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Cameroon | Infrastructure, Economy and Business thread

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#1 ·
Thread for Infrastructure development projects under construction on various sectors of economy and business(energy,transport,mines,...) in cameroon.


 
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#57 ·
Cameroon to spend 5.6 bln USD for 5.5% growth in 2012

Source: XINHUA | 2011-11-21 | ONLINE EDITION

YAOUNDE, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's government is targeting a 5.5 percent economic growth in 2012 through the execution of the next state budget, which is estimated to be 5.6 billion U.S. dollars, officials disclosed on Monday.

The blueprint was unveiled by a finance bill being examined by the country's parliament that has been meeting in an ordinary session since Nov. 1.

"Despite the economic slowdown in most of the country's economic partners, Cameroon's economy is expected to maintain its growth trend," the Cameroonian Prime Minister Philemon Yang said.

On Friday, he presented his government's new economic, financial, social and cultural program before parliament.

He explained that in order to achieve this objective, the government will increase the volume of public investments as outlined in the Strategy Document for Growth and Job creation.

He said the government has based its estimates on the following parameters: the real growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) at 5.5 percent; the rate of inflation to be maintained at 3 percent; the price of the barrel of petrol projected to cost 100 dollars and the exchange rate of 1 dollar to be 467.7 FCFA.

The proposed 2012 budget of 5.6 billion dollars is higher than the previous one which was 5.142 billion dollars, an increase of about 448 million dollars.

The government estimates that in the 2012 budget, 4.602 billion dollars will be raised through the country's own revenue, while 998 million dollars will be obtained through loans and grants.

The prime minister said over 3.44 billion dollars will be used on recurrent expenditure, over 1.584 billion dollars will be spent on development expenditure and 575.2 million dollars will be used for payment of the country's debts.

A well-placed source recently told Xinhua that issues related to the 2012 budget and economic growth forecast will form the agenda during a meeting to be held between the Cameroonian government and a team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between Nov. 28 and Dec. 5.
 
#58 ·
Cameroon eyes 50 pct hike in oil output in 2012

By Tansa Musa

YAOUNDE, Nov 26 (Reuters) - 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."

He cited an expected production start at the Dissoni field formerly operated by Total E&P in the Rio del Rey basin close to the Nigerian border with an intial output of 15,000 bpd, for reserves estimated at 25 million barrels.

He further pointed to an expected increase in output from the Moudi and Ebome Marine concessions operated by independent oil firm Perenco in the Douala/Kribi-Campo basin with an initial production of 10-12,000 barrels, for reserves estimated at 20 million barrels.

Asked to comment, Perenco, which took over Total E&P concessions in Rio del Rey last April, said the Dissoni field would stabilise production at 40,000 bpd by around mid mid-2012.

"Perenco is pressing ahead with plans to develop the Dissoni North discovery made in 2005," it said in a written statement sent to Reuters in Yaounde.

"Dissoni North will stabilise operated production at 40,000 bopd by around mid-2012, and is thus of major economic importance for Cameroon."

On Moudi and Ebome Marine, the company stated: "As part of an overall programme to optimise production, Perenco maintains an active well work-over programme on the Moudi field ... At Ebome Marine, Perenco has constantly offset the natural decline by an aggressive programme of satellite developments."

The SNH official noted that initially Cameroon's oil output was seen at less than 60,000 bpd in 2010 but ended at 64,000 bpd. In 2011 it was initially slated at 55,000 bpd but is now seen hitting 65,000 bpd.

Cameroon became a modest oil-exporting country in 1977 with production peaking at 185,000 bpd in 1986, before declining steadily since then due to maturing fields.

However, despite the sharp drop, crude oil remains the country's leading export product, accounting for about 45 percent of its foreign exchange earnings today. (Editing by Keiron Henderson)
 
#60 ·
Cameroon plans $10 million cotton mill

Cameroon will start construction of a $10 million cotton mill next year in an effort to boost value-added exports, officials said.

The Development Bank of Central African States and Societe Generale de Banque de Cameroun have agreed to raise 1 billion CFA francs – about 20 percent of the total cost of the project, the government said.

“At the moment, local processing of cotton is about 5 percent, with the remaining 95 percent exported.

This is about raising processing to 40 percent at least and cutting raw exports,” Martin Yankwa, an official at the Ministry of Industry, told reporters on Tuesday.

The general manager of the project, Robert Kemajou, told Reuters on Wednesday that construction would start in mid-2012 in the industrial district of Douala, and the total cost would be at least 5 billion CFA francs ($10.4 million).
 
