Armel François, CEO of Plantations du Haut-Penja, was appointed on Thursday as acting President of the Groupement inter patronal du Cameroun (Gicam). The decision that brought the French man to the spot light was made public via a statement signed by Alain Blaise Batongue, the executive secretary of the association.

Alain Blaise Batongue also added that the resolution was adopted pursuant to Article 19 of the bylaws. Article 19 of Gicam, stipulates that the first vice president assumes the role par interim until the next election.

Armel Francois replaces the late CPDM tycoon, André Fotso, who died in Paris on August 2. The mandate of the latter will end in 2019.

By Sama Ernest (Cameroon Intelligence Report) 

The government of Cameroon has secured fresh funding from the People’s Republic of China to spearhead development projects in the country and hopefully better peoples’ living conditions. Economy, Planning and Regional Development Minister, Louis Paul Motaze on July 28-29, 2016 in Beijing signed four different agreements to this effect with Chinese financiers. This was within the sidelines of a Coordinators’ meeting on the implementation of the follow up actions of the 2015 Johannesburg summit on China-Africa cooperation.

One of the agreements concerns a loan worth 302,944,727 US dollars (about FCFA 181 billion) for the construction of a hydroelectricity dam on Bini à Warak in the Adamawa Region. The project, which Minister Louis Paul Motaze said is within the three-year contingency plan being pursued by government, will upon completion produce a 560hm3 dam with an installed energy capacity of 75 MW and a 225Kv energy transmission line. Quizzed on when field work is expected to begin, the Minister said financing had been the major drawback and “with it already secured, there is no time to waste.”Another agreement concerns a 100 million Yuan (about FCFA nine billion) gift, without counterpart funding required to carry out feasibility studies for the construction of a new building for Cameroon’s National Assembly. The second face of the Kribi Deep Seaport project also got attention from the donors.

A one billion Yuan (about FCFA 90 billion) cooperation agreement was equally signed to ease the mobilization of funding for the project. “This money is not for the construction of the project but to make the financing that we will receive sustainable,” Minister Motaze told Cameroon Tribune. In essence, this is to secure a preferential loan with Eximbank China for phase two of the project. Meanwhile, the fourth agreement was reached between Cameroon and a local Chinese bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), for the latter to facilitate Cameroon’s loan acquisition, when need be, in China.

These funds fall in line with China’s new cooperation framework with Africa further deepened in 2015 in South Africa when Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a 60 billion dollars funding line in ten different cooperation areas with the African continent. The Minister disclosed that Cameroon is leaving nothing to chance in drafting feasible and susceptibly life-changing projects so as to tap maximum benefit from the new financing window. “We have many agreements in the pipeline. “Energy transmission lines from Douala to Yaounde, Memve’ele to Yaounde, e-education, rural electrification with Huawei etc are just some of the agreements underway,” he noted. Prior to evaluation meeting, Minister Motaze and other delegation leaders from 53 African countries in attendance held an in-camera session with China’s Vice President, Li Yuanchao.

Cameroon Tribune

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Global Entrepreneurship Network of the US State Department have ranked Cameroon first, scoring seven out of 10 points, for its “MyBusiness.cm” online business registration system which is listed in the Global Enterprise Regulation portal. A certificate of “Highest Appreciation” was awarded during the Global Economic Forum organised by the United Nations Organisation on 18 July, 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Presenting the award to the Prime Minister, Head of Government at the Star Building, yesterday, July 26, 2016, the Minister of Small and Medium-Size Entreprises, Social Economy and Handicraft, Prof. Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, was full of gratitude to Philemon Yang for instructing reforms in business registration in a bid to improve the business environment. Six months ago, government put in place the online business registration platform “MyBusiness.cm” and made it functional in the cities of Yaounde, Douala and Garoua.

“Upon a discreet on-the-spot evaluation and inquiries by agents from the US State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Network in our One-Stop shops for business registration, they realised the system was functioning,” he told the press after the audience.

Cameroon beat 18 other countries to emerge first in the e-registration category, while the Kingdom of Bhutan ranked first in the e-regulation category. In all, 116 countries were evaluated this year. “We believe Cameroon’s ranking will improve in this yearly exercise when we must have installed the system in all 10 regions,” said Prof. Etoundi Ngoa, failing to conceal his determination to strive for a better business climate to attract investments.

Cameroon Tribune

Within the framework of a convention between the Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) and the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries (MINEPIA) for the surveillance and control of fishing activities in the Cameroon waters, another fishing vessel named the Liao Lulhuyu was caught by the National Marine on the 13th July in the SONARA exploitation area.

The National Marine brought the vessel to Limbe and handed it over to MINEPIA services to follow up the normal procedures. According to the law, the company that owns the fishing vessel has the right to apply for an amicable settlement, if not, depending on the gravity of the crime committed, MINEPIA can engage a legal action against the company.

According to the South West Regional Delegate of MINEPIA, Dr. Walters Andu Ndi, the amicable settlement applied for by the owners of the fishing vessel was actually granted and fines were levied. Another penalty was that the fish caught was confiscated because they fished in a restricted area and as a result, this fish was regarded as state property. The Regional Delegate added that since fish is a perishable product, it was auctioned to the public on Saturday, 16 July, 2016 in Limbe in collaboration with the Ministry of State Property who are the competent body to carry out auction sales.

“We have educated the business persons of the fishing sector to understand the rules and regulations governing fishing activities. Now is the period for action and punishment of those who do not respect the laws. We hope that others will learn from the mistakes for a more responsible and sustainable fishing activity.

Cameroon Tribune

The Russian prime minister says Western countries have lost an estimated USD 100 billion due to sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Kremlin’s alleged role in the Ukraine conflict. “According to estimates of international experts, in recent time, the countries that have imposed the sanctions have lost about USD 100 billion,” Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

Medvedev, who was among the attendees in the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Mongolia, also noted that most of officials he talked to during the event agreed that the bans harm economic relations. On Friday, the Russian premier further held a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the ASEM summit.

According to the Russian government press service, the two sides “discussed the situation in Ukraine, … the trade and economic relations between Russia and the European Union and … the Russian-German cooperation.”

Heads of state and representatives from 28 EU member states and 21 Asian countries attended the two-day event. The West’s sanctions against Russia were initially introduced after the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula declared independence from Ukraine and voted for reunification with the Russian Federation in March 2014.

The Kremlin has slapped restrictions on some food imports from the US, the EU, Norway, Australia and Canada in a tit-for-tat move. Washington and its European allies accuse Moscow of destabilizing Ukraine. Moscow, however, rejects having a hand in the crisis gripping the Eastern European state.

Ukraine’s eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April 2014 to crush pro-Moscow protests there.  The conflict has left around 9,400 people dead and over 22,000 others injured.

Presstv