bank’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF) of up to $10 billion, the institution’s main channel to cushion African countries from the economic and health impacts of the crisis.

In Cameroon, the pandemic has revealed the structural weaknesses of the country’s health system and economy, particularly the limited human and financial resources allocated to the health sector.

The PABRC’s goal is to check the spread of the coronavirus, to save lives and to mitigate its adverse socio-economic effects on the Central African country, particularly on households and businesses. The programme also involves longer-term actions to build the resilience of the economy as a basis for recovery.

It will support the implementation of a health response plan to improve testing and ensure early detection and rapid management of the virus, thus reducing case fatality and improving the recovery rate. It will also support the most vulnerable in society by paying family allowances to staff of companies unable to pay social security contributions as well as distributing health kits. 

“Women play a key role in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 as wives, mothers, caregivers and community resource persons. The social protection and economic resilience actions under this support will particularly target women and the households and businesses headed by them,” Bank Acting Director General and Country Manager for Cameroon, Solomane Kone said.

Measures to sustain economic activity and safeguard employment will include value-added tax (VAT) credits to restore the cash position of enterprises as well as procuring inputs to support strategic agricultural value chains including poultry, fish, seeds and cereals. It will also support key small and medium-sized enterprises in the agribusiness, health and education sectors.

This operation complements the Bank’s $13 million special emergency project for Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa(CEMAC) member countries and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which was approved earlier this month.

COVID-19 has broken out at a time when the Cameroonian economy, the largest and most diversified in the Central Africa, is recovering from the 2014 shock caused by a sharp fall in the world prices of the country’s main export products ­– oil, cocoa and timber. Without support, the spread of COVID-19 in Cameroon could compromise the reform drive and jeopardise the progress made in recent years.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Cameroon was identified on 6 March 2020. By 22 June, the Central African country had more than 12,041 confirmed cases, including 308  deaths and 7,740  recoveries. The Centre (Yaoundé) and Littoral (Douala) Regions have the highest number of cases, representing about 55.8% and 32.2% of the total, respectively.

Source: APO Group

Cameroon has rolled out the Cameroon Customs Information System (CAMCIS), a fully-automated electronic customs clearance system to reduce face-to-face engagement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAMCIS was built by Korean engineers and is the result of a 12-year-old public-private partnership said Edwin Fongod Nuvaga, Director General of Customs.

The system is modelled on UNI-PASS, used by the Korea Customs Service, and designed to handle large volumes of data, fully automate processes and procedures as part of a paperless system.

According to customs officials CAMCIS replaces the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA ++) which has been in use in Cameroon since 2007.

Speaking at the recent launch of CAMCIS, Louis Paul Motaze, Cameroon’s Minister of Finance said the new system will significantly improve the business environment and spur profitability in the private sector by saving time and money.

The Minister highlighted the system’s operational speed, and said it will simplify import and export procedures and offer more security in the collection of customs revenue.

Customs duties and taxes are a key source of income for the government and in 2019 accounted for 14.3%.

“It is estimated that with CAMCIS, we would save a maximum number of days for our operations. Also, it will be possible to carry out customs clearance operations within one day after the validation of papers,” reads a statement issued by Cameroon Customs.

Séraphin Deffo Deffo, Chief Information Officer of CAMCIS, said the new system will guarantee traceability of all transaction, prevent fraud and corruption, enhance proper control of goods on transit, fasten procurement of customs duties and taxes, amongst others.

CAMCIS can be accessed and operated remotely using any digital device with a browser and an internet connection. It has three portals accessible to customs administration, economic operators and the general public.

Source: itweb.Africa

As expected, Cameroon’s Head of State, Paul Biya, signed an ordinance amending the 2020 Finance Law on June 3, 2020. This supplementary budget act reduced the initial budget by 11% or XAF542.7 billion in absolute terms. 

According to the Presidential ordinance of June 3, 2020, which will be submitted to and probably adopted by Parliament during the ordinary session which opens on 10 June, the State’s 2020 budget falls from XAF4,951.7 billion to XAF4,409 billion.

Apart from this drastic reduction of the previous budget, the other major fact of this amended budget -following the coronavirus pandemic that is raging throughout the world- is the creation of a special trust fund called “Fonds spécial de solidarité nationale pour la lutte contre le coronavirus et ses répercussions économiques et sociales” (Special National Solidarity Fund for the fight against the coronavirus and its economic and social repercussions).

According to official sources, this Fund, financed by contributions from development partners as well as individuals and companies, will be endowed with CFAF180 billion for the second half of 2020.

In addition to taking care of Covid-19 patients and strengthening the health system (CFAF 58.7 billion), strengthening research and local production of pharmaceutical products (CFAF 8.1 billion), this Fund will dedicate CFAF 98.7 billion to economic and financial resilience actions, and CFAF 14.5 billion to social resilience.

According to internal sources at the Ministry of Finance, the last two budgeted funds mentioned above relate to the various support measures already taken or to be taken by the government to support Cameroonian enterprises and households in the face of the ravages caused by the pandemic.

