Africa

13, January 2020

SONARA investigating 23 workers following fresh technical blunder ⁰

23 workers of the National Refining Company, SONARA are reported to be answering questions from security officials following a blunder that almost led to another fire outbreak at the facility.

Reports have it that a leakage at the refinery’s technical department almost brought back memories of the May 31, 2019 fire disaster that has since left the company in difficulties.

23 workers of the technical department comprising the Exploitation and Maintenance units have since the January 7, 2020 incident been under fire as they are being grilled at the SONARA Gendarmerie Brigade.

With every one of the accused trying to absorb themselves of any possible blame, fingers remain crossed along the corridors of the company to see which heads will roll, this time around, especially given that the report of the Prime Ministerial probe into the May 2019 fire at the refinery is yet to be made public.

“At press time, no official statement had been released by SONARA. Simo Njonou Jean Paul, General Manager of the company, who has been away in Yaounde, The SUN gathered, is expected to be presented with the reports of the investigation, upon his return this week. Simo Njonou, no doubt is one facing tough times at the helm of a company whose glorious days appear to be slowly fading away,” the Limbe-based tabloid reports.

Cameroon-info.net recalls that the May 31, 2019 fire outbreak that brought down four of the 13 production units at the National Refining Company, SONARA cost the state hundreds of millions in FCFA.

Gaston Eloundou Essomba, Cameroon’s Minister of Water Resources and Energy had personally led a 40-man team to SONARA from Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, 2019 and spent three wholesome days at the refinery. They spent the three days sniffing through files and documents at SONARA.

The probe was at the behest of the Head of Government who is yet to make public the results of the investigations he ordered. It is not known how this new situation will affect last year’s report as the nation holds its breath.

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

31, December 2019

Angola freezes Isabel dos Santos’ assets ⁰

Authorities in Angola have ordered the freezing of assets held by former president Eduardo dos Santos’ daughter, Isabel, her husband and a business associate as part of a corruption probe, a copy of the order seen by Reuters shows.

The asset freeze follows an injunction application by the government, which is seeking to recover around $1 billion of funds that it says it is owed by Isabel dos Santos and her associates.

It is one of the highest-profile moves in an anti-corruption drive launched by President Joao Lourenço, who ended dos Santos’ nearly 40-year grip on power when he became head of state in 2017.

The road is long, the truth will prevail.

Isabel reassures employees

Isabel dos Santos, who owns stakes in companies including telecoms firm Unitel and financial firms, has denied wrongdoing during her father’s time in office.

“I would like to leave a message of tranquillity and confidence to my teams,” she tweeted on Monday.

“We will continue, every day, in every business, doing our best and fighting for what I believe in for Angola. The road is long, the truth will prevail. United we stand stronger.”

Ranked as Africa’s wealthiest woman by Forbes, Isabel dos Santos chaired the state oil company Sonangol – a crucial pillar of Angola’s oil-dependent economy – before being sacked by Lourenço in late 2017.

The court order, dated Dec. 23, said the asset freezes applied to Isabel dos Santos, her husband, Sindika Dokolo, and Mário Filipe Moreira Leite da Silva, chairman of Banco Fomento Angola (BFA).

It freezes their personal bank accounts in Angola, as well as their stakes in Angolan firms including Unitel, BFA and ZAP MIDIA.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach dos Santos, Dokolo or da Silva for comment on Tuesday.

The order said the central bank would be responsible for ensuring that no funds leave the personal bank accounts of the three accused.

The boards of directors of the companies subject to the asset freezes are responsible for ensuring no profits are transferred to the accused directly or through intermediaries, until a court makes a further ruling.

REUTERS

28, December 2019

Debate Intensifies Over Future of CFA ⁰

Debate on the future of the CFA franc in the six-member Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) has intensified after it was announced last week that eight West African countries agreed to change the name of their common currency to Eco. They also severed the CFA franc’s links to former colonial ruler France.

The CFA franc used by west and central African states is considered by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies, and the main reason for the underdevelopment of CEMAC, which remains the poorest economic bloc in Africa.

