Selling Cameroon

Selling Cameroon The Selling and the Debunking of A Lie The June 7, 2007 issue of the New York Times Magazine contained an 8-page advertising supplement, purchased by the Cameroon Government at the cost of $250,000 to the people and treasury of the Cameroons. To a city used to multibillion dollar deals, this seems like small potatoes, but the full implications of this ad has been brought into question by the people of the Cameroons, who have no say as far as this government is concerned. Please, read on.

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International | Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism The New York Times Sells Cameroon for $250,000 by Sofia Jarrin Hurtado ( sofiajt [at] yahoo.com ) Tuesday Jul 10th, 2007 9:07 AM On a silver platter this past Sunday, The New York Times magazine featured no less than eight pages towards the liberalization of the economy in Cameroon. Showing off its excellence in corporate media advertising, the NY Times magazine sold prominent space to Cameroon business traders so they can in turn sell their country’s resources to U.S. investors, no doubt to the demise of many of its citizens. “Cameroon ready for growth, ready for investment,” reads a headline on page 59 which goes on to explain the country’s “quest for sustainable growth...”

oil.jpg “Cameroon is initiating an economic program to privatize public and semi-public corporations in all sectors of the economy, including agro-industry, transport, telecommunications, energy and water… Investors have more reasons than ever to invest in Cameroon, which boasts political stability [and] a flexible government.” Such flexible government, under its benefactor and President for the past 22 years, Paul Biya, has pledged to preserve “peace and stability” in the country during his next four years in power. President Biya is Cameroon’s second president since the proclamation of its independence from France on January 1, 1960, and through consistent elections every seven years where he has ran mostly unopposed, Biya has proven that stability means single party rule. Amnesty International, unfortunately, has not been able to partake in Cameroon’s historical political stability since they were banned from entering the country for releasing a scathing human rights report in the early 1990s. Amnesty has steadily included Cameroon in their yearly human rights reports, which boasts of many measures of imprisonment, torture, and gag modus operandi to contain the masses from destabilizing the country. In 2007, no less than two editors from main newspapers, L'Afrique and The Chronicle, and a journalist from Radio Equinoxe, were beaten and arrested for inciting freedom of speech. Moreover, to ensure the trade of professional journalism is carried out with full authority, the Ministry of Communication instituted in 2004 an innovating system of issuing press cards to all exercising journalists, renewable every two years at the journalist’s expense. No doubt The New York Times would report, if time and space allowed, on such heavy-handed processes against fellow bloggers and venture journalists. They did report in 2003, however, on the World Bank’s inauguration of “the” African oil pipeline that run between Chad and Cameroon, promising to “help prevent this project from leading to poverty and corruption.” The $3.7 billion private oil project was the World Bank’s single largest investment in sub-Saharan Africa. “An oil consortium including Exxon Mobil, ChevronTexaco and Petronas, the state oil company of Malaysia, built the 665-mile pipeline and oil facilities on the Atlantic Coast and will reap more than 60 percent of the estimated $13 billion revenues over 25 years, according to World Bank estimates,” reads the article. There’s definitely money to made in Cameroon and from Cameroonians. Privatization has steadily grown in the country since the beginning of this century, as the World Bank’s Privatization Database shows, for example, with its $56 million investment in the telecommunications industry and the privatization of CAMTEL, Cameroon’s national provider. To quench Cameroon’s thirst for—water—the government-subsidized industries Societé Nationale des Eaux du Cameroun (SNEC) is also going privatization through the creation of the Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation (Camwater). “After all, water is life,” reads the water ad on the NY Times magazine on page 63.