The third major fact in the amended budget of June 3, 2020, is that all the initial allocations of public administrations have been revised downwards. The administrations concerned include the Presidency of the Republic, whose envelope has been cut by about CFAF15 billion, according to a credible source. Only three institutions escaped these budget cuts. They are the National Assembly, the Senate, and Elections Cameroon, the body in charge of organizing elections. The latter is actively preparing the first regional elections in the history of Cameroon. These elections are scheduled for October 2020.

Culled from Business in Cameroon

Force majeure has been declared at two areas in Cameroon, Bakassi in the southwest and Zina-Makary in the far north, as a result of insecurity.

Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures’ (SNH) director of strategy Maurice Matanga disclosed the problems in an interview with the company’s newsletter. Matanga was discussing the country’s 2020-24 development plan and reflecting on progress made.

Production has fallen by 25% in the last few years, he said, driven by maturing fields and insecurity, which has delayed new works.

Insecurity in Cameroon’s north is likely linked to Boko Haram. Bakassi was declared to be Cameroonian territory following a dispute with Nigeria. Cameroon’s southwest is home to a separatist Anglophone movement who were reportedly involved in the killing of the mayor of Mamfe on the weekend.

China’s Yan Chang was reported to have found oil in the Zina-Makary licence in 2011 but progress has been slow because of security worries.

The development plan to 2024 is intended to maximise revenues from oil and gas. This will come from upstream operations but also increased tariffs paid to the state from the Chad-Cameroon pipeline.

The link provided $41.2 million of revenues to Cameroon during the first eight months of 2019, from $34.24mn in 2018.

Progress on SNH’s plan covering 2015-19 made good progress overall, Matanga said, despite the difficult broader outlook for the sector.

He singled out progress on gas-fired power generation in Kribi and increased supplies in Douala. Matanga went on to note SNH had increased its stake in Chanas Assurances and Cameroon Oil Terminal SA (COTSA).

The 2020-24 plan comes in less favourable conditions, with oil production continuing to decline despite SNH’s efforts. These included improving the country’s contractual framework, searching for new fields and optimising the production from existing. A new petroleum code was adopted in April 2019.

One bright spot has been LNG, with Perenco exporting 19 cargoes in 2019, an increase of seven from the previous year.

Source: EnergyVoice.Com

President Paul Biya has approved the execution of Air-France’s commercial flights from May 4 to June 30, 2020. This notice was sent to the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority in a letter sent by the Minister of Transport Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe.

According to the letter, the flights will be executed alternatively, weekly, at the international airports of Yaounde-Nsimalen and Douala.

This agreement is however subjected to the observation of some key conditions. “Passengers on these flights will have to present a negative coronavirus screening test when boarding, and commit to self-confine at their expenses upon arrival in Cameroon,” the Minister of Transport wrote.

“Arrangements will have to be made for their monitoring in our country. The mandatory wearing of masks and compliance with barrier measures will also be imperative for these passengers and Air-France staff,” he added.

Last March, the Cameroonian government revealed that the first cases of coronavirus in the country were imported. Most of those infected had landed from Air-France’s commercial flights. Following this importation of the pandemic, Cameroon had decided to close all its borders.

With the confirmation that the President of the Republic has given his approval for the resumption of commercial flights of the French airline to Cameroon, are we moving towards the reopening of the country’s borders?

An Air France flight that landed on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 in Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, was at the center of heated debates at the Douala International Airport because of its contaminated human contents.

The flight raised fear in the Central African country by many notches, as Cameroonians fear that their fellow Cameroonians and some Frenchmen returning to the country were bearers of the dangerous Coronavirus that has disrupted economic activity across the globe and killed thousands, especially in China where the virus started.

Written by Business in Cameroon and Cameroon Concord News

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has approved grants worth €40.94 million for the construction of a bridge to connect Cameroon and Chad across the Logone river.

The grants, comprising a €20.785 million tranche for Cameroon and €19.215 million for Chad, were approved on 30 April 2020. The facility is from the Investment Facility for Africa under a framework agreement between the Bank Group and the European Commission.

The funds will co-finance the costs of construction of the bridge between Yagoua in Cameroon and Bongor in Chad, access roads and feasibility studies, management said in a report to the Board.

The bridge, once completed, is expected to bolster bilateral and sub-regional integration and cross-border trade, safeguard life and property during the river crossing and boost socio-cultural ties between the two countries.

“Specifically, the project aims to promote interstate trade, particularly between Cameroon and Chad, reduce travel time and transportation costs, and improve accessibility of basic services by nearby communities,” the report noted.

In addition to the Logone river bridge, other projects under the Pillar Assessed Grant or Delegation Agreement (PAGODA) include the rehabilitation of the Lome-Cotonou road, road development and transport facilitation on the Bamako-San Pedro corridor between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire and the rehabilitation of the CU2a community road section in Burkina Faso near the border with Niger.

The Bank and the European Commission are committed to co-financing development projects that tackle poverty by investing in critical infrastructure to promote seamless connectivity of transport, energy and ICT.

French brewery cartel known as Les Brasseries du Cameroun reportedly pressured President Biya to undermine Cameroon’s Health Ministry lockdown provisions against COVID-19 exposing the government’s total ineptitude in dealing with the crisis, Cameroon Concord News Group has gathered from concordant sources in Yaoundé.

