Online retailer Jumia Technologies said on Monday it had suspended its e-commerce platform activities in Cameroon because they were “not suitable” for the African state.

Dubbed “the Amazon of Africa”, the company founded in 2012 by two French former McKinsey consultants has grown quickly to become the continent’s leading e-commerce firm, operating in more than a dozen countries.

Jumia, whose share price hit a record low of $4.96 after Reuters reported the suspension on Monday, said it would continue supporting buyers and vendors in Cameroon using its classified portal Jumia Deals.

Cameroon’s economy is one of the largest in central Africa, but growth has been hit by a two-year separatist uprising in its Anglophone North-west and South-west regions.

“We came to the conclusion that our transactional portal as it is run today is not suitable to the current context in Cameroon,” Jumia said in a statement announcing that its e-commerce operations there had been suspended.

Jumia’s shares have tumbled from its Wall Street debut price of $14.50 in April and its last week’s third-quarter results missed revenue estimates for the second time in three quarters.

With an e-commerce business similar to Amazon’s and a classified portal like Alibaba’s, Jumia sells its own stock, taking a cut of third-party transactions on its website.

A source at the company in Cameroon said it had chosen to prioritize growth over profitability, which had not paid off.

“We wanted to see how business evolved. We can come back, but for now we’re closing (to have) time to study the market,” the source, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

The International Monetary Fund said in November that economic growth in oil-producing Cameroon was likely to slow to 3.9% this year from 4.1% in 2018 due to a subdued performance by the country’s non-energy sector.

And U.S. President Donald Trump said last month he would end Cameroon’s preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) from January because the government had not dealt with abuses by the security forces.

Cameroon’s government and military have rejected the allegations and have said that Anglophone separatists are responsible for human rights violations.

Source: One America News Network

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Mr. Amadou Sy, visited Yaoundé during October 28—November 8, 2019 to discuss the fifth review of the program supported by the ECF that was approved in June 2017 .

At the conclusion of this visit, Mr. Sy issued the following statement:

“The IMF team reached staff-level agreement with the authorities on economic and financial policies that could support approval of the fifth review of their three-year program under the ECF. The IMF Executive Board could consider the fifth review in mid-December 2019. The completion of the fifth review would enable a sixth disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$ 76.5 million).

“Overall economic growth is estimated to reach 3.9 percent in 2019, from 4.1 percent in 2018. The strong rebound of the oil and gas sector will help contain the lower than anticipated expansion in the non-oil sector. While the oil and gas sector is expected to grow by 6.0 percent after three years of deceleration, security challenges and the suspension of SONARA’s production since June 2019 is weighing on short-term growth prospects. Non-oil activity is estimated to soften at 3.8 percent in 2019 from 4.4 percent in 2018. Inflation remains low but is trending up from 1.1 percent in 2018 to 2.3 percent in September 2019, (y/y) mainly owing to higher food prices and with strong regional variations.

“Fiscal performance in 2019 faces increased headwinds due to security challenges, the delayed implementation of new tax measures, and SONARA’s financial difficulties. Structural reforms are moving ahead, albeit with slow progress. The authorities are considering expanding the non-oil revenue base, including by reducing tax exemptions, raising VAT efficiency, and improving tax and customs administration. They are committed to addressing risks from contingent liabilities, including from SONARA and other state-owned enterprises, and safeguarding debt sustainability including by continuing to increase the share of concessional loans in new borrowing.”

“The medium-term outlook remains positive, with non-oil growth expected to gradually rise thanks to the completion of the investments in infrastructure and energy projects and a gradual resolution of the security crisis. Fiscal consolidation over 2020-21, together with enhanced foreign exchange repatriation will support a continued rebuilding of BEAC reserves. Structural reforms to increase public investment efficiency, strengthen public enterprises and support private sector development will support the growth outlook going forward.”

“The team wishes to thank the Cameroonian authorities for their hospitality, cooperation, and the constructive dialogue.”

The team met with Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, Minister of State Secretary General at the Presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister of Finance Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development Alamine Ousmane Mey, BEAC National Director Eugene Blaise Nsom, and other senior officials. The mission also met representatives of the diplomatic and donor communities as well of the private sector.

IMF Communications Department

The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia  Dabney Yerima will announce on Friday the 8^th of November the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ambazonia with responsibility for monetary policy throughout the revolution, Cameroon Concord News Group has gathered from IG sources.

Comrade Dabney Yerima will also announce the appointment of non-executive directors to the Bank of Ambazonia.  Our senior economic affairs editor will be commenting on the appointments

 By Rita Akana

Cameroon’s president has ordered its main Douala port to suspend contract talks with Swiss firm Terminal Investment Limited (TIL) until the conclusion of a court case brought by France’s Bollore, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

TIL was chosen to renovate and manage the Atlantic port in September after Bollore, which had managed the hub since 2015, was eliminated earlier in the bidding process as it sought to renew its contract. It is contesting the decision in the Cameroonian courts.