Louis Nsonkeng, a researcher and economic lecturer at the University of Bamenda-Cameroon, says when the Eco becomes legal tender, the eight West African states will have their financial freedom from the strong grip of former colonial master France. He says the six central African states that also use the CFA franc should immediately emulate the example of the west Africans.

“In 2017, the International Monetary Fund published the [list of] 10 richest countries in Africa,” Nsonkeng said. “None of the countries was from the CFA zone and most of these countries have their own currencies. If we discover that we don’t have the resources to manage a common currency, then we should dissolve the currency area. We should dissolve it and each country should decide on their own currency.”

Thomas Babissakana, a Cameroon economist and financial expert, is pictured in Yaounde, Dec. 26, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — Thomas Babissakana, a Cameroon economist and financial expert, is pictured in Yaounde, Dec. 26, 2019.

Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Congo use the CFA franc. The CEMAC member states have more than 50 percent of their financial reserves kept in the French treasury, following agreements signed in 1948.

Thomas Babissakana, a Cameroon economist and financial expert, says such agreements drain the economies of central African states because France now uses the euro, yet France still controls its currency.

It is unthinkable, he says, that a country will claim it has its independence when its currency, which is an essential instrument for its economic policies, is controlled by a former colonial master.

Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, talks with the media in Douala, Dec. 26, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA) — Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, talks with the media in Douala, Dec. 26, 2019.

The CFA franc, created in 1945, is considered by many as a sign of French interference in its former African colonies, even after the countries became independent.

The CFA franc was pegged to the French franc until 1999, when its value was fixed at about 660 CFA francs to one euro.

Daniel Ona Ondo, president of the CEMAC commission, says the six member states’ economic growth rate is estimated at 3 percent in 2019 — up from barely 1 percent in 2018 — and inflation remains under control at less than 3 percent. He says the most demanding issue is to consolidate regional integration before thinking of currency reforms.

Fourteen west and central African countries divided into two monetary unions, ECOWAS and CEMAC, use the CFA franc.

Source: VOA

24, December 2019

France taking land from La Republique Du Cameroun ⁰

French brewery group Castel is planning investments in the agriculture sector. On December 20, the CEO of the group, Pierre Castel and a delegation including the French ambassador to Cameroon Christophe Guilhou was received by President Paul Biya in Yaoundé. The aim of this audience was for Castel Group to present its investment programme.

“The new investment programme presented by the CEO of Castel group to the Head of State focuses on the development of agriculture in order to reduce the importation of raw materials used to produce brewing products,” the presidency of the republic indicated.

For the time being, Castel indicates that 30% of its inputs are supplied in Cameroon. It currently collaborates with 6,000 local farmers that supply 30,000 tons of sugar and 10,000 tons of corn to the group’s local subsidiary SABC yearly.

Despite these supplies, 70% of SABC’s input needs still remain to be covered. The group’s CEO has not yet revealed the specific details on these new investments but, it can be guessed that the targetted sub-sectors are corn and sugar used in the production of brewery products.

Castel indicates that its yearly investments in Cameroon are estimated at XAF35 billion and it generates 15,000 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect jobs.

Source: Business in Cameroon

18, December 2019

Biya, money, morality and State-owned enterprises in French Cameroun ⁰

Ernest Ela Evina holds the record as the longest serving general manager of a public company in French Cameroun. To be sure, Evina was appointed in 1974 by the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo as general manager of the National Center for Studies and Experimentation in Agricultural Machinery (Ceneema). Mr Ernest Ela Evina was only replaced last Friday by the French Cameroun head of state Paul Biya after 45 years as General Manager. No one knows the current bill of health of CENEEMA.

According to the Paul Biya decree signed last Friday, December 06, 2019, Evina got replaced by Mrs. Mebande Bate née Ekotto

A failed State

The French Cameroonian law of July 12, 2017 and certain provisions of laws 2017/10 and 2017/11 relating to the status of public enterprises and public establishments limit the duration of a general manager at the head of the company to 9 years (three terms of 3 years). This had nothing to do with the Biya-Evina relationship.

