President Paul Biya’s health is once again under scrutiny after it emerged the 91-year old leader was unable to board a flight back home late yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that ever since the Cameroonian dictator left the Chinese capital, Beijing, he has been at the mercy of his medical team at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva.

He was seen at the hotel reception struggling to share a conversation with one of his aides when he was whisked away by his wife Chantal Biya.

Paul Biya is still in Geneva after he first left Cameroon for Beijing on September 8 for the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) reported with footages of a plane carrying Mr. Biya and wife that the ageing leader had left the Chinese capital. But more than ten days later, he hasn’t returned to Yaoundé.

The recent Biya’s flight cancellation highlights just the latest of several health issues he is rumoured to be experiencing.

It has been a subject of speculation since the war in Southern Cameroons began, with the leader having been pictured looking hunched and bloated amid reports he has been treated for an undisclosed cancer.

The 91-year-old’s legs also appeared to buckle during a speech in Beijing.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Defense Minister Joseph Beti Assomo presided over a ceremony on September 18, 2024, to send off the 11th Cameroonian contingent deployed for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

In his address, Minister Assomo emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for breaches of conduct, stressing the importance of exemplary behavior among the peacekeepers. He warned against acts of dishonor, trafficking, and sexual abuse or exploitation that could tarnish Cameroon’s reputation. 

He also underscored the need for strict adherence to operational protocols to maintain the mission’s integrity, warning that any infractions would be dealt with severely. “In any case, should misconduct be established, it will be subject to disciplinary measures commensurate with the offenses committed,” he added.

Assomo highlighted the evolving operational landscape in the Central African Republic, where new bilateral actors with distinct mandates have been deployed. He urged the contingent to remain aware of the local population’s sentiments, which could reflect a “lukewarm perception” of the international forces.

The minister’s emphasis on discipline stems from past discrepancies between the Cameroonian peacekeepers’ widely recognized operational excellence and inappropriate behavior by a minority of personnel. In 2020, Assomo announced sanctions against members of the 6th Cameroonian contingent accused of misconduct during their mission.

Last year, 1,070 Cameroonian peacekeepers were deployed in CAR, tasked with protecting civilians and supporting the country’s transition. Their role included securing Bangui’s 1st and 7th districts, as well as engaging in civil-military activities such as medical consultations and distributing essential supplies.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Simon Emile Mooh, senior divisional officer of Mezam division, in the crisis-hit North-West region, announced in a statement that on September 19, armed separatists on the run attacked the Nkwen market in the Bamenda II district. These gunmen detonated an improvised explosive device, killing a woman and injuring six others, including an 11-month-old child. According to the official, the women were shoppers at the market when the attack occurred.

While expressing his condolences to the victims’ families and condemning the terrorist act, the Prefect also stated that security forces had launched a manhunt to track down the attackers.

This attack comes roughly ten days after separatists called for civil disobedience to disrupt the start of the school year. Despite a decline in separatist attacks—attributed to the weakening of the armed movement, which has been hampered by military operations from Yaoundé—the authorities remain on high alert. This vigilance is further underscored by a curfew imposed a week ago by the Prefect of Manyu, in the South-West region.

Source: Sbbc

From September 18 to 20, U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the Cameroon Ministry of Defense organized the West Africa Logistics Conference, bringing together more than 50 military logistics leaders from West Africa and the United States. During the conference, participants discussed logistics challenges and identified opportunities for collaboration to improve interoperability and operational effectiveness.

Air Force Brig. Gen. George “Dutch” Dietrich, Director of Logistics for U.S. Africa Command, expressed his appreciation to the Cameroon Armed Forces for their close collaboration in hosting the event. He emphasized that WALC serves as a vital platform for regional cooperation, enabling military and civilian leaders to address common logistics challenges and find solutions to enhance interoperability and operational readiness.

In his opening remarks, U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon John C. Lamora noted, “WALC is a real opportunity to tackle a challenge that every military in the world faces. Logistics are a critical component of all operations, from peacekeeping to responding to humanitarian crises and natural disasters. By improving our collective understanding of regional challenges, we can better prepare to respond to future crises.”