#61 ·
Iron ore reserves at Nkout, Cameroon estimated at 4 billion mt

Written By: admin
|

November 25, 2011
|

Posted In:

Business
English

Iron ore reserves at Nkout, Cameroon estimated at 4 billion mt

Caminex Incorporated, a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of British mineral exploration and development company Afferro Mining, has stated that prospective reserves at its Nkout iron ore project in southern Cameroon are now estimated at 4 billion mt, with an expected mining life of 50-70 years.

The Nkout deposit is located around 27 kilometers from Djoum in southern Cameroon. Potential reserves had previously been estimated at 1.4 billion mt, with 33 percent consisting of premium grade iron ore.

Nkout is now expected to be the largest iron ore mine in Cameroon, ahead of the Mbalam iron ore project of Australian miner Sundance Resources.

SteelOrbis
 
#62 ·
Bowleven va de découvertes en découvertes

November 29, 2011

(Agence Ecofin) – La compagnie pétrolière écossaise Bowleven n’en finit pas de réévaluer à la hausse ses découvertes d’hydrocarbures dans le bassin de Douala, au large des côtes du Cameroun.

Suite au forage du puits Sapele-3, sur son permis d’Etinde, « un intervalle supplémentaire d’environ 8 mètres a été mis au jour dans des réservoirs à plus grande profondeur, principalement dans des couches du Paléocène présentant de bonnes qualités de porosité et de perméabilité » a révélé la compagnie. Les analyses effectuées en cours d’opérations révèlent une présence « très probable » de pétrole.

En octobre, le forage de Sapele-3 avait déjà mis en évidence une hauteur d’hydrocarbures de 11 mètres ainsi que la présence de condensats.

Et en aout dernier, la même compagnie faisait part d’une découverte importante (100 millions de barils) au large de Douala, à 35 mètres de profondeur, dans la zone de Rio Del Rey et du bassin de Douala.

Agence Ecofin
 
#63 ·
Cameroon Coffee Production Falls 39% on Plants and Smuggling

By Pius Lukong - Dec 9, 2011 11:23 AM ET


Coffee production in Cameroon, central Africa’s biggest grower of the beans, dropped in the 2010-11 season as some robusta-variety plants became dormant and illegal trade in arabica rose.
Output of both types dropped 39 percent in the harvest period to 34,417 metric tons, according to Bloomberg calculations made using data from the Cocoa and Coffee Board.
Production of robusta, which is used in instant coffee and espresso, declined to 31,840 tons in the season that started in October 2010 and ended last month, from 53,000 tons a year earlier, said Michael Ndoping, the board’s general manager.
“The coffee plants are certainly in their resting period after previous years of increased production,” he said in a speech at Angossas, 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the capital, Yaounde. Production may increase in the next crop, Ndoping said, declining to give a specific forecast. “The plants are fresh and have produced enough flowers this year,” he said.
Arabica output slipped to 2,577 tons from 3,423 tons a year earlier, Ndoping said. The arabica season runs from October to September.
“A lot of arabica coffee is sold in neighboring Nigeria,” Christopher Mbah, general manager of the North West Cooperative Association where about 70 percent of the country’s arabica beans are grown, said by phone. He declined to give an estimate of the amount of smuggling.
Production of both varieties of coffee is expected to rise to an annual 125,000 tons by 2015, Ndoping said.
Processing of robusta dropped to 193 tons in 2010-11 from 316 tons a year earlier, while arabica grindings declined 17 percent to 187 tons, according to a report from the board handed to reporters yesterday.
 
#64 ·
GMG unit plans Cameroon rubber, palm project

YAOUNDE Dec 12 (Reuters) - A unit of Singapore's GMG Global has struck a $410 million deal with Cameroon's government to develop 45,200 hectares of palm oil and rubber plantations, officials said on Monday.

Sud Cameroun Hevea S.A., 80 percent-owned by GMG, said the plantations in Cameroon's South region should become fully operational within four years, with production aimed at the export market.

"The private sector in general, and the agricultural sector in particular, must play a leading role in our country's quest to become an emerging economy by 2035," Economy Minister Emmanuel Djoumessi Nganou told a press conference to announce the deal. The head of Cameroun Hevea was in attendance.

Rubber and palm oil are already significant export crops from Cameroon, central Africa's largest economy. Annual production of the two crops is currently estimated at 60,000 tonnes and 175,000 tonnes, respectively.

No details on planned production from the new plantations were given. ($1 = 496.3350 CFA francs) (Reporting by Tansa Musa,; Writing by Richard Valdmanis,, editing by Jane Baird)
 
#65 ·
Cameroon Earn Millions In Regional Exports

YAOUNDE (Xinhua) — Between 2007 to 2010, Cameroon’s exports to other countries within the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) were valued at 196.46 million U.S. dollars, according to a survey results announced by the secretary of the Inter-Employers Group of Cameroon (GICAM), Martin Abega.