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President Biya himself is quoted on the magazine as Cameroon completes its move towards economic vibrancy and a “legal and judicial environment so that investors may settle in our country for as long as they wish.” Cameroon has gone through a significant change of hands in its recent past, from a German colony to the confiscation of Nazi plantations by British and French fighters after the Second World War. Revolts and riots ensued as the colony came into being as a Republic and still struggles through 22 years of one long democratic election. So needless to say, it is time for it to throw itself into the arms of U.S. private investors, and we have The New York Times, among many, to thank for making this possible. © 2000–2007 San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by the SF Bay Area IMC. Disclaimer | Privacy | Contact

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Imhotep: The Collective African Blog: Cameroon’s New York Times Advertise...

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RE C E N T C O M M EN T S

Cameroon’s New York Times Advertisement Supplement: An Exercise in Futility

SJ on Cameroon’s New

By Samira Edi

York Times Advertisement Supplement: An Exercise in Futility Ma Mary on Cameroon’s New York Times

The June 7, 2007 issue of the New York Times Magazine contained an eight-page advertisement supplement on Cameroon which was allegedly cost the Cameroonian taxpayer $250,000 (About 120 million FCFA).

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This is another exercise in futility or are we to say Cameroon is being preened and pimped about for the Bohemian Westerner? Have we been bewitched in Cameroon? No matter how much they slice and dice it, the most virulent of all the viruses killing the country is corruption. And corruption as endemic in the forces of law and order, financial establishments like the ports, etc could not be eradicated in the next 20 years. All these grand gestures by the Ministry of Tourism are but tokenistic and expensive adverts to glamorize and paper over the cracks of a much bigger pandemic.

President? (Part IV: How Education is Undervalued and Ridiculed) Cameroon: Whose President? (Part III: Paul Biya and the Policy of Ethnocentrism) Cameroon: Whose President? (Part II: How Ahmadou Ahidjo Under-Developed Northern Cameroon)

Why should Cameroon be selling its image abroad, when a place like the heart of the economic Capital “city” Douala - Akwa - is the miniature nerve centre in a corner of hell? The Avenues King Akwa and Amadou Ahidjo are teeming with a ragtag of spivs, feculent heaps of living matter, microscopic and non-microscopic, all battling for space with a hodge-podge of traffic: dilapidated rattletraps, old bangers and air-polluters with the world’s most reckless drivers from hell!! Well, it is not without reason that Douala is “fondly” called the armpit of Africa. Its bug-ridden streets, pest-infested backyards, crumpling houses, pot-hole ridden roads are not exactly the stuff that makes a fantastic selling point of any city. Step over the tarmac of the Airport and one is greeted by a whoosh of negativity right from the first encounter with those men and women in Uniform.

Cameroon: Whose President? (Part I: Regional Favoritism as a Source of National Underdevelopment) Holding Parents Accountable: A New Paradigm for African Development? I M H OT E P VI S IT ORS

Go into any shop on the street and the attendants give you a once over like you’ve stepped into a protected zone. Again, foreigners go to Cameroon Embassies abroad and immediately get a poignant whiff of what to expect in the country of their intended visit: disorderliness and dirt, a rude and sloppy staff, and maybe a taste of corruption.

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RE C EN T

That $250,000 would be better spent training our extremely debauched Police Force the fine art of Civic responsibility. Money should go to better train primary school teachers; those marauding forces of stupidity and ignorance, who are also responsible for miss-educating Cameroonian pupils at a very young and impressionable

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Imhotep: The Collective African Blog: Cameroon’s New York Times Advertise...

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Samira-you can "cosh" with the best, my dear daughter. Your description of Camerounese Embassies, those experiments in

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excrementation brought me some shameful memories of the times that I identified myself as a Camerounese. This is like the man who puts on a three thousand dollar suit and perfume after neglecting to shower for a month. Doubtless, some Americans will poor their funds like the hapless 419 victims. Others will be tough customers, the likes of which Binya and company have never seen. Posted by: Ma Mary | July 11, 2007 at 12:40 AM

We welcome the French puppet, Mr. Paul Biya, to continue his PR campaign in the US. The more PR he buys here, the more he invites scrutiny to, and exposure of the true nature of his governorship of his French colonial enclave called la Republique du Cameroun (Republic of Cameroun): 1) Max Bardet, a French helicopter pilot in French Cameroun (la Republique du Cameroun) between 1962 and 1964 testifies that, "in two years, the regular army took the Bamileke country, from the south to the north, and completely ravaged it. They massacred between 300,000 to 400,000 people. A true genocide."