This year’s conference was attended by representatives from Benin, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Togo, the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Culled from the US embassy in Yaoundé

Cameroon is battling devastating floods as the country’s President Paul Biya, still broad on a trip he began two weeks ago, tasked officials to address the dire humanitarian crisis.

Some 20 people have died and 236,000 others displaced in the Far North region, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

They are among 2.30 million people in West and Central Africa so far affected severe flooding in 2024.

This region has been experiencing flooding since the start of the rainy season, which began in the second half of July with an average rainfall frequency of one day out of four.

There has been an increasing significant damage to infrastructure, farmland, and disruption of essential services in three of the six administrative divisions of the floods-prone region including Mayo Tsanaga, Mayo Danay, and Logone-and-Chari.

The peak of the floods was recorded on August 28 with the breaking of water retention dikes in Mayo Danay, causing the town of Yagoua and other villages to be flooded, OCHA said on Friday.

Several schools have been forced to shut, destroyed, or are being used to provide shelter for affected communities since the 2024/2025 academic year started on Monday September 9 leaving schoolchildren in the region in limbo.

The mostly agrarian and pastoralist population has seen its and farmland and herds of cattle and sheep; main source of livelihood and vital for local economies and food security washed away by floodwaters. The lifestyle of the people in this part of the country is nomadic.

This week, authorities moved students to schools that are still functioning using mainly heavy duty trucks and canoes, signaling a possible overcrowding for the time being.

Cameroon’s floods aren’t the only source of crisis. While the students in this part of the country are suffering from an environmental disaster, those in most parts of the Anglophone region of the country have also been at home because of conflict.

The English speaking regions of South West and North West in Cameroon have seen school disrupted for fear of being attacked as armed separatists have imposed a lockdown and are reinforcing tactics to prevent children from schooling.

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya is still away after he first left the country for Beijing on September 8 for the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

State television reported with footages of a plane carrying the president and wife that the ageing leader had left the Chinese capital. But ten days later, he hasn’t returned to Yaounde.

Biya routinely travels to Europe for “brief private stays” and sometimes detours from foreign trips. He has been absent before from national crises although his officials often argue they are delegated to deal with the issues while he is away.

In October 2016, when an overloaded train derailed in the small town of Eseka, killing over 75 people, Biya was on a “brief private visit to Europe” which is how his office refered to his regular jaunts to Geneva.

A year later, the president was again on another “private” visit to Switzerland when protests broke out in the Anglophone western part of the country over perceived and real marginalisation of the English-speaking minority population. The protests ballooned into today’s armed struggle that has kept many schools closed.

Though again absent, the 91-years-old President was touched by news of the devastating floods in the Far North Region of the country, according to the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, who conveyed the Cameroonian leader’s heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families at a press conference in Yaounde on Friday.

As part of a wide range of emergence response measures, Minister Atanga Nji announced that the president had ordered the disbursement of an emergency aid of $594,000 (FCFA 350 million) to the flood victims.

“We will provide beds, matrasses, food items and other health facilities to the victims,” said Atanga Nji. He supervised the departure of some truckloads of part of the assistance from Yaounde on Tuesday.

Blaming the floods on climate change, Atanga Nji said the floods, and droughts, will not be unique to Cameroon. He said neighboring Lake Chad Basin countries like Chad and Nigeria have also been hit by floods, landslide and mudslide resulting from scattered downpours and thunderstorms. The same countries have been pummeled by droughts recently.

In Chad, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports at least 341 fatalities, at least 1,495,969 people affected and 265,590 damaged houses by devastating floods in the central and south-western part of the country as at Tuesday. Local media including Chadinfos.com have reported a higher tool.

In Nigeria, at least 30 people have died and several hundred thousand others forced from their homes by floodwaters in Maiduguri, capital of northeastern Borno state that borders Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Already burdened by violence and insecurity brought about by the Boko Haram insurgency, the recent floods have exacerbated the sorry story of the Far North Region one of Cameroon’s most populous and least developed of the ten semi-autonomous administrative regions.