He was speaking in Yaounde during a presentation at the 4th CEEAC International Business Seminar that began on December 3 and ended on Dec. 11.
Cameroon is first a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) which is comprised of the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Chad and she is also a member of CEEAC which, in addition to the earlier mentioned countries, brings together Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Sao Tome et Principe.

Abega revealed that Cameroon’s exports towards CEMAC countries stood at 102.2 billion Fcfa which is 10.4 percent of the total value of her exports to the regional CEEAC market.

“The revenue earned from exports to the sub-regional countries accounts for 13.8 percent of Cameroon’s total earnings from exports during the four years that were being analyzed,” the GICAM secretary said.

Chad, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and the DR Congo were cited as Cameroon’s main clients.

Abega observed that Cameroon’s exports to Chad, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and the DR Congo were diversified.

These exports included products such as cooking fat, animal or vegetable oil, soaps, aluminium equipment, washing powder, plastic materials and cocoa.

In addition, Cameoon is also exporting papers, cartons, iron, milk products, natural honey and sugar.
 
#66 ·
Legend Mining updates market on highly prospective Cameroon operations

Legend Mining (ASX: LEG) continues to progress the company’s Cameroon operations, where magnetite intercepts of over 100 metres have been discovered.

Drilling activities will take a break over the Christmas period, but an additional four holes for 455 metres have been completed at the Melombo East Prospect since last month’s intercepts of 116.2 metres at 26.2% iron including 79.1 metres at 29.7% iron, and 80.5 metres at 36.6% iron.

Importantly – both of these holes ended in high grade, plus-35% iron mineralisation.
Mark Wilson, managing director, commented in the update: “We are very pleased with the results from Melombo East to date.

“When these details are considered with the grades and exploration target details released in November 2011, our confidence of Melombo East becoming a project of commercial significance is increased.

“With our strong cash position and new drilling equipment ordered we are looking forward to 2012 with confidence”.

Melombo East already has an exploration target of 300 to 500 million tonnes at 16-40% iron, and is just one of 15 exploration targets within the Ngovayang gold and iron ore project.

Legend is looking to deliver an Inferred JORC Resource at Melombo East as soon as possible.

Cash Boost

Legend is expecting to have over $20 million in the bank in January next year. The company will increase its cash reserves through a recently announced A$10 million capital raising and the $7 million cash sale of its non-core Mt Gibson Gold Project in Western Australia.

The extra $17 million will allow Legend to focus solely on iron ore exploration in West Africa and accelerate exploration and development at the Ngovoyang project.

Proactive Investors Australia
 
#67 ·
Exploration du fer : Affero Mining se concentre sur le gisement de Nkout

Le groupe anglais a revendu ses parts dans un projet au Libéria pour réinvestir au Cameroun.

Jusqu’ici, les responsables de Caminex, filiale camerounaise du groupe anglais Affero Mining qui a découvert un gisement de fer à Nkout, localité située à 27 km de la ville d Djoum, n’avaient pas publiquement osé la comparaison entre le gisement de fer de Mballam découvert par Cam Iron et celui de Nkout. Vendredi dernier au cours d’une conférence de presse, Richard Howe, Conseiller de Caminex, a enfin officiellement déclaré que le gisement de fer de Nkout est le plus important du Cameroun, avec un potentiel actuel estimé à 2 milliards de tonnes, et qui pourrait atteindre 4 milliards au terme de la période d’exploration. Le sous-sol de Nkout est donc plus ferreux que celui de Mballam, dont le gisement d’un potentiel de 3 milliards de tonnes de fer est en plus à cheval entre deux pays : le Cameroun et le Congo.

C’est certainement fort de ce potentiel alléchant que le groupe anglais Affero Mining a pris la décision de se concentrer sur ce gisement camerounais. En effet, au cours d’une conférence de presse vendredi dernier à Yaoundé, Peter Taylor, le directeur des opérations de ce groupe minier, a annoncé que Affero Mining a vendu ses parts dans un projet d’exploration minière au Libéria, pour réinvestir le fruit de cette transaction dans le projet de Nkout au Cameroun. Au total, ce sont quelques 50 milliards de Fcfa engrangés dans la cession de ses actifs au Libéria, qui vont prendre la direction du Cameroun. Parce que, a souligné Peter Taylor, le Cameroun est bien meilleure destination pour les affaires que le Libéria, un pays qui a été longtemps caractérisé par une instabilité politique.