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2) Imagine if the Hutu extremists in Rwanda remained in power and became entrenched after the 1994 French genocide in Rwanda. In Mr. Biya's country, he represents the entrenched continuation of a junta that conducted France's first modern genocide in Africa. It was conducted under France's tutelage directed by the following French governors and Pro-Consuls of the country Mr. Biya is attempting to sell to the American public: Messmer, Ramadier and Ahidjo. All the young cadres in the 1950s, 60s and 70s including Paul Biya were part of that French contrived and tutored system that participated in this French genocide in Mr. Biya's country. 3) Mr. Paul Biya's country, la Republique du Cameroun, is the only country on earth that neither commemorates nor celebrates her day of independence from France (wink, wink), JANUARY 1, 1960. A generation of Camerounese do not even know when their country became independent! 4) As Paul Biya puts millions of dollars in the pockets of already well-off American spin doctors like the Lobbying Firms, PR Firms and The New York Times; real doctors and nurses in public hospitals in his country went on strike this week because they have not been paid for 15 months.

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5) This PR campaign is part of the election rigging strategy that Paul Biya has put in place for the forth-coming elections according to an informant. By instrumentalizing the "newspaper of record" that they believe the American elite reads, the French puppet Paul Biya hopes the image he's painting as a benevolent "peace keeper" in a country poised for growth should naturally justify the "overwhelming victory" of his corrupt party in the electoral masquerade ball being planned for July 22, 2007. 3 of 6

Posted by: SJ

| July 13, 2007 at 03:46 PM

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A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE

Cameroon GREAT AMBITION DRIVES AN AFRICAN SUCCESS STORY

A beacon of political stability and democratic progress, Cameroon is rapidly becoming a hotbed of investment as American companies turn their attentions to the oil rich West African country, strengthening mutual cooperation t is no secret that the world’s most powerful economies have their sights set on the resources-rich African continent as a stimulus for global growth. The United States, the European Union and China, the three biggest players, are vying for positions and investing heavily in a region of the world that is slowly emerging from a decade-long economic crisis. The United States, thanks to its long-standing ties and aid commitments to peace-loving and democratic African nations like Cameroon, is clearly ahead of the game. As America moves to decrease its dependence on Arab oil, investments in the Gulf of Guinea—and especially in Cameroon—have steadily increased. The United States now purchases some 10% of its oil from the region. And thanks to the political stability nurtured by Cameroon’s adroit President, Paul Biya, Cameroon offers a perfect platform for the development of a wide range of U.S. investment throughout the region. Washington’s construction last year of a new $54 million U.S. Embassy in the capital Yaoundé marked the beginning of a new era in Cameroon-U.S. relations and is a clear sign that the United States is committed to Cameroon for the long haul. “Our relations with the United States of America have always been excellent and they have taken on a special dimension in recent years,” notes President Biya. “The building of a new American embassy attests to the quality of our relations and contributes to beauti-

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LOCATION: western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria
POPULATION: 18,060,382 (July 2007 est.)
GOVERNMENT TYPE: republic; multiparty presidential regime
INDUSTRIES: petroleum production and refining, aluminum production, food processing, light consumer goods, textiles, lumber, ship repair
GDP (real growth rate): 4.1% (2006 est.)
LABOUR FORCE: 6.394 million (2006 est.)