According to OCHA, the floods have struck vulnerable communities already facing challenges due to climate change, pockets of drought, locust invasions, bird invasions, pachyderm invasions and a highly volatile security context since 2014, “not to mention the structural poverty of the Region”, it said in a report on Friday, September 13.

Cameroon is just one of several countries so far hit by floods this year in West and Central Africa.

Torrential rains and severe flooding have affected more than 2.30 million people in West and Central Africa in 2024, according to statistics by OCHA. The most affected countries are Chad, Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali.

Culled from the East African

Minister Paul Tasong, head of the steering committee for the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North-West and South-West Regions (PPRD-NO/SO), revealed during the 14th session of the North-West Regional Assembly that only 50 billion CFA francs of the 154 billion CFA francs expected since 2020 have been raised. Initially, the plan was scheduled to last two years. 

Since its launch in 2020, the Presidential Plan has struggled to attract significant support from Cameroon’s international partners. Countries like France and the United States conditioned their participation on the implementation of a genuine dialogue to resolve the ongoing armed conflict in the separatist regions. As a result, only a few partners, such as Japan and the United Nations Development Programme, have released funds to support infrastructure rehabilitation projects in these regions.

Paul Tasong, who also serves as Minister Delegate to the Minister of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development, reported that 258 projects have been completed in areas such as providing agricultural inputs to farmers, building schools, and setting up water supply systems. Additionally, 38 projects are still underway, while 2 have been suspended.

He thanked the partners who have contributed to the Presidential Plan, noting that an estimated 2,500 billion CFA francs would be needed for the complete transformation of the North-West and South-West regions, according to a communication from the North-West Regional Assembly.

Source: Business in Cameroon

The Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development recently announced that nearly CFA151 million has been raised in less than a year to fund 56 projects in agriculture, agribusiness, and livestock. Of these projects, 26 are led by women. These initiatives are supported through the “Associations Initiative,” which aims to promote rural entrepreneurship by providing financial and technical opportunities to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cameroon. This initiative is part of the Integrated Agricultural and Agro-food Products Valorization and Transformation Program (Transfagri), a cooperative effort between Cameroon and France under the third Debt Relief and Development Contract (C3D).

The “Associations Initiative” contributes to a broader socio-economic development strategy designed to create jobs, ensure the sustainability of production units, enhance food security, and promote gender equality. The program provides dual support to local entrepreneurs: technical assistance to finalize business plans and secure funding, and financial support through “honor loans.” These loans, which require no collateral and have zero interest, can reach up to CFA7 million, with a repayment period of up to five years and a one-year grace period, according to the ministry.

On September 11, 2024, a ceremony took place in Obala, where the Minister of Economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey, and French Ambassador Thierry Marchand handed over checks to the first beneficiaries. Currently, the only operational “Associations Initiative” locations in Cameroon are in Obala (Center) and Bafoussam (West). The minister emphasized that this initiative aims to overcome barriers to SME development in rural areas, particularly by easing access to financing.

Cameroonian SMEs face several challenges, such as difficult collateral requirements, high interest rates, and credit conditions unsuitable for their production cycles. The “honor loan” offers a solution by improving competitiveness and fostering inclusive development. To expand the program’s impact, Alamine Ousmane Mey announced the upcoming establishment of new “Associations Initiative” locations in Garoua (North) and Nkongsamba (Littoral) as part of the Food Security Support Project in Rural Areas of Cameroon (Secal). This project, funded with EUR16 million (approximately CFA10.5 billion) under the 3rd C2D, aims to support sustainable job creation, promote inclusive growth, and enhance food security from 2024 to 2026.

These associations represent a new approach by France to support Cameroon’s socio-economic development efforts. “It is a modern, concrete, and effective mechanism that provides resources directly to economic operators to transform their activities,” said Thierry Marchand, the French Ambassador to Cameroon. The mechanism also benefits from the support of Team Europe, which contributed to the establishment of the Bafoussam Initiative.

Source: Business in Cameroon