On June 19, 2019, President Biya signed another decree specifying the terms of application of certain provisions of the laws of 2017, on the general status of public establishments and public enterprises as well as the remuneration, allowances and benefits of their leaders.

Last July, Jean-Pierre Kédi, general manager of the Electricity Sector Regulatory Agency (Arsel) announced his intention to step down after 9 years at the head of the public company to remain in compliance with the law. But his announcement was perceived as a thunderbolt in a country where resignation is not in the habits of barons of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate.

Mindful of the numerous cases of Biya loyalists who have gone far beyond their mandates as general managers, it is evidently clear that French Cameroun is a one man show.

The local French Cameroun press recently cited extensively the cases of many other general managers and Board Chairs who are still in office. They include:

Camille Mouthe Bidias, CEO of the National Employment Fund (FNE) since 1991, 28 years old

Adolphe Moudiki, General Manager of the National Hydrocarbons Company (SNH) since 1993, 26 years

Yao Aissatou, General Manager of the National Investment Company (SNI) since 2003, 16 years

Marie Claire Nnana has been 12 years at the head of the Cameroon Press and Publishing Society (SOPECam)

Christol Georges Manon has also been 12 years at the head of the Mission for the Development and Management of Industrial Zones (MAGZI).

While Olivier Mekulu Mvondo Akame is the General Manager of the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS), since 2008, 11 years ago.

It is vital to include in this report that the Board Chairs have served several decades in their respective public companies.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

10, December 2019

French Cameroun: Yaounde launches platform to boost youth employment ⁰

YouthConnekt, a platform intended to boost youth entrepreneurship, job creation and social cohesion was launched in Cameroon on Monday.

Cameroon’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Mounouna Foutso, said the initiative will connect and empower Cameroonian youth with skills to fully take part in the development of the country.

“We have realized that many Cameroonian youths are not connected. We are now offering them this platform to connect to opportunities wherever they are found,” Foutso told reporters.

Over 5,000 youths including football star, Samuel Eto’o, attended Monday’s launch ceremony in the capital Yaounde.

YouthConnekt is a joint UN-Government initiative that seeks to connect young people to diverse socio-economic and political opportunities in order to optimize their empowerment and facilitate their full participation in development.

The initiative launched in 2012 in Rwanda is present in 12 African Countries.

“I encourage every young Cameroonian to seize the opportunities offered by YouthConnekt following the launching of the initiative in Cameroon. Our dear and beautiful country will be built in peace with the youth,” Cameroonian President Paul Biya tweeted immediately after the launch ceremony.

Source: Xinhuanet

8, December 2019

How the France-backed African CFA franc works as an enabler and barrier to development ⁰

Last month Benin president Patrice Talon shook the establishment table of France-Africa relations when he said in an interview the Francophone nations in West Africa want take more control over their CFA franc currency and plan to move some of their reserves away from France

“Psychologically, with regards to the vision of sovereignty and managing your own money, it’s not good that this model continues,” is reported to have told Radio France Internationale.

But while Talon’s comments was a something of a surprise, it was no longer a shock. Where once the idea of the questioning the status of the France-backed CFA franc seemed heresy, discussions around its future are becoming more common both from grassroots activists and in offices of African governments and opposition leaders.

Earlier this year, Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s former deputy prime minister and current minister of foreign affairs revived the controversy about the role of the CFA franc on Africa’s development with a provocative statement:“France is one of those countries that by printing money for 14 African states prevents their economic development and contributes to the fact that the refugees leave and then die in the sea or arrive on our coasts.”

Although President Emmanuel Macron of France said he would “not respond” to the statement, he did note that in the past “France will go along with the solution put forward by your [African] leaders.” The statement, however, has brought to question the CFA franc currency zone, the relations between the 14 countries within the CFA zone and France, and their impact on economic and development performance.

