27, April 2023

Cameroon, Chad agree to resolve dispute over Exxon Mobil sale ⁰

Cameroon and Chad have agreed to resolve their dispute over assets belonging to a multinational oil giant, Exxon Mobil, an official said Wednesday.

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, a Cameroonian presidential official, announced this after a meeting with Chad’s transitional president, Mahamat Idriss Deby, in the capital N’Djamena, according to Chad Information Agency.

The centuries-old relations between our two countries, which have “always been excellent remain the same” and the two heads of state are “willing to continue to work to strengthen these relations for the well-being of their states and their peoples,” Ngoh was quoted as saying.

“Some misunderstandings have been dispelled and there is really no cloud in the relationship between Cameroon and Chad.”

Ngoh, who visited the country as a special envoy, days after Chad recalled its ambassador to the neighboring country over the dispute, handed Deby “a message of friendship, a message of fraternity” from his counterpart Paul Biya.

Chad recalled its ambassador to Cameroon on April 21 amid a dispute over assets belonging to a multinational oil giant, Exxon Mobil, which the Chadian government nationalized.

Last month, the Chadian government nationalized assets of Exxon Mobil which include the company’s interest in the more than 1,000 km (621 miles) Chad-Cameroon pipeline from Chad to the Atlantic Gulf of Guinea coast used to export crude.

The controversial move came months after ExxonMobil had in December closed the sale of its operations in Chad and Cameroon to British-listed Africa-focused oil and gas energy company, Savannah Energy, in a $407 million deal.

The sale was contested by the Chadian military government.

Chad was infuriated over reports that Savannah Energy had decided to sell its 10% stake in a company that controls the Cameroonian section of the Chad-Cameroon oil export pipeline to Cameroon state oil company, at $44.9 million — which the Chadian authorities were against.

The Chadian presidency accused the Cameroonian authorities of being dishonest in negotiations aimed to resolve the disputes regarding the acquisition of the assets of ExxonMobil by Savannah Energy.

Gali Ngothe Gatta, a Chad presidential official, had warned that the “dispute undermines relations between the two countries and could have consequences on economic and political cooperation.”

Source: Cameroon Info.Net

27, April 2023

World Bank says commodity prices to register sharpest drop since the pandemic ⁰

Global commodity prices are expected to decline this year at the fastest clip since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, clouding the growth prospects of almost two-thirds of developing economies that depend on commodity exports, according to the World Bank’s latest Commodity Markets Outlook report.

The drop in prices, however, is expected to bring little relief to the nearly 350 million people across the world who face food insecurity. Although food prices are expected to fall by 8% in 2023, they will be at the second-highest level since 1975. Moreover, as of February this year, annual food price inflation is at 20% globally, the highest level over the past two decades.

“The surge in food and energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely passed due to slowing economic growth, a moderate winter, and reallocations in the commodity trade,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “But this is of little comfort to consumers in many countries. In real terms, food prices will remain at one of the highest levels of the past five decades. Governments should avoid trade restrictions and protect their poorest citizens using targeted income-support programs rather than price controls.”

Overall, commodity prices are expected to fall by 21% in 2023 relative to last year. Energy prices are projected to decline by 26% this year. The price of Brent crude oil in U.S. dollars is expected to average $84 a barrel this year—down 16% from the 2022 average. European and U.S. natural-gas prices are forecast to halve between 2022 and 2023, while coal prices are expected to decrease 42% in 2023. Fertilizer prices are also projected to fall by 37% in 2023, which would mark the largest annual drop since 1974. However, fertilizer prices are still near their recent high last seen during the 2008-09 food crisis.

Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of Prospects Group, said: “The decline in commodity prices over the past year has helped reduce global headline inflation. However, central bankers need to remain vigilant as a wide range of factors, including weaker-than-expected oil supply, a more commodity-intensive recovery in China, an intensification of geopolitical tensions, or unfavorable weather conditions, could push prices higher and reignite inflationary pressures.”

Despite the large declines expected this year, prices of all major commodity groups will remain well above their 2015-2019 average levels. European natural gas prices will hover at almost three times the average in 2015-19. Energy and coal prices will also remain above the pre-pandemic average.

“Metal prices, which increased slightly early in the year, are expected to fall by 8% relative to last year, primarily because of weak global demand and improved supplies,” said Valerie Mercer-Blackman, Lead Economist in the World Bank’s Prospects Group. “In the longer term, however, the energy transition could significantly lift the demand for some metals, notably lithium, copper, and nickel.”

