Sustainable development is development efforts which aim at meeting today’s needs and those of future generations without damaging the social, economic, cultural, and physical environments. Indeed, sustainable development is holistic development which is fair and inclusive in the short and long term. 

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals derived from lessons learned from the performances and failures of MDGs. SDGs, as designed by the United Nations, have been designed to guide global development efforts, including those made on the African continent, when performances, challenges, and outcomes get appraised. 

They are great development indicators which should help many countries across the globe to determine if they are making significant development progress. For many decades, Africa has been lagging behind other continents in terms of development and this justifies claims that Africa, the richest continent in terms of natural resources, is indeed the poorest on the face of the earth and these goals may serve as a compass for a continent which has been in the throes of poverty and economic challenges for decades.

Far from being a benchmarking process, sustainable development is a holistic concept designed to address three major growth dimensions namely economic growth, social inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability. These goals include poverty alleviation; zero hunger; ensuring a healthy life and improving the state of well-being; quality education; gender equality and women empowerment, achieve potable water and sanitation, improve modern energy; provision of productive employment, and decent work. 

The SDGs also aim at ensuring resilient and sustainable cities; promoting sustainable consumption and production pattern; combating climate change and its impacts; ensuring sustainable use of water bodies; sustainable use of terrestrial eco-system; promoting peaceful and inclusive societies; and promoting global partnership.

While SDGs are commendable as a compass for global development, the time of their introduction has been questionable. They emerged at a period when the global economy and political landscapes were unstable, unlike the MDGs which were introduced when the global economy was comparatively buoyant and more stable. The global economic and financial context of SDGs has been sluggish and challenging just as the political and policy systems of many regions and nations, including African countries. At the time of their introduction, global financial systems, including the private and public sectors, kicked into a dangerously downward spiral or precarious stagnation, leading to sluggish growth in many African countries.

Despite the goodwill demonstrated at the time the SDGs were introduced, studies and experiences suggest that African countries are lagging behind on the road to achieving the 2030 agenda, given that development finance remains a strategic threat and challenge to achieving SDGs in Africa. Development growth and finance are generally slow and inadequate, and these have significantly and adversely impacted the realization of the 2030 agenda, except in cases where funding from usual and unusual quarters are explored and understood.

Despite several development efforts, poverty and poor infrastructure remain the bane of the continent’s development. Africa’s development prospects continue to be bleak, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where corruption and bad governance have become the norm. This has resulted in many Africans becoming increasingly pessimistic about future development due to aggravated reversed development which has played out on the continent after several successive governments.

Africa’s development efforts have been seriously compromised over the last two years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hit the global economy like a ton of bricks, hurting some key sectors of the African economy, many of which have already experienced a slow-down as a result. Tourism, air transport, and the oil sector have been visibly impacted and the disruptions are still hurting many people across the globe. 

The socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis is real, and it is disrupting global trade, making it hard for the continent to smoothly pursue its journey towards the SDGs. With these disruptions, a paradigm shift is needed if global trade must fully resume to grant the continent the steam it needs to ensure the attainment of the SDGs. However, though devastating, COVID-19 could be an opportunity for the continent. 

It never rains but it pours. While Africa is yet to fully recover from the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has made matters worse for Africa’s development efforts, thereby hampering the continent’s determination to achieve the SDGs.

Within a few weeks, global wheat, sunflower, and crude prices soared to unprecedented levels. Africa is heavily reliant on food imports from both countries, and the continent is already experiencing price shocks and disruptions in the supply chain of these commodities. The conflict has already impacted food security on the continent through availability and pricing in some food crops, particularly wheat and sunflower.

Over the past decade, the continent has seen growing demand for cereal crops, including wheat and sunflower, which has been mainly supported by imports than local production. Africa’s wheat imports increased by 68% between 2007 to 2019, surging to 47 million tonnes. 

Russia and Ukraine, often referred to as the world’s breadbaskets, are major players in the export of wheat and sunflower to Africa. North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia), Nigeria in West Africa, Ethiopia and Sudan in East Africa, and South Africa account for 80 per cent of wheat imports. Wheat consumption in Africa is projected to reach 76.5 million tonnes by 2025, of which 48.3 million tonnes or 63.4 % is projected to be imported outside of the continent.

With the disruption of global trade by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, it is obvious that Africa will not be reaching the finish line in 2030. Inflation and scarcity have expanded inequalities on the continent and women are among the hardest hit. Diminishing incomes on the continent imply poverty will gain more ground and gender equality and food security will remain slogans for a very long time, making it hard for the continent to fair well with regard to the 2030 Agenda.  