There is also a clear divergence in opinion among African leaders using the currency. In a recent trip to France, president Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire qualified the discussion about the CFA franc as a “false debate,” considering that the currency is “solid and well-managed” as well as “stabilizing” African economies.

But Chad’s president Idriss Debby said back in 2015 he considers the CFA as “pulling African economies down,” and that “time has come to cut the cordon that prevent Africa to develop.” He called for a restructuring of the currency in order to “enable African countries which are still using it to develop.”

In my book Innovating Development strategies in Africa: The Role of International, Regional, and National Actors, I examine the political economy of the performance and economic development strategies of the countries from CFA franc zone from 1960 to 2010. Building on it and additional research, it is important to address this debate dispassionately with impartial analysis of how the CFA works, the arguments of its supporters and opponents both academically and politically, its broader impact on economic performance, and the options ahead.

The origin story

France’s Treasury guaranteed the CFA Franc under a fixed exchange rate dependent on the deposit of 50% of its reserves in the French central bank

The CFA franc was created in December 1945 when the French government ratified the Bretton Woods Agreement and became the currency of les colonies françaises de l’Afrique or the CFA (“French Colonies of Africa”). The French Treasury guaranteed the currency under a fixed exchange rate dependent on the deposit of 50% of CFA franc reserves into the French central bank. The CFA was later split into the Communauté Financière d’Afrique (“Financial Community of Africa”) which included the West African countries Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo and the Communauté Financière de l’Afrique Centrale(“Financial Community of Central Africa”) including Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

The Central Bank of West African States and the Bank of Central African States are responsible for coordinating monetary exchanges through operating accounts with the French Treasury. These accounts operate according to several rules, including:

Each central bank must maintain at least 50% of foreign assets with the French Treasury,
Foreign exchange cover of at least 20% should be maintained for “sight liabilities”
Each government is limited to a ceiling of 20% of that country’s revenue from the previous year.

The CFA franc monetary system is designed to guarantee the franc currency in international markets, while simultaneously preventing overdraft and inflation in CFA member countries. Between the early 1950s and the mid-1980s, CFA franc countries had stronger real GDP growth and lower inflation than other sub-Saharan African countries. For example, within the past fifty years, Côte d’Ivoire experienced an average inflation rate of 6%— a much lower rate than its neighbor Ghana, which averaged 29% inflation.

From 1960 to 1978, Cote d’Ivoire averaged an annual GDP growth rate of 9.5%, which then stagnated, while Ghana’s GDP responded positively to structural adjustment programs in the 1980s. Cote d’Ivoire, among other CFA countries, did not respond immediately to structural adjustment programs. Strong growth and low inflation from the early independence period did not survive the economic shocks of 1986 to 1993, and the CFA became significantly overvalued and subject to increasing deficits in the French Treasury’s operations accounts. Domestic production lapsed, and African countries increasingly relied on imported materials. CFA countries’ public debt increased and central banks exceeded statutory ceilings, leading to significant fiscal imbalances.

A woman hands over a 10,000 CFA ($16.50) note to pay for food during the attieke and fish festival in Abidjan, Ivory Coast,

In 1994, France devalued the CFA franc, raising the parity rate from 50 CFA francs per French franc to 100 CFA francs per French franc. CFA member countries’ governments imposed wage freezes and layoffs in the wake of the CFA devaluation, leading to widespread unrest over inaccessible goods for consumers and unmanageable price controls for suppliers.

Then Senegalese president Abdou Diouf had promised citizens during his 1993 campaign that franc would not be devalued. So in 1994 thousands of demonstrators responded to this broken promise as many suffered the effects of France bowing to Western pressure to increase the CFA franc’s parity rate. Just one month before the devaluation, Michel Roussin, the French Cooperation Minister, had said there was no chance at devaluing the CFA Franc because France was “very attached to the Franc Zone”.

Growing debates

The challenge of implementing effective monetary policies for growth and stability throughout Africa has led to years of debate over the CFA franc zone. Many European and African leaders have supported its continuation, while others seek separation between France, the European Union, and Francophone African countries.

