Economic Insights on Francophone Africa

[Matthias Offodile]

This thread is dedicated to economic news in French-speaking African countries as a whole.

[Matthias Offodile]

Africa 2011 - Insights on Francophone Africa

[Matthias Offodile]

Check out this TV magazine from French-speaking Africa

Amadou Diaw, fondateur et président de l'International School Management. Après avoir grandi au Sénégal, il part en France pour y effectuer ses études d'économie et de management. A travers ses différentes expériences professionnelles dans des sociétés multinationales, il évolue dans un environnement international jusqu'à son retour au Sénégal où il crée en 1992 la première Business School privée de l'Ouest Africain francophone : L'International School of Management à Dakar. Par ailleurs, Amadou Diaw est très investi dans la préservation du patrimoine de Saint Louis, sa ville natale dont il a assuré en partie l'organisation de son 350ème anniversaire en décembre dernier.

[Hadrami]

Francophone Africa: Rates of growth of real GDP%, 2008-2013
2012 in bold

Benin 5.0 2.7 2.6 3.4 4.3 4.6
Burkina Faso 6.4 3.2 5.8 4.4 5.8 5.6
Burundi 4.3 3.4 3.9 3.5 4.5 4.2
CAR 4.4 1.8 3.3 4.3 4.8 4.6
Cameroon 2.9 1.6 3.0 3.0 4.3 4.0
Chad 0.3 0.3 5.1 4.5 6.5 5.3
Comoros 1.0 1.8 2.1 2.5 3.0 2.8
Congo DRC 6.1 2.8 7.2 6.5 6.3 6.4
Congo Brazza 5.9 7.5 8.7 5.1 6.2 3.0
Cote d'Ivoire 3.8 0.0 2.6 -4.0 3.5 4.1
Djibouti 5.0 5.5 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.2
Gabon 1.7 -0.4 5.6 5.6 4.7 3.0
Guinea 4.9 -0.3 1.9 4.0 5.0 3.7
Madagascar 7.1 -4.1 0.5 1.7 4.7 4.9
Mali 5.0 4.5 4.5 5.4 5.5 5.2
Mauritania 0.8 1.6 4.7 5.5 5.8 5.1
Niger 9.6 -0.9 7.5 5.0 8.5 7.2
Rwanda 11.5 6.1 7.5 7.2 8.0 7.6
Senegal 3.2 2.2 4.2 4.3 4.5 5.5
Togo 2.4 3.6 3.7 3.9 4.2 4.1


source: UN

Niger Rwanda
Comoros Cameroon

[Hadrami]

Could one of the mods change the title to Economic Insights on Francophone Africa.
So I can update when I find a good article.

Thanks in advance.

[abesha]

Comoros is francophone?

[Hadrami]

Yes and they only got independent in 1975.



ps. thanks to the mod for changing the thread title

[Malaika254]

Nice thread, looking forward to some exciting news from french speaking Africa.

[SUNS 25]

Originally Posted by abesha

Comoros is francophone?

Yes Abesha.

[BUTEMBO21]

DR Congo not Francophone.!!! Thank you.

[SUNS 25]

Originally Posted by BUTEMBO21

DR Congo not Francophone.!!! Thank you.

DR congo is Francophone. 2013 will be organized in DRC the summit of francophonie.

[abesha]

Originally Posted by SUNS 25

DR congo is Francophone. 2013 will be organized in DRC the summit of francophonie.

I actually don't know why I never considered Comoros as francophone. After all the one Comorian I know is francophone lol, not to mention I know about the territorial issues with Mayotte.

[Vakai]

Originally Posted by Hadrami

Niger Rwanda
Comoros Cameroon

Niger is one of the countries i rarely read anything about and so i look forward to reading the news here. What was the growth based on? Mainly uranium?

[Hadrami]

Originally Posted by Vakai

Niger is one of the countries i rarely read anything about and so i look forward to reading the news here. What was the growth based on? Mainly uranium?

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...1&postcount=26

[ngantsop]

Originally Posted by Hadrami

Niger Rwanda
Comoros Cameroon

World Bank sees Cameroon's 2012 growth at 5.5 pct

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - 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.