Cameroonian President Paul Biya with George Bush. Bilateral relations between the two countries are both cordial and mutually fruitful as American investors and U.S. aid bolster the economy.

fying our political capital. Cameroon hails the United States Government for its support to our development efforts. Indeed, relations between Cameroon and the United States are excellent.” Shortly after President Biya was reelected for another seven-year term in 2004, he stepped up his campaign to quash corruption and launched a “Great Ambition” program to speed up reforms and develop investment in sever-

al key areas including tourism, industry, energy, infrastructure and agriculture, with the goal to make Cameroon a middle-income nation by 2020. His efforts were rewarded last year when Cameroon achieved the completion point of the IMF’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, making fresh financing avail-

This supplement has been produced and sponsored by Summit Communications. It did not involve the reporting or editing staff of The New York Times.

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INONI EPHRAÏM Prime Minister of Cameroon

AMADOU ALI Vice Prime Minister of Cameroon

able. Moreover, the donor members of the Paris Club have since moved to cancel most of the country’s debt. “Cameroon is the nineteenth country to reach the completion point of the HIPC Initiative,” notes Prime Minister Inoni Ephraïm. “This is recognition by multilateral financial institutions as well as our partners of the substantial efforts we have made under the aegis of His Excellency Paul Biya in the area of macro-economic stability, implementation of the poverty reduction strategy, revamping investments in the social sectors, significant progress recorded in the privatization process and reforms in the forestry and transport sectors.” The Cameroon government is bent on significantly improving the business climate and on improving protection for life and property. “These are primordial for ‘THE IMF DID attracting more direct NOT ERR IN foreign investment in CLASSIFYING general, and Americans CAMEROON in particular, to AMONG THE 35 Cameroon,” Mr. Ephraïm COUNTRIES explains. Cameroon’s WHERE Vice Prime Minister and INVESTMENTS Minister of Justice, ARE BEST Amadou Ali, added that, PROTECTED’ “The IMF did not err in classifying our country among the 35 countries in the world where investments are best protected.” Resolving conflicts peacefully is another intrinsic Cameroonian trait. After a years-long border dispute, Nigeria last summer formally handed over the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon in compliance with an International Court of Justice ruling and UNbrokered deadline. “On behalf of the people of Cameroon and on my personal behalf, I thank former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and friendly countries like the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany and others that were so supportive in this process,” President Biya said. “As I often say, peace is a sine qua non for the life of states. Without peace, there is no democracy, no development, no social progress. This is why Cameroon always feels concerned about any efforts that may put an end to conflicts and consolidate peace and stability in its immediate vicinity or further afield,” ■

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LETTER FROM STEPHEN HAYES, PRESIDENT OF THE CCA The Washington, D.C. based Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) is dedicated to strengthening trade and investment partnerships between the United States and the 53 countries of Africa. CCA programs and events are designed to bring together potential business partners and to showcase business opportunities on the Continent. Once every two years CCA convenes the U.S.Africa Business Summit, the premier gathering of business and government leaders from the United States and Africa. We invite you to join us from November 14-16, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa for the biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit, our first summit on African soil.

The summit will be a three-day event at the Cape Town Convention Center packed with networking opportunities, as well as sector-specific plenary sessions and workshops such as finance, energy, ICT, mining, agribusiness, and the sports and entertainment industry. A new feature at the 2007 Summit will be a trade show that will allow companies to showcase their products, services, and capabilities to potential buyers and customers throughout Africa. Increased trade and investment between United States and African businesses is the goal of CCA. This year’s Summit will enable you to explore many business partnerships in Africa. We hope to see you in Cape Town.