By Tabe Joan Manyi in Yaoundé

An IMF team was recently in Cameroon to share economic perspectives with the country’s authorities. As part of the visit, the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement with the country’s authorities on the economic and financial policies which could support the approval of the Second Review of the program under the ECF and EFF arrangements. The agreement is subject to approval of the IMF Executive Board in late July 2022, which would enable the disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$73.6 million).

According to the IMF, economic growth slowed to 0.5 percent in 2020 affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and security tensions in the region. Growth rebounded in 2021 and reached 3.6 percent for the year, supported by a domestic recovery and the general global economic recovery. Inflation for the year averaged 2.3 percent and the current account deficit (including grants) widened to 4.0 percent of GDP.

According to the global development finance institution, Cameroon’s economic outlook for 2022 remains positive and the economy is expected to grow by 3.8 percent. However, the outlook is clouded with considerable uncertainty arising from the sharp increase in international commodity prices—especially for oil, fertilizer, and foodstuffs—accentuated by the war in Ukraine, and tightening conditions in international financial markets. Average inflation is expected to rise to 4.6 percent, while higher oil export receipts should further improve the current account deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP. The authorities are committed to a fiscal policy anchored on a gradual reduction of the deficit and are revising the budget to maintain the deficit (cash basis, including grants) at 2.5 percent of GDP—much the same as in the original budget. This should bring the stock of public debt down to around 44 percent of GDP by end-2022.

It added that the impact of higher international oil prices on the budget is mixed as the higher oil revenues are more than offset by substantially higher fuel subsidies (estimated at 2.9 percent of GDP from 0.5 percent in 2021) aimed at maintaining the administered retail fuel prices unchanged. The higher subsidy costs are therefore being accommodated by reducing other spending, including spending on investment projects. The high cost of fuel subsidies would be difficult to sustain under current international oil price projections. However, the gradual phasing out of fuel subsidies would need to be accompanied by a substantial scaling-up of the social cash transfer mechanism.

The team shared the authorities’ concern with the rise in food prices and welcomed the authorities’ effort to ensuring adequate supplies of fertilizer so that the next harvest will be plentiful.

Also, the medium-term outlook remains positive, though facing considerable uncertainties. The economic strategy remains focused on rebuilding fiscal and external buffers to sustain macroeconomic stability. At the same time, the pace of structural reform needs to be accelerated for the country to meet its development goals. The business environment needs to be improved for the private sector to take the lead role in supporting growth. The team welcomed the authorities’ continued efforts to improve public financial management and governance, including the accountability of budget execution. The team also welcomed the authorities’ efforts to strengthen the financial management of state enterprises, including recent progress on SONARA’s restructuring. The completion of key infrastructure projects, especially for energy and transport, should boost economic growth and support the replacement of imported with domestically produced goods.

The IMF team acknowledged the authorities’ commitment to implementing policies consistent with the stability of the region’s monetary arrangement, which includes rebuilding foreign exchange reserves at the Bank of Central African States (BEAC). To this end, the authorities are working to strengthen compliance with the foreign exchange regulations notably regarding the repatriation of export earnings, while not impeding legitimate payments overseas.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

Zambian Mitwa Ng’ambi has just been appointed head of MTN Cameroon. She replaces resigning Stephen Blewett, who is leaving for “other career opportunities,” according to an official MTN statement issued yesterday June 30. The South African has held the position since July 2020.

Mitwa Ng’ambi’s appointment will take effect on September 1, 2022.  The lady has nearly ten years of experience in the group and is well qualified to assume this responsibility. She has held the same position in Rwanda and has also held senior positions in Benin and Zambia.

During her mandate as the Head of MTN Rwanda, Mitwa Ng’ambi reportedly helped strengthen the company’s stakeholder engagement. She successfully led industry transformation initiatives for digital development and financial inclusion. She also supervised MTN Rwanda’s IPO and the creation of its Fintech subsidiary.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Cameroonian Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) announced it has collected CFA965.2 billion between January and May 2022. Compared to the same period last year, this makes an increase of 14.7% (+ CFA123.5 billion).

Better still; the amount collected at the end of May 2022 is CFA21.2 billion higher than initially forecast, which brings the target achievement rate to 102.3%. If this revenue collection rate is maintained throughout the year, the DGI should reach, or even exceed, its annual target: CFA2, 184.8 billion.