Singh said the economic slowdown in the Euro zone will probably translate into lower exports and remittances as Europe remains Cameroon's largest market and hosts the largest community of Cameroonians abroad.

However, oil production contracted by 10 percent in 2011 due to depleting reserves and aging equipment but significant exploration in the last two years will see oil production grow by 15 percent in 2012, Singh said.

Cameroon's oil output has fallen by two-thirds since the 1980s to about 66,000 barrels per day.

The country's President Paul Biya, 78, who won reelection in October, plans to build roads, power plants, and a deep sea port while boosting investments in the mining sector, with the goal of securing emerging market status for the country by 2035.

Aside from its oil, Cameroon, the world's fifth cocoa producer, is the region's main port and breadbasket, supplying Chad, Central African Republic, Congo Republic and Gabon.

The International Monetary Fund has said Cameroon is performing below its potential because of lack of infrastructure and administrative hurdles that were hurting business.

Singh said though Cameroon has improved its ranking in the 2012 Doing Business, moving up seven places compared with 2011, its investment climate remains overall unfavourable to the development of the business sector.

http://news.yahoo.com/world-bank-see...054723915.html

[ngantsop]

Originally Posted by Hadrami

Niger Rwanda
Comoros Cameroon

The experts of the World bank were in official visit to Cameroon and they produced this forecast with all the needed economic documents of our country! Why are you disrespecting Cameroon ???

[ngantsop]

Cameroun
Forbes Africa : le camerounais Njorku parmi les meilleures start-up africaines

Fondée à Buea au Cameroun, la jeune pousse Njorku a été sélectionnée par le prestigieux magazine Forbes pour figurer parmi les 20 start-up qui comptent en Afrique.

Depuis quelques jours, Njorku (www.njorku.com) est sous les feux de la rampe. Onze mois après sa création, la startup camerounaise basée à Buea connaît son heure de gloire depuis qu'elle a été sélectionnée par le magasine Forbes dans les 20 principales startups technologiques en Afrique. Parmi quelques célébrités, comme le réseau de messagerie instantané sud-africain Mxit et ses 45 millions d'utilisateurs, mais aussi beaucoup d'autres jeunes pousses venues du Ghana, du Kenya ou du Nigeria.

« L'idée de Njorku est venue en 2009, nous avons travaillé sur le projet en 2010 avant de créer réellement Njorku en 2011 », explique Bertrand Kima, l'un des quatre fondateurs de cette plateforme consacrée à la recherche d'emploi en Afrique. Depuis le succès est grandissant, avec environ 15 000 visiteurs par jour désormais, et plus de 50 000 annonces d'emploi.

Recherche de fonds

Recensant tout d'abord les offres au Nigeria, Njorku (éléphant dans la langue Dikome Balue) s'est peu à peu étendu au Cameroun, à l'Afrique du Sud, au Ghana, au Kenya, à l'Ouganda puis à l'Égypte. « Nous voulons couvrir tous les pays africains mais nous manquons cruellement d'argent pour nous développer », souligne Bertrand Kima. Basé à Baltimore, ce jeune entrepreneur est âgé d’à peine 25 ans, comme les autres co-fondateurs de Njorku. Mais il ne manque pas d'énergie pour trouver de son côté de l'Atlantique des financiers pour son entreprise.

Un entrepreneur camerounais basé au Canada, Hervé Tchepannou, a déjà investi dans l'aventure. Avec l'effervescence créée par le classement de Forbes Africa, les candidats devraient se faire plus nombreux. En attendant, les serial entrepreneurs fondateurs de Njorku (Churchill Mambe Nanje, Bertrand Kima, Segue Gontran et Ebot Blaise) continuent à gérer leurs différentes affaires, principalement dans le développement de site internet (Afrovision Group et Kimberts Solutions).

Jeuneafrique.com

[ngantsop]

X-net phone : the mobile phone made in Cameroon

The X-net phone, designed and built by Cameroonians was presented last Friday Yaoundé.X-net phone. Make no mistake about this British-sounding name. This is indeed the name of the first mobile phone, fully designed, configured, parameterized and developed by engineers Cameroonians living abroad. Namely two in Germany and third in the United States of America. For security reasons, their names were not revealed at the presentation ceremony of the X-net phone last Friday in Yaounde. According to Emmanuel Ndenguebi, telecommunications engineer, also associated with the project, X-net phone can hold two SIM cards.

