The Entrepreneur - Cameroon's Premier Economic & Business Journal

Life After the Lomé Convention: The Case of St Lucia

The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is an example of how a small state can be caught in a free trade dispute among giants. The EU will further lower tariffs on Latin American bananas to comply with WTO and American standards of free trade. This will drive down the price of St. Lucian bananas, which were formally protected by special tariff agreements. St. Lucia has lost substantial revenues since Europe has liberalized its banana regime, its nationals turning desperately to the informal sector...more

African Development Bank has new Agriculture Sector Strategy

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group Board approved on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 in Tunis, the institution’s 2010-2014 Agricultural Sector Strategy. The strategy seeks to position the institution to effectively contribute to broader development of greater agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction while promoting the conservation of the natural resource base. Based on wide stakeholder-consultations, the Strategy focuses on Agricultural Infrastructure and Renewable Natural Resource Management.  – two mutually reinforcing pillars where the Bank Group has demonstrated considerable competence and comparative advantage.

Remittance from Cameroon Migrants Fuels Exotic Domestic Lifestyle

Economic Importance of Remittances

By Ernest L. Molua

Remittances, the portion of migrant workers’ earnings sent home to their families, have been a critical means of financial support for generations. For the most part, these flows have historically been “hidden in plain view”, often uncounted and even ignored. Remittances from Cameroon diaspora are now playing significant role in the socio-economic development of the country. The impact of remittances is now recognized in Cameroon as constituting an important flow of foreign currency and directly reaching hundreds of thousands of households. No where has the impact been felt more than the agricultural sector and rural areas that employ 70 percent of Cameroonians. However, for remittances to continue financing consumption and investment, such as in education, agricultural and housing projects, among others, the wiring channels and financial intermediaries must be assisted to provide better services. ...Read Complete Report © The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2010. All Rights Reserved . Follow The Entrepreneur News on Twitter. See Our Events in Face Book.

Investment in Africa: China and India's New Economic Frontier

By Gautam Banerjee

The economic stirring of the African continent began in the early 1990's through a series of serious structural reforms and improvements in economic management. Important changes were brought in through legislation to develop the private sector by offers of incentives. It is not that risks of doing business in Africa, such as sudden regime changes, violence and logistical nightmares, has disappeared. They remain, but lure of high returns compensate for the risks.

Invest in Africa: Discover South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is the place to invest in 2010. It is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an independent country wholly surrounded by South African territory. (See Media Club South Africa). Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for more than 100,000 years. At the time of European contact, the dominant indigenous peoples were tribes who had migrated from other parts of Africa about one thousand years before. From the 4th-5th century CE, Bantu-speaking tribes had steadily moved south, where they displaced, conquered and assimilated original peoples of southern Africa. At the time of European contact, the two major groups were the Xhosa and Zulu peoples. By UN classification South Africa is a middle-income country with an abundant supply of resources, well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors, a stock exchange that ranks among the top twenty in the world, and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centres throughout the entire region. South Africa is ranked 25th in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) as of 2007. Advanced development is significantly localised around four areas: Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Pretoria/Johannesburg. (See photo gallery).  Some key marginal areas have also experienced rapid growth recently. Such areas include Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay; Rustenburg area; Nelspruit area; Bloemfontein; Cape West Coast; and the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast...Discover South Africa.© The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2010. All Rights Reserved . Follow The Entrepreneur News on Twitter. See Our Events in Face Book.

IBM's second Africa innovation centre

Multinational IT giant IBM has opened an Africa Innovation Centre in Cape Town to foster the development of information technology and business skills, and to expand its customers and business partners in the region. The centre, which joins a growing worldwide network of 47 centres, will help local businesses develop and deploy new technologies that support key digital infrastructure opportunities in government, banking, insurance, retail, and travel and transportation industries. Based in Century City to the north of Cape Town, the centre will provide local customers, business partners, start-up companies, independent software vendors, IT professionals and the academic community with access to training workshops, consulting services, a broad technical infrastructure, and hands-on assistance to help solve business challenges and bring new technologies to market.

African Business: BMW to invest R2.2bn in Rosslyn plant

BMW South Africa is to invest an additional R2.2-billion at its plant in Rosslyn outside Pretoria, in order to introduce the latest vehicle and production technology at the plant and within the company's local supplier network. "The investment will enable maximum plant capacity to increase from 60 000 to 87 000 units, while securing production in South Africa for the future," the German automaker said in October, 2009.

Cameroonian invents Coffee pulping Machine

By Bright Lokenge

A Cameroonian born technologist, Piam Fokam has invented a coffee pulping machine. The coffee pulping machine has the capacity to pulp 30 tons of coffee daily. It was presented to the public at the Chamber of Agriculture in Yaounde, December 28, 2009. The invention and a series of other agricultural machines are expected to revolutionise the rural setting in Cameroon. Cameroon is aiming to double its coffee production in the next few years. At its peak during the 1960s, According to Michael Ndoping, general manager of the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, Cameroon produced 120,000 tonnes of coffee each year but that level has fallen to around 40,000 tonnes today. “ By 2013, we want it to be at 80,000 tonnes" (Read Coffee News). Mr Fokam's invention is therefore timely in contributing to Cameroon's new vision for the coffee sub-sector. Most of Cameroon’s coffee is grown by small landowners on plots of two to 10 hectares, and nearly all of it is grown in mixed-cropped farms. Its unique profile comes from the rich volcanic soil as well as from the benefits of growing in a diversified crop environment. More about Cameroon Coffee . © The Entrepreneur Newspaper 2010. All Rights Reserved . Follow The Entrepreneur News on Twitter. See Our Events in Face Book.

Cameroon's Shop-owners reap in end-of-year buying spree

By Ben Nakomo

The end of year festive season 2009 has been more than business as usual for shop-owners and traders in Cameroon. Open-air flea markets in Muea, mbopi and Mokolo provide  barometer for the purse of the Cameroon consumer. Millions of household-heads and home-managers thronged market centres and shopping plazas to purchase groceries, clothes and shoes for household members. While this period is usually characterised by shopping spree, however Christmas 2009 has been undertaken with renewed confidence and optimism, as households are observed buying more than food and clothes. Household devices such as gas and electric cookers, refrigerators and blenders featured prominently in the list of items purchased.

Gulf Arab States Move Closer to Single Currency

The Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain, has taken a step forward towards a single currency in the region, promoting economic integration. Members are debating on the power of the new monetary authority. Although some states such as Oman and the United Arab Emirates have said that they are not ready yet, there is optimism about full participation in the future....More