Mais au-delà de cette appréciation, les responsables du groupe minier anglais indiquent que la décision de s’investir plus au Cameroun qu’au Libéria tient de ce que la collaboration avec les autorités camerounaises dans ce projet d’exploration minière a été «exemplaire». Une entente qui devrait se décupler au cours des prochaines années, au moment du lancement de la phase d’exploitation du gisement de fer de Nkout, dont l’entrée en activité est fortement tributaire de la finalisation de certains projets structurants, à l’instar de la construction du port en eau profonde de Kribi, du barrage hydroélectrique de Memve’ele, deux infrastructures aussi consubstantiels à l’exploitation du fer de Nkout que la construction de la ligne de chemin de fer Mballam-Kribi.
 
#68 ·
Cameroon raises cotton price to curb smuggling


YAOUNDE Dec 28 (Reuters) – Cameroon state firm SODECOTTON has increased farmgate raw cotton price by 27.5 percent for the current harvest in an effort to dissuade farmers from smuggling their produce to neighbouring Nigeria, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

SODECOTTON said it will pay farmers 255 CFA francs ($0.50)per kg of cotton this season from 200 CFA per kg in the previous season.

About 16 percent of Cameroon’s total output of 161,000 tonnes in the 2010/2011 season was smuggled into Nigeria where farmers were paid almost twice what they get in Cameroon, said Louis-Marie Nama.

“This massive illegal exportation was a big blow to SODECOTTON, with the corporation losing about 24 billion CFA francs ($47.37 million) during the year,” Nama said.

The firm pre-finances purchases by providing farmers with seedlings, fertilisers and other materials on the agreement that they sell their cotton to SODECOTTON.

“But this time the farmers did not respect the terms of the deal, preferring to illegally export to our western neighbour,” Nama said.

Cotton is cultivated by about 200,000 peasant farmers on about 172,000 hectares in Cameroon’s semi-arid Far North, North and Adamawa regions.

Official data from the firm shows that Cameroon’s raw cotton production rose 47 percent to 161,800 tonnes during the 2010-11 season with plans to increase output to between 185,000-200,000 tonnes in 2011/12 following the introduction of new high-yield plants.

Nama said SODECOTTON plans to raise its pre-financing fund from 33.8 billion CFA francs from 24 billion CFA during the 2011/12 season to boost production.

($1 = 506.6670 CFA francs)
 
#69 ·
Plus de 17 milliards en 2012 pour la Communauté urbaine de Yaoundé

C’est le montant du budget arrêté par le Conseil de communauté réuni dans la capitale vendredi dernier.

17,4 milliards de F. C’est le montant de l’enveloppe budgétaire de la Communauté urbaine de Yaoundé pour l’exercice 2012. Une dotation arrêtée par le Conseil de communauté de la municipalité réuni en session ordinaire vendredi dernier, et qui est en augmentation de 1,095 milliard de F par rapport à l’exercice qui s’achève.

Un budget qui, de l’avis du délégué du gouvernement auprès de la Communauté urbaine de Yaoundé, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna, exprime « la volonté de l’exécutif de privilégier les actions d’amélioration du cadre de vie des populations dans la Cité capitale ». D’où l’enveloppe budgétaire allouée au plan de campagne de l’exercice 2012, d’un montant de 10,465 milliards de F, ce qui représente environ 60% de l’ensemble des prévisions de dépenses.

Dans ce registre des dépenses, outre le remboursement d’une partie de la dette de la Communauté urbaine, l’exécutif de la ville de Yaoundé va se déployer dans certains chantiers, à l’instar de la poursuite des aménagements du palais des Congrès de Yaoundé, la réhabilitation des stations d’épuration de Mendong et de Biyem Assi.

Ce dernier volet, réalisé avec l’appui de l’Etat à travers le ministère de l’Habitat et du Développement urbain devrait apporter une solution définitive aux problèmes que connaissent les populations de ces quartiers en matière d’assainissement. A hauteur d’un milliard de F, la Communauté urbaine devra continuer d’intervenir dans le ramassage des ordures ménagères dans la ville.

Pour ce qui est de l’entretien de la voirie, en très mauvais état actuellement dans la capitale camerounaise, l’exécutif de la ville a prévu une dotation de 2,02 milliards de F sur fonds propres de la Communauté urbaine de Yaoundé. A cela, il faut ajouter la 6è phase des travaux d’extension de l’hôtel de ville de Yaoundé et la construction d’autres infrastructures à caractère commercial.