The debates over the CFA franc often begin with the question of exchange rates and devaluation. Studies have shown that the CFA franc’s convertibility at a fixed exchange rate was the impetus for the 1994 devaluation; an average of 730 million French francs was being converted each month before 1992, which was a massive increase from the less than 284 million French francs converted monthly before 1984.

All the presidents. Burkina Faso’s Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Mauritania’s Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Mali’s Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Chad’s Idriss Deby and Niger’s Mahamadou Issoufou pose during G5 Sahel Summit in Bamako, Mali, July 2, 2017.

Monetary policies that were effective in achieving real exchange rate depreciation also resulted in a reduction in government expenditures and a decline in investment. As a positive effect, the unlimited convertibility of the CFA franc to the euro has generally reduced the risk of foreign investment in CFA countries. Though, foreign investment in CFA countries remains low relative to other emerging economies, such as the BRICS economies that include South Africa.

Guinea, which has its own currency, still stands as an example for supporters of the CFA zone. Guinea frequently experiences currency shortages and its central bank does not have sufficient policies to ensure stability, so the CFA zone is presented as a solution to instability in this particular case.

Côte d’Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara has in the recent past contended that CFA zone countries are better off than Anglophone countries due to growth and low inflation, whereas the poor are disproportionately affected by unpredictable inflation in Anglophone countries. What is rarely discussed is that similar or better outcomes could be achieved with other policy options.

In terms of trade, the CFA’s fixed exchange rate to the euro has led to a greater facilitation of trade through the reduction of uncertainty and stabilization of domestic prices. The logic of fixed exchange rates traces back to the Bretton Woods period when 63% of developing countries had their currency pegged to that of an industrial country.

The potential problems with a fixed exchange rate are mostly offset in Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CAEMU) countries, due to these countries’ high levels of excess liquidity from oil revenues. However, West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries have experienced declining liquidity since 2004, thus suffering from the volatility of a fixed rate amidst external shocks.

Ideally, countries in the same monetary union should coordinate member countries’ fiscal policies to offset shocks in different parts of the union. However, no such coordination occurs in the CFA zone.

The CFA franc zone as a whole has thus resulted in:

Limited intra-regional trade, especially in Central Africa.
High dependence on producing and exporting a limited number of primary commodities.
A narrow industrial base.
A high vulnerability to external shocks.

A focus on primary commodities and limited intra-regional trade are broadly reflective of CFA franc member countries’ lack of export diversification and low industrialization. Intra-regional trade accounted for about 11% of total external trade of WAEMU countries, 6% of CAEMU countries, and only 9% of all CFA countries’ total external trade.The CFA franc’s fixed exchange rate is vulnerable to being a pawn on international markets to the detriment of the African economies.

The French government again considered devaluation in 2012, which, while disregarded as a rumor, was assumed to be a method of safeguarding the euro and maintain France’s credit rating. The CFA franc’s exchange rate could thus become a pawn in international markets to the detriment of CFA economies. In 2014, a drop in oil prices increased fiscal and current-account deficits within the monetary zone. Though, African leaders agreed to IMF-supported programs that inspired spending cuts to remedy the deficits instead of changing the exchange rate. This adamant support for the CFA franc’s peg to the Euro challenges the perspective that only European leaders support the fixed rate of CFA francs to Euros.

Debates over the persistence of the CFA franc zone also focus on African states’ independence and sovereignty. Large numbers of unemployed youth throughout sub-Saharan Africa—which may reach over 350 million over the next two decades—are often the loudest opponents of the CFA zone. Other pro-democracy movements, like Y’en a Marre in Senegal and Le Balai Citoyen in Burkina Faso, consider the dismantling of the CFA zone as essential to their campaigns to reform their countries’ respective governments. Other protests have included Kemi Seba, the Benin-born French activist who was charged with burning CFA notes in Senegal before being deported.

Some African economists consider the broader dependency on European monetary policies as a restriction to growth due to a hyper-fixation on inflation. However, African elite and wealthy individuals, the primary beneficiaries of the CFA franc zone configuration, support its continuation. Thus, debates will continue within the various dimensions of class, power, and politics.