A Special Focus section of the report evaluates the performance of a wide range of approaches used to forecast prices of seven industrial commodities (oil and six industrial metals). A key finding of the study is that futures prices, which are widely used for price forecasts, often lead to large forecast errors. Econometric models based on multiple independent variables tend to outperform other approaches as well as futures prices. The analysis suggests that augmenting model-based forecasting approaches—by incorporating the dynamics of commodity prices over time and controlling for other economic factors—enhances forecast accuracy.

27, April 2023

Marguerite Fonkwen Atanga is new director of CCA Bank ⁰

Marguerite Fonkwen Atanga became the new managing director of CCA Bank, a former microfinance institution that obtained its banking license in 2018. Her appointment to replace Alexis Megudjou was announced at the end of the board meeting held last April 24 in Yaoundé.

Before she became the new CCA Bank’s head, Marguerite Fonkwen Atanga was the deputy executive director of the local subsidiary of the Nigerian banking group UBA. She was promoted to this position in 2018 when she was UBA Cameroon’s Director of Retail & Transaction Banking. The newly appointed director thus becomes the second woman to hold this position within CCA. The first was Charlotte Chekep Kouecheu, who was replaced in April 2020 by Alexis Megudjou.

Marguerite Fonkwen Atanga will be assisted in her new position by Ibrahim Oumarou Sanda, the deputy executive. The latter was also part of the UBA team.

Source: Business in Cameroon

27, April 2023

Biya and Déby’s feud: Minister Ngoh Ngoh en route to Chad ⁰

Cameroon’s Minister of State and Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh on Wednesday departed to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad, to meet President of Chad’s Transitional Military Council Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, Cameroon presidency said in a statement.

The statement said Ngoh was a “special envoy” of President Paul Biya.

The visit comes six days after Chad recalled its ambassador to neighboring Cameroon following an escalation of a dispute over the sale by ExxonMobil of its oil assets in both countries to Savannah Energy, a British oil company.

According to local media, Ngoh and Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno will discuss how to resolve the dispute “amicably.”

Source: Xinhuanet

26, April 2023

Boko Haram: Biya regime to redeploy troops to CAR, Nigeria borders amid spike in attacks ⁰

Cameroon’s military plans to redeploy troops to its borders with Nigeria and the Central African Republic after an increase in attacks from militants and rebels.

The military said hundreds of Boko Haram fighters are hiding in the bush after last week’s invasion of the Mayo Moskota district on the northern border with Nigeria. The Cameroon government reported several hundred homes were set on fire, leaving thousands homeless.

Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon’s defense minister, said President Paul Biya ordered him to convene an emergency security meeting in Yaounde this week to examine ways of stopping the attacks.

Assomo said a resurgence of Boko Haram attacks is causing untold suffering on civilians on the border with Nigeria after a long period of relative peace. He said militias created by civilians are struggling to combat thousands of Islamist extremists who have been crossing to Cameroon from Nigeria since January to commit atrocities on civilians and government troops.

Assomo, who spoke on Tuesday during the top security meeting also attended by police chiefs, said a week hardly goes by without large-scale attacks by the extremists.

Northern border villagers said Cameroon’s military began withdrawing troops when Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram terror group, was declared killed. Nigeria’s government confirms Shekau died in May 2021.

Cameroon’s military denied accusations that troops have abandoned civilians. The military said it has changed its strategy, but the protection of civilians and their property remains a priority.

Meanwhile, the military said the security meeting concluded that Central African Republic rebels fleeing clashes with the U.N. peacekeeping force known as MINUSCA are regularly crossing into eastern Cameroon for supplies. The rebels also abduct civilians for ransom.

Military officials said they have examined ways of fully stopping separatist attacks in Cameroon’s western regions. Separatists have been fighting to carve out an independent English-speaking state from the French majority nation since 2017.

Deben Tchoffo, governor of the Northwest region, said the military is in control of all 34 districts in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest region, despite separatists attacking civilians and burning public edifices at regular intervals. Many civilians have returned to their villages, and children are returning to schools in huge numbers which, he added, is an indication that current attacks by fighters are like the last kicks of a dying horse.

Cameroon’s military said it will redeploy troops to western regions and the borders with Nigeria and Central African Republic. The government said troops will be deployed to new areas where separatists, terrorists and rebels are attacking, but did not say how many forces will be deployed or redeployed.

