4, December 2018
Africa Cup of Nations Mess: Why it is weeping for Cameroonian business people 0
Two major hotels in Yaoundé that were due to host some foreign delegations had gone into a loan agreement with the government and were already carrying out extension works for better accommodation
Jarvis Bisong, a hotel manager in Yaoundé, secured a loan from a micro finance institution and started renovating his hotel ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) football tournament.
He said the renovation works to cost $17,000 (Sh1.7 million) were supposed to end by February, 2019.
“I knew that during the Afcon from June to July, I will recover the money and pay back the loan, but now that we [Cameroon] will no longer host the tournament, I am just confused,” he said.
Many hotel managers are now found in the same type situation like Jarvis, following the announcement Friday by the Confederation of African Football (Caf), withdrawing the hosting rights of the 2019 Afcon tournament from Cameroon.
Two major hotels in Yaounde that were due to host some foreign delegations had gone into a loan agreement with the government and were already carrying out extension works for better accommodation.
They groan over the news of the withdrawal of the hosting rights expressing worries over the loans they were supposed to pay back after making some brisk business during the month-long soccer competition.
The local organizing committee of the competition had selected 21 hotels in the five host cities to accommodate teams and delegations.
The group phase of the competition was due to be staged in five cities, namely Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, Garoua and Limbe.
Yaounde and Limbe both hosted the 2016 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
In the transport sector, proprietors of inter-city bus agencies claim they had made huge investments by importing brand new buses to expand their fleet.
the Caf decision, they now weep that they will have to wait for two years to reap what they expected to recover in just a few months.
Stories abound of small and medium size enterprises, and catering services which will not go operational near the venues of the tournament due to the postponement.
According to senior analyst for Central Africa at International Crisis Group, Hans De Marie Heungoup, more than $1.1 billion (Sh110 billion) of investments had already been done in the country or scheduled in 2019.
One thing that was due to witness a hike in sales and consumption during the Afcon 2019 competition was supposed to beer as most Cameroonians cherish boozing which is indeed a way of life in Cameroon during such events.
Statistics by SABC, the Cameroon’s largest beer company, show that overall beer sales in Cameroon in 2015 are estimated at about 6,600,000 hl (660 million liters), including imports.
These figures were expected to see an increase next year with the organization of the Afcon.
The Tourism Industry in Cameroon was already envisaging a boom with thousands of visitors that were expected to come but it will not be the case again.
The number of visitors coming to Cameroon dropped since the outbreak of Boko Haram activities in the Northern part and with the recent separatist movement in the English speaking regions of the country.
The organization of the Afcon was going to change as thousands of visitors were expected to jet into the country for the football jamboree.
The African Cup of Nations is a big tournament which usually gives a boost to the economy of host countries.
Cameroon has lost this blessing which could have profited its limping economy.
Source: Daily Nation
Cameroon has been stripped of the right to stage the 2019 African Nations Cup finals, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Friday. CAF confirmed the unanimous decision after a meeting of its executive committee in Accra. Morocco is the favourite to take over the hosting of the expanded 24-team tournament, which is being held from June 15-July 13.
4, December 2018
African Cup of Nations Looking for New 2019 Site 0
There have been mixed reactions in Cameroon after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) withdrew the 2019 continental soccer event-hosting rights from the central African state. The government has described the CAF decision as “total injustice” while some people say the suspension should act as an eye opener for the government to solve the crisis that has destabilized the English speaking regions for more than two years.
Night shift workers transport roofing material and seats to the Olembe stadium on the outskirts of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde. It is here the government of Cameroon had announced the opening and closing matches of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations would take place.
Work supervisor Angel Thamin says they are working night and day so that the stadium should be ready by March 2019, three months before the official kickoff of the competition.
“For the main stadium, all the structure elements are here, almost a hundred percent,” he said. “When it comes to office ventilation as you can see, I mean, you know it is extremely advanced and the main stadium will be finished in terms of structures and as you can see now, it is not only foundations and columns, but you can see slabs that are ready.”
Issa Tchiroma, Cameroon government spokesperson and minister of communication says the government has instructed all companies working on infrastructure projects for the football feast to continue as if CAF had not stripped hosting rights from Cameroon.
“Cameroon has put in a creditable performance,” said Tchiroma. “It shall prove it to the entire world by completing with the same determination and on time, the construction of this modern infrastructure belonging to the Cameroonian people. Our country which has written the pages of African football in bold letters will not relent her effort in working with other African countries to develop football in our beloved Africa.”
Issa Tchiroma says Cameroon, a five-time African football champion, agreed to host the prestigious African event even though CAF decided to increase the size of the tournament from 16 to 24 teams without asking its opinion.
But during Friday’s extraordinary meeting of CAF’s executive committee in Accra, Ghana, the football body said the infrastructure was not ready. They also raised security concerns, especially in the restive English-speaking regions where armed conflicts have continued for more than two years, leading to the deaths of more than 1,200 civilians, fighters and military personnel, and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced.
Gladys Matute, a 24-year English-speaking Cameroonian says she is very okay with the decision to remove hosting rights from Cameroon until peace is negotiated in the restive regions.
“We cannot be hosting an event when we know that the two English speaking regions are not at peace,” she said. “They are killing people, so it is good for the president to come back and sit and talk with the Anglophone regions so that there should be some peace. Paul Biya should sit up and there should be some peace talks.”
Secondary school student Rose Ghani says she had expected CAF to withdraw the hosting rights a long time ago.
“We are not surprised because embassies have been refusing their citizens from traveling to Cameroon especially to the northwest and southwest,” she said. “And also we have the Boko Haram fight in the far north. Moreover, all the towns to host are suffering from insecurity. There is also fear that when the tournament will be going on the Ambazonian fighters might attack people in Yaounde.”
The 2019 finals will take place from June 15-July 13, a change from the traditional January period.
Cameroon had proposed five cities, Limbe, Bafoussam, Douala, Garoua and the capital Yaounde as competition venues.
CAF says it has initiated an urgent and open call for a new host.
Source: VOA