The future

Scholars and policymakers have proposed several options to improve the viability of the CFA franc or replace the currency. Each option has advocates and opponents because the different policies target distinct challenges, such as exchange rate independence, inflation control, GDP-growth incentives, and capital mobility. The four most prominent options are to:

l. Tie the CFA franc to a basket of currencies, such as the dollar and the yuan. Pegging the CFA franc to multiple currencies will increase the relative stability of the currency in the event of exchange rate fluctuations of any of WAEMU or CAEMU’s trading partners. A basket peg based on an import-weighted index, as proposed by Crokett and Nsouli (1977), has also been evidenced to be more beneficial for developing countries. An import-weighted index would be most beneficial for WAEMU due to its high levels of import diversification, while a different configuration, such as an export-weighted index, a bilateral trade index, or an index based on the SDR (special drawing rights) might be more appropriate for the CAEMU zone that is highly focused on primary commodities. Though, in general, severe depreciation of basket currencies would have much graver effects on countries that mainly export primary products, such as CFA countries.

2. Restructure the reserve requirements for CFA franc countries. Higher levels of reserves will ensure the convertibility of the CFA franc, which is currently threatened by changing French and European fiscal policies. This option could be considered a short-term strategy, or precursor to other strategies, that may lead to greater monetary independence for CFA countries. However, in many CFA member countries, high reserves are derived from natural resource revenues, which are subject to changes in world prices and difficult to accommodate in the short-term.

3. Separate WAEMU and CAEMU into optimum currency areas. Optimum currency areas (OCA) have the benefits of high factor mobility, economic interdependence, sectoral diversification, and wage and price flexibility. The challenge is to support the costs related to the establishment of OCAs and ensure the establishment and compliance of uniform regulations. Though undoubtedly difficult to implement, this configuration could likely benefit both monetary unions because member states’ fiscal policies will be easier to coordinate within a similar regional context. Some research suggests West African CFA members of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, are already primed to become an OCA because these countries are best suited to integrate their real exchange rates. Although ECOWAS is mulling the launch of “Eco,” a new currency to be used by its 15 member states, including Nigeria, Aloysius Uche Ordu, former Vice President of the African Development Bank recently evaluated its prospects, and argues launching Eco by January 2020 “is, at best, an expensive distraction that the people of West Africa can ill afford at this particular moment”.

4. The establishment of the African Monetary Union. An African Monetary Union would be most challenging to implement and require countries to adhere to strict fiscal rules similar to the CFA zone until stability was achieved. This strategy requires significant investment and capital mobility to ensure a strong exchange rate union and currency convertibility. Movement of labor and capital are necessary to spur economic growth and stabilize relatively different economies. The appeal of an integrated African Monetary Union is the tremendous potential to increase intra-regional trade and encourage domestic production capabilities. However, another monetary union may lead to similar problems of dependence as the CFA franc zone.

Overall, policymakers from the CFA franc zone should analyze the various options to determine a short-term and long-term plan that will increase growth and lead to equitable development of countries that are at different stages. African and European leaders must be resolute and accountable to the various interest groups throughout their two continents.

Any restructuring of the CFA franc will have drastic macroeconomic effects that will require an increase to public investment and provision of public goods, attractive investment policies, development aid, and resource mobilization. The future of the CFA franc is yet to be determined, but it deserves comprehensive, sensitive analysis.

Source: Quartz Africa

28, November 2019

Cameroon launches mobile money service aggregation platform ⁰

Cameroon’s communication minister has signed a decree setting the conditions and operating rules for USSD for access to the national electronic communications aggregation platform, Business In Cameroon reported. This platform aims to ensure fair interconnection conditions, reduce the costs of mobile financial transactions, and promote financial inclusion. It will give access to mobile financial services via the shortcode hash 237 hash.

Philemon Zo’o Zame, director of the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ART), said the platform is housed at the state postal service Campost, which manages it and is responsible for implementing the decree. Zo’o Zame is inviting network operators and electronic communications service providers to connect to it within 30 days, by 26 December, for the provision of mobile financial services.