The Oct. 23 letter from the secretary-general of the presidency asks the director-general of Douala port “to suspend works to finalize the terms of the (TIL) contract … until the final conclusion of the case.”

A photo of the letter, which is marked “Confidential Very Urgent,” has been shared widely on social media. A source at the port confirmed its authenticity. Cameroon’s government spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The request coincides with an official three-day visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to Cameroon to support the resolution of its long-running conflict with Anglophone separatists.

France, the former colonial power, has had a frosty relationship with Cameroon over the last year over concerns about how President Paul Biya has handled the crisis, which has cost close to 2,000 lives over the past two years.

However, French diplomats said recent discussions about granting special status to Anglophone regions and the release of hundreds of political prisoners paved the way for Le Drian’s visit.

French officials had said the trip would also focus on development of Cameroon’s Kribi port, which is operated by Bollore, French firm CMA CGM and China Harbour Engineering.

Douala, located on the Atlantic coast, is the hub for Cameroon’s exports of cocoa, oil and timber.

In September, the port said TIL had been provisionally designated the winning bidder of the contract and would take control of the port on Jan. 1, 2020. TIL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: Reuters

Cameroon’s state airline Camair-co has suspended West African flights in its struggles to stay afloat. According to Top Business, a Cameroon publication, the company recalled its staff from Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Lagos in Nigeria and Cotonou in Benin.

The report said Camair-co General Manager Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu officially recalled the staff a week ago on October 16. The company’s spokesman had not responded to our request for comments.

The decision by top management to recall personnel and suspend the routes was attributed to dimming financial prospects for the carrier dubbed “The Star of Cameroon.”

The airline has grappled with financial and managerial crisis since it began operations in March 2011 with the state injecting $64 million.

It acquired one Bombardier aircraft last year, bringing its fleet to six, but some of its aircraft is grounded for varying reasons.

The carrier inherited one Boeing B767-300 from Camair and bought two Boeing B737s and two Chinese-made MA60 planes at launch.

Pet project

In May President Paul Biya fired former General Manager of the company, Ernest Dikoum and his deputy Moussa Habouba.

A former regional director of Emirates Airlines for Senegal and Guinea, Mr Dikoum had been at the helm of the national carrier for just 33 months (since August 2016).

He was replaced by Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu, former chairman of the Board of Directors of the Airlines Corporation while Max Constant Mve Minsi, a former director of maintenance in the firm, was appointed Deputy General Manager.

President Biya also appointed current Transport Minister, Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe as chairman of Camair-Co’s Board. Because of the small fleet, the company has been uncompetitive with flight cancellations endemic.

An audit by Boeing Consulting revealed that Camair-co recorded a deficit of FCFA 35 billion ($60 million) between 2012 and 2014. The audit showed FCFA 20 billion ($34.2 million) was owed by state enterprises.

Boeing recommended a government bailout and cash injection of $101 million in addition to fleet expansion. Camair-Co rose from the ashes of the defunct Cameroon Airlines (Camair) in 2006 as one of President Biya’s pet projects.

Source: The East African

Nearly all maritime kidnappings and hostage-takings in the nine months to the end of September this year took place in or near the Gulf of Guinea, said global maritime piracy watchdog the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

New data from the IMB shows that worldwide there have been 70 actual kidnappings of seafarers and 49 hostage-takings year to date. The West African country of Guinea alone saw 23 hostage-takings, Nigeria a further 12 and the West African country of Togo an additional seven. Cameroon and Nigeria were hot spots for kidnapping, too.

The IMB says about 86% of all maritime hostage-taking and 82% of all actual kidnappings happen in or near the Gulf of Guinea. The body adds that there were at least 119 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships  from January through September. That’s a 31% decline compared to the 156 incidents recorded in the same period in 2018.

Incidents are down globally but Gulf of Guinea remains a concern

“Although incidents are down, the Gulf of Guinea continues to be a concern for piracy and armed robbery-related activities, with kidnappings of crew members increasing in both scale and frequency,” said Pottengal Mukundan, a director of the IMB.

That said, the IMB freely concedes that there’s a high degree of under-reporting. The assistant director of the IMB, Cyrus Moody, told FreightWaves that the IMB’s own research indicates there’s roughly a 50% under-reporting of incidents.

Possible reasons why  include the fear that insurers will hike rates if it is known that a ship was attacked. There are also fears that if an attack on a ship is reported then criminals may “go harder on the crew,” the next time the same ship is attacked. Some operators may worry that local authorities could hold or delay the ship.