It works in all Cameroonian localities covered by the Mobile Network. The X-net phone which, according to its promoters, will be marketed by the Cameroonian company L & F in two weeks, has an alphanumeric keypad backlight. Its screen is capable of displaying photos and video files. All at a price that reflects the purchasing power of Cameroonians: it will cost 10,500 CFA francs (without camera) and 12,500 CFA francs (with camera).

In addition, this cell phone is equipped with Mp3/Mp4 player, a high definition camera and a radio Fm. It also has a flashlight, a speakerphone and Bluetooth. The phone's music was composed by a Cameroonian artist. In the image box of the phone, you can admire the splendor of the beaches of Kribi or the beauty of the Palais des Congres in Yaounde. In short, this is, one breath of the project partners, "a pride of Cameroon." The X-net phone, the first telephone made ​​in Cameroon, is used in three languages​​: French, English and Spanish.

cameroon-info.net/stories/0,31675,@,telephonie-mobile-le-premier-telephone-made-in-cameroon-bientot-en-vente.html

[ngantsop]

[ngantsop]

Cardiopad: The First Live-Saving Tablet Made In Africa By A Cameroonian

A 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer has built the first fully touch screen medical tablet that could soon save many African lives. He first has to find the necessary funding to mass-produce the device.

In a country that has only 30 heart surgeons for more than 20 million people, the dream of Arthur Zang, a 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer, is to facilitate the treatment of patients with a heart disease across Cameroon.

Save lives
In 2010, he created a digital tablet known as Cardiopad: “It’s the first fully touch screen medical tablet made in Cameroon and in Africa. It’s an invention that could save numerous human lives”, explains Arthur Zang.

In fact, Cameroon’s thirty heart specialists are all based in either Douala or Yaoundé, the country’s economic and political capitals. Heart patients often have to travel across the country for a consultation.
Appointments sometimes must be made months in advance, leading to death of some patients.

Hassle of travelling
The Cardiopad solves this problem by enabling medical examinations to be performed remotely and the results transmitted electronically, saving patients the hassle of having to travel to the city.

Arthur Zang explains that the Cardiopad is above all a scientific project. He started his research three years ago and carried out several scientific tests that were validated by the Cameroonian scientific community. “The reliability of the Cardiopad is 97.5%”, he says.

Distance consultation
In practice, the Cardiopad is a device that can perform tests such as the electrocardiogram (ECG). The medical tablet also makes it possible to wirelessly send the results of the tests from remote locations to the specialist who will then interpret them.

“The tablet is used as a classical electrocardiograph device: electrodes are placed on the patient and connected to a module that, in turn, connects to the tablet. When a medical examination is performed on a patient in a remote village, for example, the results are transmitted from the nurse’s tablet to that of the doctor who then interprets them.

Digitalised and transmitted
Software built into the device allow the doctor to give computer assisted diagnosis”, explains the young engineer.

Pointing out the differences between the Cardiopad and the classical electrocardiograph, Arthur Zang explains: “The Cardiopad has more functions. With the classical electrocardiograph, the results were usually printed on paper and handed to the cardiologist for interpretation.

It wasn’t possible to send or save the results electronically. With the Cardiopad, the results are digitalised and transmitted. There is no need to print them, the heart surgeon can interpret them, even remotely, from his tablet and then send the diagnosis and prescribed treatment”

Accessibility
“The Cardiopad will cut down the cost of examination. We intend to sell the device for 1500 euros, while the current price for an electrocardiograph device is 3800 euros. If hospitals purchase the device at a low price, they will be able to lower the prices of medical examinations”, Arthur Zang hopes.

However, there is still the issue of energy, as many of the country’s remote regions do not have access to electricity. “The Cardiopad is equipped with a battery that can independently power the machine for more than seven hours”, the engineer assures.

He further explains that a prototype and sample of device is already available. “We are currently producing the first units of the device which will be available for hospitals before July”, says the young engineer who is still looking for funding to mass-produce the Cardiopad. “Besides the funding, I am also looking to start a company to help improve the medical care system in Cameroon”, he concludes.

Source: Radio Netherlands Worldwide