STEPHEN HAYES President of the CCA

‘ATTAINMENT OF THE HIPC COMPLETION POINT CONFIRMS CAMEROON’S ECONOMIC VIBRANCY’ The Biya administration has drawn up a wide-ranging package of economic reforms called ‘Greater Achievements’ 2020. In an exclusive interview, President Biya reveals his goals for his current seven-year term. Mr. President, what is your vision for Cameroon by 2011? I have placed my seven-year term under the banner of greater achievements in a bid to usher in far-reaching changes in Cameroon. Such changes would transform Cameroon into a modern country, with efficient and stable democratic institutions, run under an organized decentralization system where citizens are involved in the development of their communities; a country that is strongly driven by a vibrant and sound economy that is open to foreign capital, yet promoting the rational exploitation of its resources. What will be the main thrust of government action? We must improve the management of our public investment budget, as well as resources leveraged from debt relief or aid. Incentives to boost national or foreign investment have been introduced. The enhancement of our energy capacity through a comprehensive program to harness our gas deposits and hydroelectric plants will pave the way for an intensive industrial policy. The Government should map out a major agricultural policy, and a true tourist policy will help tap Cameroon’s huge potential. New and diverse means of trans-

port will be developed. Our country needs more roads, bridges, dams, ports, telecommunications systems and maritime, rail and air infrastructure. Lastly, information and communication technologies will not be left out, as they are every nation’s gateway to modernity.

ticipatory policy. The resources accruing from debt relief will be earmarked, as a priority, for the economic and social development of the country. Attainment of the completion point of the HIPC initiative confirms the vibrancy of the Cameroonian economy in the aftermath of relevant adjustment programs. The

President Biya and former Nigerian President Obasanjo shake hands after the peaceful conclusion to the Bakassi Peninsula dispute.

Cameroon has attained the completion point of the HIPC initiative. What does that mean for the country? This initiative aims to help some crisis-ridden countries revamp their economies through debt relief, or cancellation of all or part of the debt owed to various donors. We will therefore start implementing major development projects through a bold and par-

growth outlook is good. Inflation has been contained while our public finances have been rehabilitated. In short, the business climate is investment-friendly. Cameroonian-U.S. relations are very sound. What would your message be to potential U.S. investors? I would like to reassure American investors that

Cameroon is a country where they can do business. We are blessed with abundant and diverse natural resources and qualified human resources. There are numerous investment opportunities for the U.S. private sector in Cameroon. They include road, railway, port and airport infrastructure as well as water, electricity, mining, gas and oil production. For many years now, my country has enjoyed peace and stability, which are prerequisites for investment. Cameroon is today a modem democracy where fundamental freedoms and free enterprise are guaranteed. We have many incentives pertaining mainly to improved governance and combating corruption, furthering structural reforms and promoting an enabling framework for investment. According to the World Bank, Cameroon now features among the 35 countries in the world where investors and investments are best protected. We are engaged in reforming our legal and judicial environment so that investors may settle in our country for as long as they wish. Hence, the new Criminal Procedure Code seeks to further protect individual freedoms. In a short, my message to American investors is that ‘Cameroon is a good risk for business’. ■

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As Cameroon represents some 70% of the economic activity of the sub-region, its neighbors are linked to its economy. Thus, the necessity for sound infrastructures resonates beyond the borders of Cameroon.

THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND COOPERATIVE GROWTH Ministry is overseeing a decadeslong road development and rehabilitation program. “Our responsibility is effectively very big, because we know that in the Central African subregion many countries depend on us: Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, just to name a he Cameroonian govern- SINDEU JEAN few,” adds Mr. Avom. ment is well aware that con- BERNARD One U.S. company has targettinued development Minister of Energy ed Cameroon’s infrastructure secdepends on providing the kind of and Water tor for investment. The American services and infrastructure that utilities group AES Sirocco has a foreign investors demand of a large presence in Cameroon and nation that represents nearly 70% is an example of one of the many of the economic activity of the success stories of U.S.entire Central African sub-region. Cameroonian cooperation. Thus, much of the country’s bud“It is successful because we get is earmarked towards ensurhave set up a legislative and reging a fluid transport system and ulation framework favorable to dependable basic utilities. that kind of partnership,” notes “Cameroon is a developing BERNARD Energy and Water Minister Sindeu country. It is under construction. MESSENGUE AVOM Jean Bernard. “We have made a The president has the firm will Minister of Public law that liberalizes the electricito make the development of infra- Works ty sector, we have created an structures one of the most imporagency of regulation, we have tant levers of growth,” explains created basic structures to attract Public Works Minister Bernard investors, to enable them to Messengue Avom. “In 2007, the invest, to enable them to beneglobal budget devoted to infrafit from their investment, so that structures will be about 133 bilthey can bring back home the lion CFA ($273 million), including dividends as they wish.” 56 billion CFA from internationThat policy of liberalism has al donors. That is an evident sign attracted other U.S. companies of the development of infra- BASILE ATANGANA to the Cameroonian energy secKOUNA structure.” tor, including Mobil and Exxon. All major Cameroonian cities Managing Director “We are in a productive area. are linked with good roads, allow- Camwater Near us, we have Angola, Guinea, ing industries and people to move Nigeria, Gabon, Congo. Cameroon freely across the country. Cameroon’s trans- can develop, with the United States, an oil port sector accounts for some 15% of GDP, refinery that could supply all the markets of and its road network is the most developed Western Europe and America itself. Therefore, among nations in the Central Africa sub- we wish to put in place mutually beneficial region, most of which use Cameroon’s road partnerships in the oil and gas sector,” infrastructure to get their exports to market. explains Mr. Bernard. Moreover, the Public Works Partnership opportunities between U.S.

2007 sees the unleashing of a huge infrastructure budget, a large percentage of which comes from international donors with internal business interests

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and Cameroonian companies also exist in the water sector following the successful restructuring of the national water provider SNEC. Under the new structure, the entity CAMWATER was set up to develop water production on a national level in conjunction with the private sector, which handles distribution and commercialization. Under the leadership of Basile Atangana Kouna, Managing Director of CAMWATER and SNEC Administrator, both water production and turnover have increased by 50 percent, and the number of connections to the water system has greatly increased. He has been On the invitation of the American Agency hailed a part of the “new guard” of for Commerce and Development (AACD), a Cameroonian managers, fighting corruption delegation of SNEC took part in a seminar and increasing revenue for the company, concerning the orientation of the water secwhich was in a deep crisis when he was tor in 2006, Mr. Atangana Kouna recalls. appointed in 2002 to restructure and pre“During this seminar contacts were made pare for privatization. In July of 2005 he was with American companies that operate in awarded the “Africa Prestige” prize from the the water sector, concerning the opportuniInternational Council of ties of partnerships, as ‘OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS VERY African managers BIG, BECAUSE MANY COUNTRIES a prelude to the com(ICAM). mencement of IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN “One of the missions CAMWATER’s activities SUB-REGION DEPEND ON US’ of the Provisional . At the end of that misAdministrator of SNEC is to look after the sion, there was hope that it would be possmooth continuation of the on-going process sible to consolidate mutually beneficial of privatization that has advanced remark- relations with American economic operaably with the creation of the patrimony com- tors.” pany, CAMWATER in December 2005,” Mr. This year, Mr. Atangana Kouna says he is Atangana Kouna explains. “The withdraw- expecting to receive “more than a dozen al of the state from some economic sectors U.S. investors who already showed an interis a strategic choice made by the govern- est in the project of the current public–priment aimed at making public companies vate partnership in the sector of drinking more competitive.” water in Cameroon.” ■

The transport sector accounts for 15% of GDP, and Cameroon’s road network is the most developed in the sub-region.