According to the tax agency, the good performance in tax collection is the result of government reforms implemented in recent years, mainly the development of an online tax platform. “Today, everything is done online […] It is possible to register via a mobile phone or a computer, and pay taxes without going to the tax office. There is no longer a cashier at the tax office. Even the various tax certificates are now acquired online,” explains Modeste Mopa (pictured), the director general of taxes.

Widening the tax base

As a result of this initiative, the time spent by taxpayers to complete their tax obligations has been reduced “by about 30%”, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Nguté revealed on 26 November 2021 at the National Assembly. This was during the presentation of the Cameroonian government’s economic, financial, social and cultural program for the FY2022. The online platform has also helped to reduce fraud and make payments easier and more secure. In FY2021, CFA10 billion of tax revenues were collected via mobile money, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

To further ease tax procedures, authorities have also deployed a strategy that allows companies to collect certain taxes before transferring them to the DGI (airport tax collected by airlines, car tax collected by insurance companies …, ed). New taxes have also been introduced to expand the tax base. An example is a tax on electronic money transfers introduced in the 2022 finance law. Decided in the context of the expansion of mobile money and mobile banking services in the country, this tax is expected to bring in around CFA20 billion in additional revenue this year, according to DGI projections.

Source: Business in Cameroon

It never rains but it pours. This is an apt description of what is happening in Mamfe following the violent fire that consumed seven of the nine wards which made up the Mamfe General Hospital.

While the population is still struggling to accept that the only hospital that they have in the Division has been razed by some criminal elements, food prices have kept moving up as fear that Amba Fighters will soon raze the town’s central market. 

Amba boys have issued many audio messages trying to distance themselves from the fire which has attracted condemnation from far and wide, but their threats have continued and this time, they are targeting the market. By threatening to burn down the market, the fighters have made themselves very unpopular in the town. The people who once professed to be the protectors of their people have morphed into a disaster to the same people.

Illiterates have become judges and lawyers in rural parts of the Division and the fines they impose on their people are mind-blowing. You pay CFAF 100,000 for having a round of sex with somebody’s wife. Sex has never been this expensive in Manyu! Many young men have simply escaped from their villages just because they have been suspected of having sex with women who are not their wives. An Islamic state is gradually playing out in many villages in Manyu. 

Residents of the Division hold that Amba fighters have made it hard for their children to go to school for more than five years and this act of irresponsibility is breeding a generation of frustrated and criminal elements who will grow up to become millstones around the necks of their parents. 

Their threat to burn down the market implies that they are willing to destroy everything in Mamfe in particular and Manyu in general. Many girls are already pregnant and there are many fatherless children running around, with no hope on the horizon. Threatening to burn down the market implies that they do not even want parents to put food on their tables. The population is bitter and confused, and does not know what to do to check these criminals who are making life unbearable for the population.

Speaking to some residents of Mamfe, the Cameroon Concord News Group’s special reporter to Mamfe, Fon Lawrence who has left the town via Nigeria, has said that there is a lot of tension in Mamfe. There are no lights and no water, and with the hospital gone, the population’s desperation has increased, and many people do not know where to turn to, as the government cannot even help them. Mamfe town is also not safe, as gun-toting Amba boys keep an eye on everybody, while soldiers make things worse by harassing ordinary citizens, especially those who may be new in town.   

“We are frustrated. We don’t feel safe in our own land. Our grandparents never witnessed what we are witnessing. How can our own children be burning our own infrastructure? They have burnt the motor park. The hospital has gone up in smoke and food prices are on the rise as traders close their shops in order not to incur the wrath of the trigger-happy Amba fighters who have clearly demonstrated their determination to ruin everything in their path. What are we supposed to be doing now? Soldiers kill our children. Amba boys kidnap our brothers, and they are now threatening to burn down the market. How do we survive?” the angry resident of Mamfe who elected anonymity said.  

“In less than four days, food prices have risen, and these escalating prices are hurting us. Not many people are heading to Nigeria to buy goods that might not be sold because of the fear that the Amba fighters will burn down the market. In less than twenty-four hours, the prices of garri, palm oil, rice, and other necessities have risen. How are we going to live? Mamfe is a small town with very few businesses and almost no financial institutions which can grant us credit. BICEC, the only bank that used to operate here, has shut down operations and its staff hurriedly left town, fearing that both Amba fighters and army soldiers could become a threat to them,” the frustrated resident lamented.

“We are already living in Hell. Escalating food prices simply imply many people will not be able to feed their families. It is like the Amba fighters have put us on a diet of hunger. Before long, many of us will be losing weight and we are not even big. Many elderly people will surely die if they cannot have their daily food rations. The war itself has already destabilized many, but this unannounced dry fasting will surely send many of them to an early grave. No food, no water, no electricity. We have simply been rolled back into the dark ages,” the resident said. 