In March, 2,500 troops graduated from Cameroon’s military training institutes. The government said it will train 3,000 fresh troops within the next 20 months to protect civilians and their property all over the central African state.

Source: VOA

26, April 2023

Ireland: Cameroonian women travel to Dublin to thank nuns who taught them ⁰

A group of 21 women are travelling to Dublin to show their appreciation for Irish nuns who taught them in Cameroon during the 1980s.

The women, who are all graduates of Lourdes Secondary School for Girls in Mankon, a town in western Cameroon, will be paying tribute to the Holy Rosary Sisters, who empowered them when they were teenagers.

The group, who called themselves the “Pacesetters”, include members who have worked and travelled the world, some earning PhDs and Masters with careers in engineering, nursing, medicine and more.

They are due to land in Dublin Airport this afternoon.

Dr Claire Minang, one of the students from the class of 1986, said the trip was an opportunity to thank the sisters.

“They gave us everything we needed to excel in the world when we got out. That’s why we’re so grateful,” she told RTÉ News.

During their trip to Dublin, the group will be visiting Sr Mary Neville, 90, who served as their principal.

For Nagella Nwana Nukuna, now a technical manager at DuPont, the multinational chemicals firm, the school, while strict and structured, allowed them to grow.

“They were loving sisters to us. And, as we have grown up, we could all see that that level of structure is sometimes good,” Ms Nakuna said.

Although Sr Mary has long since retired, she remembers her time at the school, and her time with her girls fondly.

She said that each of the women appreciated the opportunity of education, during a time when it was generally the males that went to highs school and further education.

“The girls were anxious to make the best of their opportunity, and they worked very hard. I found them very conscientious and responsible people,” she said.

Sr Mary also applauded their parents who sent them to the school, acknowledging that, for many, it was a big financial sacrifice.

During her time there, she tried to ensure the best learning environment, working closely with the other teachers and prefects, even banning corporal punishment.

“I encouraged them to say what kind of school they want, how are you going to achieve that and having great pride in your own compound, in your school and in your own family” Sr Mary said.

Nogwa Fonjoe, who now works in cloud computing, remembers joining the school. She said that she had initially felt homesick after leaving her parents’ home.

However, despite the often strict curriculum and daily structure, she credits Sr Mary and the rest of the Holy Rosary Sisters for teaching her discipline.

Speaking to RTÉ News, she said it helped the students be more organised.

“It helped us appreciate what a good education is and we’re able to pass that on as well to our children.”

Today, the women are all still in touch with each other, regularly in contact through WhatsApp and supporting each other through their milestones.

For Sr Mary, it is an opportunity to reunite with the girls she once knew and celebrate the heights they have reached.

“Now they’ll be women, some of them grandmothers, well dressed and very mature. I’m so excited to be meeting them again.”

Source: RTE

25, April 2023

US: Joe Biden announces 2024 presidential run ⁰

US President Joe Biden has confirmed he’s seeking re-election with Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate in 2024

Aged 80, Biden is already the oldest US president in history and would be 86 at the end of a second term, a cause of concern for some voters

Biden launched his campaign on social media early Tuesday morning, with a three-minute video that begins with a one-word pitch: freedom

Republicans were clearly ready for this. Soon after the launch, the party released a statement calling the Democrat “out of touch” for seeking re-election and claiming US citizens were counting down the days until they can send him “packing”

Donald Trump has already launched his bid for the Republicans, meaning the pair could be set for a rematch of the 2020 election in November 2024 – but there are still many candidates to declare.

Source: BBC

25, April 2023

French Cameroun: Boko Haram attack in Far North kills six soldiers ⁰

Six soldiers from the so-called 42 mechanized division were killed when a Boko Haram mine exploded early Monday April 24 2023 in the Mayo-Tsanaga Division.

The attack happened on the Bovongola-Zeleved road.

It comes two weeks after a Boko Haram assault on a military convoy in the same area that left four Cameroon government army soldiers dead.

The Islamist group is based in the Federal Republic of Nigeria but is being tackled by a multinational force, including soldiers from Cameroon.

In the latest attack, two other soldiers were wounded. Yaoundé deployed outdated military helicopters to try and track those responsible soon afterwards.

In the nation’s capital, President Paul Biya was busy celebrating 29 years of a ‘blissful’ marriage to his wife, Chantal Biya, who is noted for her flaming red hair.