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5/ Cameroon

RINGING THE CHANGES IN REGIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS As Cameroon positions itself as a regional IT center, overtures toward American companies are being made for ICT development on a grand scale fter years of hard work to modern- play in the sub-region of Central Africa. We ize and liberalize its telecommuni- have a working program with them and cations sector in order to bridge the from that we are going to implement the digital gap between cities and villages, development program of telecommunicaCameroon is now poised to embark on an tions and ICT in Cameroon,” notes Mr. ambitious plan to become the IT hub of the Bouba Maigari. Central Africa sub-region with the help of Last summer, Cameroon issued an inviU.S. companies and know-how. tation for tender proposals to sell its 51% Impressed by IT developments in of the state’s CAMTEL holding to a strateCameroon and the inroads made by CAM- gic partner. Since then CAMTEL, under the TEL—the state-owned leadership of Managing ‘I WOULD SAY THAT CAMTEL IS telecom operator cur- THE IMAGE OF CAMEROON TODAY. Director David Nkoto rently undergoing pri- IT IS A COMPANY THAT IS COMING Emane, has become vatization, CISCO TO LIFE AGAIN, THAT IS GROWING’ more and more attracSystems have decided tive to potential to make Cameroon one of three or four investors. It has increased the number of development focal points in Africa, accord- fixed lines by nearly 50%, has just attained ing to Minister of State and Minister of another mobile phone license and is well Posts and Telecommunications, Bello Bouba advanced on a government plan to install Maigari. fiber optics lines along the Chad-Cameroon “We were very happy to know that CIS- pipeline. CO has an interest in Cameroon. We have “I would say that CAMTEL is the image mostly been very happy that they know of Cameroon today. It is a company that is the scope of the role that Cameroon can coming to life again, that is growing,” says

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Mr. Nkoto Emane. The CAMTEL managing director says his main personal objective for the company is to conduct the privatization process well. “I want to negoDAVID NKOTO tiate it well and to EMANE take it to the end. It Managing Director was a choice of govCamtel ernment that I respect, but it should be clear that the political will of government remains the deployment of ICT throughout the whole territory,” he explains. As far as collaboration from the United States is concerned, Mr. Nkote Emane does not mince words. “I can say that they have not done much so far at the level of telecommunications. I would like them to do more. I am ready to do everything within my power for the United States to bring us substantial help as far as the development of information and communication technology is concerned.

“If we go somewhere else, it’s because we don’t feel the presence of the United States. We really want the United States to help us. In terms of technology, they are the most important partner,” he adds. Minister Bouba Maigari echoes those sentiments. “Africa is not only the continent of great humanitarian catastrophes that are often broadcast on television. Africa is a continent that has a future. It is a continent that today has between 500 and 600 million inhabitants. We will rapidly reach 700 million and more. It is a continent whose population is young, a continent that is rich in potential. “Its populations are more and more aware of the fact that the world is changing very fast and they don’t want to fall behind in the evolution of society. In Africa, people are making a lot of effort to improve governance, promote education, science and technology. In short, Africa is a continent where there are reasons for hope, reasons to believe and we want the United States, which is the main economic power in the world, to have more interest in Africa.” ■

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7/ Cameroon THE JOYS OF AFRICA GIFTWRAPPED IN ONE Cameroon’s incomparable diversity makes it the ideal destination for travelers wishing to see Africa’s wonders in one place fter returning from a month-long trek across several African nations, a seasoned traveller recently lamented that the sheer size of the continent made it impossible for one to experience all the wonders Africa has to offer in just a few weeks. Too bad his trip excluded Cameroon. Thanks to the diversity of its landscapes, flora and fauna, Cameroon is often described as “Africa in miniature” or “all of Africa in one country” in the most popular travel guides, notes Tourism Minister Baba Amadou. “The extreme diversity of Cameroonian culture and all is such that the tourist who wishes to visit the African continent in one trip can come to Cameroon and be satisfied.

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Palm-fringed beaches characterize the country’s Gulf of Guinea coastline.