The pandemic is now sweeping across Cameroon, overwhelming hospitals, and leading to the surging death toll but the Head of State has ordered all pubs, bars and breweries to operate as usual. While in mother France, pubs are only permitted to either deliver drinks or allow customers to pick them up.

The French brewers threatened Etoudi with severe consequences if the regime failed to put an end to the lockdown. Officials at the Ministry of Public Health have blatantly refused to criticize the government for downplaying the risk of coronavirus spreading in beer parlours.

The Biya decision was put into practice without any proper consultation with Cameroonian trade bodies and civil society organizations. A cream of Cameroonian clergies have raised fingers against the move on social media with a prominent Man of God stating that “The reopening of bar is DANGEROUS. When the FLOOD subsided after 40 days, Noah did not RUSH OUT. He sent a bird out and it was after the 3rd bird did not return that he knew it was TIME to STEP OUT.  Please do not join the multitudes that are rushing out because they are tired of staying at home. A lot of people have already been infected and unknowingly will keep infecting others. Let us be wise like Noah to OBSERVE for many more days inside our own ARK, OUR HOMES before taking any action.  May we and our loved ones be preserved and protected from this pandemic in Jesus mighty name. Amen.”

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameroon is one of the 77 developing countries benefiting from the 12-month moratorium on foreign debt servicing decided on April 15 by the G20 during a video conference. The information was revealed the following day by the French ambassador to Cameroon Christophe Guilhou, at the end of an audience with President Paul Biya.

According to the media service of the French embassy, the moratorium (which succeeded in part thanks to French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts) postpones the payment of bilateral debts by 12 months.

In its 2020 budget, Cameroon had set a little over XAF720 billion for the payment of its debts. Out of that amount, XAF232.2 billion was set aside for the payment of its bilateral debts for this fiscal year.

Lobbying

With this moratorium, the G20 countries aim to let beneficiaries concentrate on the health crisis at hand and worry about debt repayment later. However, since the debt is not canceled, it will just add to debt servicing in 2021. African countries must, therefore, continue to lobby for the cancelation of their debts.

“We also call for the cancelation of the debt of African countries…The IMF must be ready to respond to our countries’ increased demand for resources. The World Bank must also systematically support all countries since a specific scheme is applied for IBRD and IDA borrowers whose loans are classified as non-performing,” said Alamine Ousmane Mey at the Spring Meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions. He was speaking as the chairman of the African Consultative Groups (ACG) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG).

According to Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance, On December 31, 2019, Cameroon’s outstanding public and publicly guaranteed debt were estimated at XAF8,424 billion, or about 37.3% of GDP. At XAF6,650 billion, the country’s external debt accounted for 77.1% of the total debt.

Culled from Business in Cameroon

An economic onslaught is staring at the face of traders in the Central African country of Cameroon, which is one of the most affected countries by the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic in the continent.

The country, known for its varied terrain and wildlife has so far reported 1,017 positive cases, with 22 deaths, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

“The virus has slowed down my work. I have to go out and sell few things, even though I do not earn much,” said Adams Patrice, who deals with secondhand goods. He used to have a roaring business on weekends when people on the outings throng to markets selling cheap goods.

“Everything has changed. The customers are afraid. They pass by wearing their protective masks and do not talk to us. They barely stop to look at the merchandise. There is a drought in the market,” he said.

Like Patrice, an electronic retailer Fabrice Fondjeu, has also lost most of his clientele.

“I receive less than five customers a day compared to more than 40 before the pandemic. It has dipped my savings,” he said. He is counting that the government may announce some sops to stabilize the situation.

Although governments worldwide are encouraging digital connectivity as an alternative to physical connectivity, Tamo Christian, a cyber cafe manager, has few customers. He is still relying on the government’s push for digital education, expecting that students who do not have computers and internet connection at home will use his services. He has also cut his daily expenses considerably.

The restrictions on travel have also led to a steep decline in the online sale of tickets, said Geraldine Nbebi, sales administrator of an online ticketing startup. He, however, appreciates the fact that because of social distancing, people are increasingly getting used to digital technology.

Food chain affected

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ebouki Lea, a food vendor, said she has been going through difficult times since restrictions on movements. She used to bring goods from villages and then sell them in cities. Regular customers have even abandoned her. Even farmers have limited production in the villages.

The secondhand goods dealer Patrice had thought of going digital, opening an online store, where he would share pictures of goods and receive orders through social networking sites. But he laments that he is on the other side of the digital divide and also does not have funds to open an e-shop.

Even as the Cameroonian government has taken measures for businesses, the fear that economic slowdown will stay for a long time to come is palpable. President Paul Biya had asked the trade ministry to ensure stability in prices and availability of consumer goods. He had also asked officials to come out with plans to regulate the flow of people in markets.

Acknowledging that it was a difficult time for traders, Minister of Trade Luc-Magloire Mbarga Atangana told a local radio station that there was no possibility of a shortage of goods. “The country should be able to rely on its national production and food reserves and count on sea shipments. The country is prepared for any eventuality,“ he said.

Source: Anadolu Agency