By Nelly Epupa with files and additional reporting from Rita Akana and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

25, April 2023

World Bank Says Better Migration Policies Can Help Boost Prosperity in All Countries ⁰

Populations across the globe are aging at an unprecedented pace, making many countries increasingly reliant on migration to realize their long-term growth potential, according to a new report from the World Bank.

The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies, identifies this trend as a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people. Wealthy countries as well as a growing number of middle-income countries—traditionally among the main sources of migrants—face diminishing populations, intensifying the global competition for workers and talent. Meanwhile, most low-income countries are expected to see rapid population growth, putting them under pressure to create more jobs for young people.

“Migration can be a powerful force for prosperity and development,” said World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg. “When it is managed properly, it provides benefits for all people — in origin and destination societies.”

In the coming decades, the share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries. Spain, with a population of 47 million, is projected to shrink by more than one third by 2100, with those above age 65 increasing from 20% to 39% of the population. Countries like Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye may soon need more foreign workers because their population is no longer growing.

Beyond this demographic shift, the forces driving migration are also changing, making cross-border movements more diverse and complex. Today, destination and origin countries span all income levels, with many countries such as Mexico, Nigeria, and the U.K. both sending and receiving migrants. The number of refugees nearly tripled over the last decade. Climate change threatens to fuel more migration. So far, most climate-driven movements were within countries, but about 40% of the world’s population—3.5 billion people—lives in places highly exposed to climate impacts.

Current approaches not only fail to maximize the potential development gains of migration, they also cause great suffering for people moving in distress. About 2.5% of the world’s population—184 million people, including 37 million refugees—now live outside their country of nationality. The largest share—43%—lives in developing countries.

The report underscores the urgency of managing migration better. The goal of policymakers should be to strengthen the match of migrants’ skills with the demand in destination societies, while protecting refugees and reducing the need for distressed movements. The report provides a framework for policymakers on how to do this.

“This World Development Report proposes a simple but powerful framework to aid the making of migration and refugee policy,” said Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. “It tells us when such policies can be made unilaterally by destination countries, when they are better made plurilaterally by destination, transit and origin countries, and when they must be considered a multilateral responsibility.”

Origin countries should make labor migration an explicit part of their development strategy. They should lower remittance costs, facilitate knowledge transfers from their diaspora, build skills that are in high demand globally so that citizens can get better jobs if they migrate, mitigate the adverse effects of “brain drain,” protect their nationals while abroad, and support them upon return.

Destination countries should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their inclusion, and address social impacts that raise concerns among their citizens. They should let refugees move, get jobs, and access national services wherever they are available.

International cooperation is essential to make migration a strong force for development. Bilateral cooperation can strengthen the match of migrants’ skills with the needs of destination societies. Multilateral efforts are needed to share the costs of refugee-hosting and to address distressed migration. Voices that are underrepresented in the migration debate must be heard: this includes developing countries, the private sector and other stakeholders, and migrants and refugees themselves.

25, April 2023

US says Sudan warring parties agree to 72-hour ceasefire after hundreds killed ⁰

Sudan’s battling generals have agreed to a three-day ceasefire, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands, and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.

Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold but Blinken announced: “Following intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have agreed to implement a nationwide ceasefire starting at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.”

Blinken’s statement came two hours before the truce was to take effect.

It came after the UN chief warned Sudan is on “the edge of the abyss” following fighting between the rivals who have waged unprecedented battles in the capital, Khartoum, as well as elsewhere in the country.

The fighting pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.

The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for “dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire.”

At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.

Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo’s embassy in Khartoum, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.

More than 4,000 people have fled the country in foreign-organised evacuations that began on Saturday.

The United States and multiple European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.

But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee.

They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts.

UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape “areas affected by fighting, including to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan”.

“Morgues are full. Corpses litter the streets” said Attiya Abdallah, head of the doctors’ union, which on Monday reported scores more casualties after sites in south Khartoum were “heavily shelled”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the violence in Sudan — already one of the world’s poorest countries, with a history of military coups — “could engulf the whole region and beyond”.

“We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss,” Guterres said.

He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.

Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place on Tuesday, according to a diplomat.

A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850 kilometre (530 mile) road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.

The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.

“Thirty-five hours in a not so comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours’ bombing and sitting under the shells,” he said.

A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will “remain in Sudan and will continue to work towards a resolution to the current crisis”.

‘Unspeakable destruction’

With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted out from smaller airstrips, to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.

US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a “long and intense weekend” involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.

China said Monday it had “safely evacuated” a first group of citizens and would “try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan”.

Source: AFP