The Entrepreneur - Cameroon's Premier Economic & Business Journal

I Will Miss George Bush

By Stella Orakwue

They are going to miss him, George Bush. The people of America will. And you know what? This may come somewhat as a surprise to you, but I will miss him, too. I don’t know the man. But I am going to give you a straightforward yes, I’ll miss him. I don’t know fully why – I’m still trying to work it out. It might take me some time, some considerable time, perhaps. You could, perhaps, miss your enemies in the same way that you miss your friends. Although, I would suggest, you would be pretty warped to do so. There is a song that claims that there are such things as friendly enemies, but I hope to never have them or see them anywhere near me. The American public – friends and enemies – will miss George Bush, their president, in ways that they do not yet know and in ways that they do not yet understand. And it will take them years to realise this and, or, to admit it to themselves.

Russia Writes off Libya's debt

Russia has cancelled Libya’s US$ 4.5bn debt in exchange for contracts for Russian companies worth several billions of dollars. The debt deal is an integrated part of an intergovernmental agreement on bilateral economic and financial relations signed by the Russia’s former president and current prime minister, Valadimir Putin, and the Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi. Putin said he was certain that the agreement “will benefit the economies of Russia and Libya”. He added that Russian Railways worth over $2bn, for assistance in building and upgrading Libya’s rail network. Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom and Libya’s National Oil Corporation are to work together in a joint venture on upstream and downstream oil and gas operations. Putin also confirmed a military co-operation agreement between the two countries including a $2.5bn arms deal.//African Business

Domestic Debts Impede East African Monetary Union

The Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) of the East African Community (EAC) has said high interest rate spreads and budget deficits are posing a challenge for all East Africa’s five central banks. High domestic debt and relatively high levels of non-performing loans are also proving problematic as the MAC strives towards introducing a common currency. The five central bank governors have called on the EAC Secretariat to commission a study of the convergence criteria. They want it completed soonest. It has already been agreed to fast-track monetary union by 2012, three years earlier than the original target even though challenges have emerged such as the turbulence in the international financial markets and much higher world oil and commodities prices.//African Business

Private Equity Funds Soar in Africa

The OECD has reported that private equity funds in Africa are soaring, and have described the development as the “African investment story to watch”. In its 2008 African Economic Outlook, The OECD said a huge rise in mergers and acquisitions, especially in banking and telecoms, took FDI flows to $36bn in 2006, double 2004 level. Growth even exceeded that of the Maghreb and Middle East region which grew at 50% over the same period. “Improvements in the African investment environment and a series of spectacular African business successes … have fuelled an unprecedented boom in the size and breadth of African private equity funds”, the OECD noted. It drew special attention to the $2.4bn buyout of the pan-African mobile phone operators Celtel as an example of African private equity success.//African Business

Interview (I): “Cameroon’s Private Sector Must Be Positioned as the Engine of Economic Growth” - Dr Ernest L. Molua

“Economists flaunt the private sector, in every development strategy, as the engine of growth, the catalyst for creating employment and wealth for impoverished communities in Cameroon and Africa. The logic is based on the premise that, if government provides a sustainable macroeconomic environment, a consistent policy framework, privatises every thing, liberalise everything including markets, prices, interest rates and the moral code, then private businessmen and enterprises will respond in kind and create growth that will make redundant all the poverty reduction strategies.” The Entrepreneur News Online’s Bright Lokenge puts the question to Dr Ernest Molua, Does the Cameroon private sector give credence to this assertion? Is there a bourgeoning private sector in Cameroon? Dr Ernest Molua is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Buea in Cameroon. He is a community organiser who gives regular public discourses on the virtues and culture of entrepreneurship. We met him in his posh private offices in Clerks Quarters Buea..

Interview (II): “The communal liberal system we operate in Cameroon allows people who are self-assertive to fit themselves in national civic life.” Dr Ernest L. Molua

“Economic reforms and liberalisation in Cameroon have been half-hearted and primarily pushed by the IMF and World Bank. There is fear by the political class to create wealthy apolitical Cameroonians. This is dangerous for the survival of the elitist system they have created. However, Cameroonians in diaspora “have ignored the opportunities offered to create veritable private businesses in the country,” given the experiences they have accumulated outside the country. The Entrepreneur News Online’s Bright Lokenge chats with Dr Ernest Molua in his private office in Buea. Dr Ernest Molua is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Buea in Cameroon. He is a community organiser who gives regular public discourses on the virtues and culture of entrepreneurship.

Young Cameroonian Fashion Designer Grows from Humble Beginning

Ruth Yebah, aged 25, emerged with an Award in the Fashion Designing category, at the 2008 Cameroon Entrepreneur of the Year Award (CAMEYA) organised in Buea on December 12. Speaking to The Entrepreneur News Online (ENO), she explained how her journey in this business all started as well as where she is heading. She added: ‘being the youngest among other entrepreneurs, the award prepares me for the real world of Entrepreneurs.’ According to a senior entrepreneur savouring the designs, Ruth's tale indicates that "every journey has its own distinct set of dynamics. There is no one right way to reach the summit. Every venture has its own distinct set of challenges, crises, risks, significant events and opportunities. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurs is at the start-up stage."

Unseasonal Cameroon rain a mixed blessing for cocoa

By Tansa Musa

Unseasonal heavy rain over the last week in many of Cameroon's cocoa growing areas will boost the coming mid crop but disrupted open-air drying of beans, leaving some damaged. Cameroon's wet season usually runs from mid-March through to mid-October but heavy rain began on Nov. 30 in Yaounde and spread across the Centre, South-West, South, East and Littoral regions.

Ethiopia launches formal Coffee Exchange

By Allan Odhiambo

A rude awakening may be in the offing for the local coffee industry in East Africa as regional rival Ethiopia refines its game with the launch of a formal trade platform for the commodity. Though credited for high quality produce that has attracted global giants such as Starbucks, Ethiopia has never had an official coffee exchange and instead relied on informal sales systems through middlemen whose dirty machinations often left farmers disgruntled amid claims exploitation. Last month’s inauguration of an electronic coffee sale platform on the Ethiopia Coffee Exchange is however certain to catapult the country’s coffee industry to greater heights, leaving rivals such as Kenya with no option but to shape-up or lose out. With an organised sales system and high quality produce, the expectation is that the Ethiopian coffee industry will attract more buyers and help firm its earnings.//Business Daily

Nigerian UBA bank to expand to 15 countries in '09

Nigeria's United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc (UBA.LG: Quote) plans to expand operations to 15 additional African countries in 2009. UBA, Nigeria's largest bank with over 600 branches, already has subsidiaries in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda and Burkina Faso. It also has offices in London and New York. "UBA will target other key African markets in 2009, including Tanzania, Benin, Senegal, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, amongst others," the bank said in a statement on its website. Banks in the world's eighth biggest oil exporter have seen explosive growth in recent years as the economy grew at its fastest rate for decades, driven by record high oil prices.//Reuters