Gulf of Guinea – piracy at the center of the world

The Gulf of Guinea lies between West Africa and Central Africa. It’s the sea-space at zero degrees longitude and zero degrees latitude. There are different definitions what constitutes the Gulf of Guinea. The international “Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for protection against piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea region,” a document issued by the major global maritime shipping organizations, applies to the waters off the countries of Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon.

However, the Guidelines also say pirate attacks have occurred as far south as Angola and as far west as Sierra Leone, so the area of threat is enormous.

The Gulf of Guinea is an attractive area of operations for marine criminals for several reasons.

Many high-value, poorly-defended targets

Firstly, it has many high-value targets.

There are many ships because there are numerous ports and a great deal of cargo. And, because vessels are entering or leaving port, ships may be traveling slowly. They may be sitting low in the water, and are therefore easier for pirates to board, because they are fully laden. Or they may be at anchor waiting for commercial instructions or repairs or for any number of other reasons. As Moody pointed out, ships are constantly entering and leaving, or waiting around or in, the area of high threat.

Secondly, the targets are poorly defended because of certain provisions of international law. That is also the reason why experts talk of “piracy” and “armed robbery against ships,” and why there is a distinction between the two in statistical tracking, even though they’re physically the same crime.

What is “piracy”? What is “armed robbery against ships”?

A summary of Article 101 of the UN Convention on the International Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) indicates that maritime piracy is any illegal act of violence committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship and directed on the high seas, or in a place outside the jurisdiction of any country, against another ship.

The International Maritime Organization, a specialized body of the United Nations, uses the international definition for piracy to define “armed robbery against ships” but with the difference that the crime happens within the borders of a country.

The key parts are the concept of “high seas” and “outside the jurisdiction of any country.” Or, to put it another way, whether a maritime crime is “piracy” or an “armed robbery against a ship” depends upon where the crime happens in relation to the international/territorial border.

So a crime against a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is piracy. But a criminal attack on a ship in, say, the Port of Long Beach, California, is armed robbery against a ship in the U.S.

Where is the maritime border?

On land, a man-made barrier, or a natural barrier such as a river, often marks the location of the border. While there are no visible barriers or landmarks at sea, nonetheless, there is still a border. Under UNCLOS, a country’s sovereignty can extend from the coast out to sea up to a limit of 12 nautical miles (about 13.8 U.S. miles). This sea-space is known as the territorial sea.

Just as crimes against crew and ships in U.S. territorial waters are subject to U.S. law, crimes against crew and ships in the waters off Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon are subject to the criminal laws of those countries. The close proximity of all those sovereign nations poses several challenges.

Hot pursuit and armed guards

Law enforcers have a right of “hot pursuit” under article 111 of UNCLOS. Marine police (or navies) can chase and capture criminals who flee out of a country’s jurisdiction and onto the high seas. But if the criminals cross the border into a neighboring country, the chasing police lose that right. And, just as happens with neighboring countries the world over, police and criminal investigators cannot wander freely back and forth across borders to tackle crime.

A few years ago there was a big problem with Somali pirates attacking ships as they sailed through the Gulf of Aden. Deployment of armed guards aboard ships was the primary means of tackling Somali piracy along the east coast of Africa. Unlike ships in the Gulf of Guinea, however, ships sailing off the coast of Somalia were attacked in international waters and therefore the law of the local coastal state did not apply. So armed guards were a legally sensible response.

But that wouldn’t work in the Gulf of Guinea. Ships have to enter and leave the territories of the coastal states to visit the local ports. Nations jealously guard their monopoly on the right to use armed force in their jurisdictions and generally do not allow large numbers of openly armed foreigners to enter and hang around in their territory. So ship-borne foreign armed guards would not be allowed.

Local law enforcement and judicial systems

National sovereignty presents a further problem to deterring or stopping pirates because not every country has a well-developed law enforcement and judicial system. There’s a good reason there’s no piracy epidemic immediately off the coast of, say, the state of Oregon. U.S. law enforcement would take decisive action against repeated acts of organized piracy or armed robbery in that area. And the U.S. has prosecutors, courts, judges and a penal system to try, convict, sentence and imprison pirates and other maritime criminals.

That’s not so in the Gulf of Guinea.

“Nigeria did not even have piracy as a crime,” Moody explained to FreightWaves. So piracy (if outside the territorial sea) or armed robbery against ships couldn’t even be prosecuted as such in Nigeria. However, Moody pointed out that Nigeria has more recently enacted laws against piracy.

“You always have maritime crime where the response from law enforcement and the judicial system is not adequate or robust,” Moody told FreightWaves.

Culled from FreightWaves.Com