Oyne billion three hundred million Francs CFA (US$ 2,600,000), has been adopted as the budget for the 2013 financial year by the Buea Council. This was during the Second Ordinary Session of that council which took place Thursday, December 27, 2012 at the Conference Hall of the council. Welcoming participants at the session, the Mayor of Buea, Mr. Charles Mbella Moki Charles used the occasion to reiterate that the mission and vision of the Buea Council is to develop the municipality in its entirety, so as to make the town of Buea a developed and better place for all. "Our goal is to ensure that Buea municipality strives to develop in a way that meets the standards of a modern world,” he quipped.
The Lom Pangar hydroelectricity project has a new booster from the African Development Bank and the Development Bank of Central African States, who have reached financing agreements totalling $107.4 million. This adds to the $132 million interest-free loan secured from the World Bank for the same project. The Lom Pangar project is a 30 MW hydroelectricity plant, with transmission lines and power distribution in the East region of the country. Cameroon plans to spend about $12 billion to increase electricity output from 1,000 MW to 3,000 MW by 2020. The 38-month construction shall be undertaken by the China International Water and Electric Corporation which was awarded the contract in May 2011.
The World Bank on Tuesday approved a $132 million zero-interest loan to help Cameroon build a dam to generate more electricity for homes and businesses across the west Central African nation. The World Bank joins several other organizations in helping finance the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project that is expected to increase hydroelectric generating capacity on Cameroon's Sanaga River by about 40 percent. The whole project is expected to cost $494 million, with $132 million financed by the International Development Association, or IDA, which is the bank's fund for the poorest countries.
Cameroon's economy is expected to grow by 5.5 percent in 2012 despite the Arab spring and a sovereign debt crisis that has hurt the European zone, the central African nation's most important export partner, a World Bank official said on Monday. Non-oil economic activities particularly growth in the primary and tertiary sectors, which helped Cameroon's economy grow in 2011 to 4.1 percent, will be the main drivers, World Bank's region lead economist Raju Jan Singh, told a news conference. Singh said the economic momentum observed in Cameroon, the Central African region's largest economy and gateway port, was expected to carry over into 2012 due to various infrastructure projects. "Furthermore, the trend in declining oil production is expected to reverse. As a result, Cameroon economic growth could amount to 5.5 percent in 2012," Singh said.
The thirty-six Councillors of the Buea Municipal Council have adopted, after heated debates, the council's budget for the 2012 financial year, which stands at 1 billion francs CFA. The second ordinary session of the Council took place on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 and was presided over by the Senior Divisional Officer of Fako Mr Bona Ebengue Francois. In attendance were top ranking officials in Buea municipality and traditional rulers. Welcoming the participants at the session, the Mayor of Buea Municipality, Mr Charles Mbella Moki used the solemn ceremony to thank the Councillors for their relentless effort over the years in shaping developmental projects within Buea.
....The economy continues to recover from the impact of the global crisis, and inflation remains low. Real GDP growth in 2010 is estimated at 3.2 percent, up from 2 percent in 2009, despite a drop of about 12 percent in oil output. Average annual inflation was contained at 1.3 percent, compared with 3 percent in 2009. Food price inflation was 1.2 percent in 2010, and the recent sharp increase in international commodity prices has so far had a limited impact. The external accounts have benefited from the global economic recovery. The current account deficit (including grants) declined to 2.8 percent of GDP, from 3.8 percent in 2009.
...The country remains dependent on commodities for export earnings and fiscal revenues and is thus vulnerable to external shocks, as seen during the recent global financial crisis...
...The fiscal accounts show a limited overall budget deficit in 2010. Total revenue was close to the supplementary budget target, because the oil revenue windfall generated by the recent oil price surge compensated for a shortfall in nonoil revenue. Nonetheless nonoil government revenue, as a ratio to nonoil GDP, remains among the lowest of sub-Saharan African oil exporters. Some efforts were made in 2010 in terms of arrears clearance to deal with the legacy of PFM problems incurred in 2009...More
Cameroon could produce some 36.5 million barrels of oil next year, the equivalent of 100,000 barrels a day and over 50 percent up on the "conservative" estimate of the central African state's 2012 budget, a state oil company official told Reuters. The senior National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) official said two new wells were expected to go into production during the first quarter of 2012. "What you are seeing in the finance bill is just a very conservative estimate," said the official who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to reporters. "Two oil wells were supposed to have gone into production this year but were delayed for technical reasons. But I can assure (you) that all measures have been taken to make sure the two go operational in the first quarter of next year."
Tourism might not be a money-spinning sector in Cameroon, yet the country's potentials clearly point to tourism as an important industry. Cameroon, known variously as"Africa in miniature, "Melting pot of Africa" and "Africa in microcosm" is endowed with rich attractive touristic potentials as it occupies an unenviable position of 148 out of 181 in world classifications, in terms of the relative contribution of tourism to national economy. Despite this low ranking, Cameroon is endowed with huge potentials from the peaks of Mount Cameroon an active volcano in the Southwest, to the underbelly of Lake Nyos in the Northwest, and from the beach shores of Kribi to the Kapsiki peaks in the northern parts of the country. Cameroon's eastern forest fringe being part of the Congo Basin Forest brings with it, unique natural ecological asset unrivaled in many parts of the world.
Cameroon, a relatively small and mature oil producer, where oil production is declining with depleting reserves, seems to be relying on alternative sources of revenue to marshal its economic grwoth. Following recent measures taken by the authorities to stimulate domestic production, real GDP growth in 2010 is estimated to have reached 3.2 percent, compared to 2 percent in 2009. Most of this recovery was driven by the tertiary sector, which accounted for more than half of the estimated growth. The sector benefitted from a pick-up in timber-related transport and continued strong activities in mobile telephony stemming from a greater use of fiber optic and the roll-out of new products...More
Cameroon's oil production rose by 1.9 percent in the second-quarter of the year to 5.36 million barrels compared with the previous quarter, Cameroon's National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) said on Monday, August 22, 2011. SNH exploration manager Simon Tamfu said the increase was attributed to improved production at independent Anglo-French oil and gas explorer Perenco's 525,000 barrels in the quarter. Total EP PA> remains the Central African nation's leading producer with 3.40 million barrels in the quarter, followed by Pecten Cameroon, a U.S. equity company in which Shell and SNH own shares, with 1.43 million barrels. Cameroon became a modest crude oil exporter in 1977, with production peaking at 185,000 barrels a day in 1986. Oil production in 2010 averaged at around 64,000 barrels per day.
Recent Comments