Source: Telecompaper

25, November 2019

Bank of Ambazonia to issue $10 Million bonds ⁰

Credible sources within the Interim Government of the Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) have confirmed that Vice President Dabney Yerima will be announcing the creation of “THE BANK OF AMBAZONIA (BOA) and Chairman of the Board of Governors today November 25th, 2019. The Bank of Ambazonia, AKA “The Ambazonian Njangi House” is an organized all-inclusive Semi-Autonomous Informal Financial Structure (Shadow Bank) with credible representatives from constituent components of the revolution. This will provide the Ambazonian people and communities with alternative but safe sources of funding for Southern Cameroons Restoration without generating additional systemic risk.

Our sources are informed that this decision is guided by sound advice from the international community, Americans and encouraging statements from the Undersecretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy. The Interim Government is quickly learning to adapt to the fast-changing nature of the Southern Cameroons Restoration quest. After listening to the calls for a more accountable, transparent and inclusive financial structure to better mobilize resources to fund our Restoration, the Interim Government has opted to go back to basics and apply what has worked best for The Southern Cameroons community for the past 58 years.

“The successive murderous regimes in Cameroun shutdown The Southern Cameroons venerable Cameroon Bank and other major financial institutions that served our communities and completely limited access to money and formal financial institutions from our people. However, they underestimated the innovation and resilience of our people in surviving within this system. The sheer determination to survive and develop our communities for the past 58 years of occupation resulted in the establishment of a very robust informal financial sector call “NJANGI HOUSES” (Shadow Banks), that revolutionized economic development and self-reliance of our people to lean on each other” stated Brado Tabenyang Etchu, the Secretary of State for Economy and Finance.

Most of the development and education of the Southern Cameroons communities has been made possible through the proceeds of NJANGI HOUSES. The people of Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia) are again currently faced with similar, but monumental challenges in their quest to restore their independence. The international community and major financial institutions have shutdown access to funding from the Southern Cameroons community to help them prosecute this war of liberation from colonial Cameroun.

The Interim Government has concluded that we are on our own and must rely on our own innovative ways to fund this quest for liberation and there is nothing that has made our people and communities more self-reliant than our innovative NJANGI HOUSE initiatives and it is this inspiration that has guided the Interim Government to form the people’s bank.

“We must keep the enemy wondering because a bank gives us another element of surprise and institutional credibility” The government of Cameroun is incurring and mortgaging our resources to prosecute its genocidal war against our people and we cannot continue to idly watch and do nothing” noted VP Dabney Yerima.

The Bank through its Board of Governors will immediately certify the issuance of $10 million high interest yielding AmbaFreedomBonds (AFB) to the public for sale. Proceeds from the sales of these bonds will go towards financing of the revolution. We are going to incur these liabilities to defend and provide humanitarian relief to our refugees and IDPs and these liabilities are going to be part of any negotiations with the government of Cameroun and the world must take note. Southern Cameroonians and are encouraged to own a piece of their country and patronize the purchase of these bonds as a means to fund the struggle by going to www.ambabondholders.com Bundlers/professional sales agents will be used with a bonds-based commission redeemed at time of bond maturity. Your Bond, Your Freedom!

24, November 2019

Dangote Cameroon sees 6% sales drop in 9M19 ⁰

In the first nine months of 2019, Dangote Cameroon reported a decrease in its domestic performance with sales down six per cent.

“Our 1.5Mta clinker mill in Douala sold about 866,000t of cement in the first nine months of 2019, down six per cent from 920,000t sold in the same period in 2018. We estimate that our market share was 40 per cent during the period,” said the group.

The decline in performance has been attributed by the company due to persistent security problems in the northwest and southwest regions, where economic activity has been slowing down due to fighting between secessionists and defence forces.

In the first half of this year, Dangote had already reported a decline in activity, seeing its sales at 0.6Mt, or down 7.1 per cent YoY.

Published under Cement News