The days ahead are bleak. Residents of Mamfe are looking for hope even in the wrong places. Churches are full of new Christians, but many do not have money for tithes, and this makes them unwelcome. Personal homes have been converted into churches just to give the depressed an opportunity to find hope and solace. 

The announcement that the Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic will be in town on Saturday, June 18, 2022, and information that the Diaspora is raising funds to rebuild the hospital is giving the people some hope. 

“We are calling on our brothers abroad not to abandon us. We are aware that there are efforts underway for the mobilization of money to help us. I was told that our brothers in Toronto, Canada, are already making giant strides to raise money, and this has gladdened my heart. I think many others will emulate the example of our people in Canada. We are counting on them, and we are looking forward to hearing more good news,” a teacher at Grammar School Mamfe said. 

“I hear the drive is championed by Dr. Joachim Arrey. He is very credible person. I hear he is leading an institution which has been providing books to displaced children here in Mamfe. We should pray that things work so that much money can be raised. Back home, I hear Minister Mengot is also leading his own efforts to bring some relief to the people. Let other Manyu sons and daughters support any initiative that will lead to the rebuilding of our hospital. Diseases do not know if you are a federalist or a separatist. We will all perish if something is not done. This is not the time for politics. We must work together to restore hope,” the teacher stressed.

According to Fon Lawrence, the Cameroon Concord News Group’s reporter who has fled to Nigeria, something needs to be done. Before leaving the town, he visited the town’s Preventive hospital which will now serve as a full-fledge hospital, and he reports that the Preventive Hospital itself is small and run-down. It needs to be upgraded if it must play its new role.  

“There are no beds for hospitalization and no medications for the critically ill. The structure is begging for an upgrade and the staff are not very hopeful. The facility has been neglected for years and it is now being converted into a hospital. It will be a real miracle if things really work out, but from the look of things, Mamfe is in the grip of a massive health storm,” Fon Lawrence who is currently in Nigeria said over the phone.  

Meanwhile some of the patients who had been ordered out by the criminals who burned down the General Hospital have died. Two patients who could not access proper care gave up the ghost on Monday. They were unable to go to any private clinic due to lack of resources. Their families are devastated. This is the challenge that will be facing many people in the town. Lack of money will certainly send many people to an early grave, except the government and other well-wishers act very fast. A disaster is hovering over the town. Natives of Manyu Division must now step in to save their people from the jaws of death.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon earned CFA12.08bn from the operation of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline between January and April 2022. According to data from the dedicated Steering Committee, this makes an increase of 4.23% compared to the CFA11.59 billion generated over the same period in 2021.

By contrast, transit fees on the pipeline went up while the offtake of crude oil at the Komé-Kribi terminal declined from 16 million barrels between January and April 30, 2021, to 15.10 million barrels over the same period in 2022. A decline of 900 thousand barrels (5.6%).

The Steering Committee does not explain how the 15.10 million barrels generated more transit fee revenue than 16 million barrels. But, rising oil prices may be a reason. According to the Composite Commodity Price Index (ICCPB) report, published by the Bank of Central African States, “energy prices rose by 18.2% in the first quarter of 2022, due to an increase in the barrel price of oil (23.4%) and natural gas (3%).”

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Cameroon Development Corporation seems to still be struggling to recover from the separatist war in Southern Cameroons. Between January and May 2022, the agribusiness company exported 8,443 tons of bananas, up only 651 tons, compared to 7,792 tons during the same period in 2021.

Although the volume is higher, it hides an almost stagnant production year-on-year, according to statistics published by the Banana Association of Cameroon (Assobacam). CDC was even absent from the export market for 2 years as of September 2018, meaning it did not export any bananas over the period. Before this happened, the company shipped 23,495 tons of bananas between January and May 2018, almost three times the volume exported during the same period in 2022 (8,443 tons).

The picture looks bleak, but the Bank of Cemac States (Beac) has a better outlook. In its latest business survey, the bank revealed that banana production should increase in Q2 2022, as most of the 2021 plantings will now mature, and CDC will resume activities.

Indeed, After almost two years of inactivity due to the Anglophone crisis, CDC initiated the rehabilitation of 520 hectares of banana plantations last year. These are the ones that should mature during the second quarter, according to the central bank. On this basis, the increase in production should lead to higher exports.

Source: Business in Cameroon