The Entrepreneur - Cameroon's Premier Economic & Business Journal

Open Letter to Prime Minister Inoni Ephraim

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

Recent reports about your efforts to fight corruption that has become endemic in our country are somehow encouraging. Cameroon that used to be an economic oasis in the Central African sub-region has, in recent years, become a haven for corrupt officials.  This negative attitude is hurting our country’s reputation abroad. The government has to take a tough stance against this plague that is impeding economic progress in our country.  Corruption, as we all know, is a constraint on development efforts and any little victory in this regard goes a long way in making life a little better for the ordinary Cameroonian who has been trapped in a desperate economic situation.

Mandela lauds S.Africa's Springbok triumph

Former South African president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela lauded the Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks on Saturday for bringing back the William Webb Ellis trophy. Wearing a team shirt, a beaming Mandela held aloft the cup, flanked by coach Jake White and captain John Smit, after meeting the team at his foundation's offices in Johannesburg. "All I want to say is that you have put us on the map ... and we congratulate and thank you for that," he said.

Cameroon name Pfister as Soccer Coach

Otto Pfister, the German who led Togo in their chaotic World Cup debut last year, has been named Cameroon manager, state radio reported on Friday, 26 October, 2007. Pfister, who has been coaching Sudanese club side Al Merreikh, was appointed in a decree signed by Sports Minister Augustin Edzoa, the report said.

When Macroeconomy Divorces Microeconomy: Protecting America's Poor and the Have-nots!

Stemming the Trickle-Up Effect: Finding Alternative Economies

By Abra Pollock (Inter Press Service)

When he took office last year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he was increasingly concerned about the widening gap between the nation’s rich and poor. That gap has since shown few signs of narrowing — quite the opposite, in fact — and a growing number of experts are urging the adoption of unconventional measures to address the problem. The promotion of employee-owned companies, community land trusts, and various forms of social enterprise could provide some of the keys to a more equitable society, according to dozens of economists, social scientists and political activists who convened here last weekend to reevaluate the priorities of the U.S. economy. “Recent trends like globalisation, widening wealth inequality, and climate change have made it crystal clear that an economy’s success cannot be measured by traditional statistical indices like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or the Dow Jones Industrial Average,” economist Nancy Folbre told members of the conference, titled, “What is the Economy for, Anyway?” “We economists have a responsibility to think more broadly about what a healthy economy might do for its participants. We need new metrics and new models,” she said.

Unique opportunity for Africa and development partners to work on NEPAD implementation

The 9th Africa Partnership Forum (APF) which will meet in Algiers, Algeria from 12-13 November 2007, provides a unique opportunity to engage Africa’s development partners at high policy and strategic level on implementing the AU/NEPAD vision and mission for the accelerated socio-economic transformation of the continent. Through the collaboration with the G8/OECD partners Africa has found support for its efforts to meet the challenges of poverty eradication and mainstreaming the continent into the new globalised order.

Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities Ends in Tripoli

By Ben Nakomo

The Association of African Universities has just concluded its Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP), that held from 21 to 25 October 2007 in Tripoli, Libya on the theme: “The African Brain Drain - Managing the Drain: Working with the Diaspora.“ It was organized in collaboration with and hosted by the 7th of April University, Libya. The Association of African Universities (AAU) is a not-for-profit international non-governmental organization formed by 34 African universities at a founding conference in Rabat, Morocco, in 1967 to promote cooperation among themselves, and between them and the international academic community. This followed earlier consultations among executive heads of African universities at a UNESCO conference on higher education in Africa in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in 1962 and at a formal conference of heads of African universities in 1963 in Khartoum, Sudan.

Cameroon plans UN peacekeeper training school

Cameroon plans to set up an international training center for African police to prepare them for U.N. peacekeeping operations on the continent, diplomats at the United Nations said on Monday. France has pledged $1 million toward the project, which aims to expand an existing national police training center in the west African country, said Brigadier General Dominique Trinquand of the French embassy.

Climate Variation and Cameroon's Agriculture: Some Echoes?

Torrential rains hamper Cameroon cocoa deliveries

By Tansa Musa

Torrential rains in Cameroon's main cocoa-producing zones are hampering farmers' ability to get their beans to market as the central African country enters the main part of its 2007/2008 campaign. The rains have torn up roads in many rural areas, leaving them impassable to all but the sturdiest off-road vehicles, beyond the reach of the farmers' cooperatives. Only the better-equipped big buyers pass through occasionally from large towns, leaving farmers little room to negotiate on the price at which they sell.

Elysian Airlines Facilitating Domestic Travel, Contributing to Business Productivity

By Yvonne Soppo Disso in Douala

Despite challenges, the Douala based Elysian Airlines, which commenced domestic operations in Cameroon, on Tuesday August 7, 2007 is increasingly getting the attention it seeks in a sector with limited competition. According to Cameroon’s transport officials, EA come to fill a niche-market in the air transport subsector. Operating passenger services within Cameroon, from Douala to Yaounde, Garoua and Ngaoundere, EA attempts to provide a safe world class air service on Cameroon’s skies, while simultaneously lowering the cost of travel and substantially reducing the time spent between destinations.

Combination Therapies Increasingly Adopted For Malaria Treatment

By Agnes Fonkeng

Resistance to malaria drugs has occasioned a change from monotherapies to a combination of therapies called Artemisinin Based Combination Therapies (ACTs) as the most effective treatment to patients. A string of training workshops have been organised by Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health across the country. In one of the workshops, in April 2007, the Southwest Provincial Delegation of Public Health trained Health District Teams (HDT) as trainers of pharmacy attendants on issues of stock management of ACTs. This came on the heels of the African Malaria Day.