That is the asset of Cameroon. We are not relying only one product, but on many. For example, we have two hundred and fifty tribes in Cameroon and each tribe is a cultural treasure,” Mr. Amadou explains. Cameroonian President Paul Biya has often Continued on page 8

FIGHTING THE COTTON FARMERS’ CORNER Agriculture is the backbone of opment company Sodecoton the Cameroonian economy, plays a major role. The entermaking up some 42% of the prise has a turnover of CFA 96 nation’s GDP and accounting billion ($196 million) and takes for 70% of the workforce. Much care of 350,000 cotton proof the sector is dedicated to ducers. Cameroon is a small helping to make Cameroon selfcotton producer but the qualisufficient in food production, ty of its crops makes it a major cash crops —especially cotworld player, despite having to ton—and to earn the foreign IYA MOHAMMED compete with nations whose currency that feeds the econ- Managing Director farmers receive government Sodecoton omy and job market. subsidies, such as the United “Food security is a major States. concern of the Cameroonian government,” “When Sodecoton is breathing, the econnotes Jean Nkueté, Minister of Agriculture omy of northern Cameroon is alive,” says and Rural Development, “but the ministry’s Sodecoton General Director Iya Mohammed. key policy objectives includes making sure “Since even the most powerful economies that the sector contributes to economic such as the United States and the European growth and particularly to the growth of for- Union help their producers, I don’t see why eign exchange and employment.” our government cannot help us too. It is in That is where state-owned cotton devel- their interest because I cannot imagine the disastrous consequences that the North will suffer without cotton, bearing in mind that those 350,000 cotton producers each have a family of about 7 people. That means at least two million people depend on cotton revenues. Surely the state has an interest in a cotton sector that fights poverty, saves jobs and prevents rural exodus. “As long as people in the Western World persist in their lack of solidarity, not only are they going to create problems in Africa, Cotton is a major agricultural commodity, they are going to create problems in their with some 350,000 employed in the sector. own countries.”

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The 2,396 meter Mount Manengouba in western Cameroon is a forested volcanic crater that is home to a wide range of endangered species, some of which are only found in this untouched paradise.

Continued from page 7 described tourism in Cameroon as “a lucrative investment sector,” and has targeted tourism as one of the levers with which the government hopes to catapult economic activity. “Tourism not only brings people and cultures together, but it also creates jobs, generates income and enables us to fight efficiently against poverty,” says Mr. Amadou, whose ministry is nearing its objective of attracting more than 500,000 tourists to Cameroon annually.

As the government plans to Mr. Hamadou explains. privatize all hotels and develop “When the officials of Marriott four major tourist sites, includcame to see me, they told me that ing the Kribi-Campo beach and they were mostly interested by the the Ebogo district, the Tourism advantageous location of Ministry has been hard at work Cameroon. In the Gulf of Guinea, on a tourism investment code Cameroon assures a good link that will ease operations for forbetween West Africa, Central eign investors. Africa, East Africa and further “There have been several BABA AMADOU towards southern Africa. Our stratepotential investors visiting here, Minister of Tourism gic position, coupled with the fact including Americans,” notes Mr. that our country is stable and lives Amadou. “Recently we received a team from in peace, has become a leitmotiv to Marriott, which intends to build a five-star Cameroonians,” concludes Mr. Hamadou. ■ hotel of 180 rooms in Douala. It will be the first hotel built by Mariott in Cameroon, and SUMMIT COMMUNICATIONS the opening of a Mariott hotel will no doubt IN CAMEROON attract visitors and tourists here.” Project Director: Mathieu Brisset Cameroon is a country that lives in peace Project Coordinator: Yanu Pederiva in a continent that is quite often tormented Project Assistant: Geraldine Hardy by conflicts and violence. And now that it is emerging from the economic crisis of the past For further information contact: decade and has reached the completion point SUMMIT COMMUNICATIONS of the International Monetary Fund’s HIPC 1040 First Avenue, Suite 395, New York, initiative, the government has launched a NY 10022-2902 nationwide campaign to “sensitize the Tel: 1 (212) 286-0034 ,Fax: 1 (212) 286-8376, Cameroonian society to the respect of finanE-mail: [email protected] cial orthodoxy, the fight against corruption, An online version is available at and everything to reassure the country’s forwww.summitreports.com/cameroon2007 eign partners, particularly the United States,”

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