Au cours de la séance de vendredi dernier, les membres du Conseil de la Communauté urbaine de Yaoundé ont définitivement réglé le problème de la « Place André Fouda », par l’adoption de la délibération consacrant cet espace au centre ville.

Les travaux ont été conclus par la visite d’un ensemble de chantiers : l’extension de l’hôtel de ville, le palais des Congrès, les constructions engagées sur le site de l’ex-camp SIC Tsinga, la Place des jeunes de Yaoundé entre les quartiers Mvog Betsi, Etetak et Cité verte et le canal du Mfoundi.

Cameroon Tribune
 
#70 ·
Eto’o en 3è opérateur de téléphonie mobile


Set’Mobile, la marque d’Eto’o Telecom présentée jeudi à Douala ambitionne d’être un acteur majeur dans les TIC et œuvrer pour le développement économique et social des Camerounais.

Après avoir été ambassadeur d’une marque de téléphonie mobile au Cameroun, Samuel Eto’o lance sa propre marque. Présent hier au cours de la conférence de présentation de sa marque Set’Mobile, c’est le domaine des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC) que la capitaine des Lions indomptables a choisi pour « rendre au Cameroun ce qu’il lui a donné ».
n effet, le management du troisième opérateur de téléphonie mobile qui débarque sur le marché camerounais, veut faire de la marque un produit proche des aspirations des Camerounais. Pour Charles Gueret, administrateur directeur général de Set’Mobile, il y a largement de la place sur le marché Camerounais pour que l’entreprise fasse son trou. D’après une étude menée par un cabinet privée en août dernier, le marché camerounais est multi-équipé, avec près d’un client sur trois qui possède au moins deux cartes SIM.

Compte tenu de la demande et des indices économiques, 67% de gens sont près à changer d’opérateur, pourvu que celui-ci propose des services avantageux. Et c’est entre autres sur cette niche que compte s’engouffrer Se’Mobile.

Avec un capital social de 100 millions de F, Set’Mobile ambitionne de proposer des tarifs avantageux et des services correspondant aux goûts des Camerounais à travers un réseau de distribution de proximité et des produits de qualité. Cependant, les grilles tarifaires n’ont pas encore été dévoilées, même si le management promet « des surprises ». Des puces téléphoniques estampillées Set’Mobile sont du reste déjà en vente.

De fortes retombées sont également attendues en termes de création d’emplois directs et indirects. « Le taux de pénétration étant faible avec 49%, le marché de la téléphonie mobile au Cameroun accuse un retard par rapport à d’autres pays africains (85% pour le Gabon par exemple, ndlr). Nous voulons que les Camerounais aient un téléphone mobile, où qu’ils se trouvent dans le pays. Nous voulons être proche de nos clients.

Le pays étant vaste, nous avons besoin pour cela de ressources humaines compétentes », confie Charles Gueret. Par ailleurs, l’entreprise compte étendre ses ailes sur le continent africain. Dans un premier temps, Set’Mobile proposera des formules prépayées de téléphonie mobile. Les services de base offerts seront la voix, les SMS et Internet mobile. Des contenus innovants seront également proposés, basés sur les préférences des consommateurs en matière de musique, de jeux, de sport, etc.

Cameroon Tribune
 
#71 ·
December 28, 2011
Posted In:

Business
Français

Après Eto’o Télécom, on parle beaucoup de Huawei…

(Agence Ecofin) – Il y a six mois, en juin 2011, le ministre camerounais des Postes et des Télécommunications, Jean Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam, annonçait l’entrée de deux nouveaux opérateurs dans le paysage des télécommunications pour le troisième trimestre 2011.

L’un de ces opérateurs est déjà connu: Eto’o Télécom, après avoir été officiellement lancé il y a peu, va démarrer ses activités le 21 janvier 2012.

Le quatrième opérateur devrait être révélé, si l’on s’en tient aux propos du ministre des Postes et des Télécommunications, au cours de cette dernière semaine de l’année 2011. Ou peut-être, avec un peu de retard, au début de 2012.

En attendant, des sources avancent le nom de la compagnie chinoise Huawei, par ailleurs partenaire de l’opérateur public Camtel.

Il y a six mois, les autorités camerounaises avaient aussi annoncé l’attribution de licences en 2012 à deux autres grands opérateurs.

Tous ces futurs arrivants vont permettre de briser le duopole exercé par les sociétés MTN et Orange. Pour les consommateurs, qui verront une véritable concurrence s’installer, une baisse substantielle des tarifs d’appel est l’un des grands avantages espérés de cette augmentation des acteurs des télécommunications mobiles. Quant à l’Etat du Cameroun, une plus grande ouverture du marché va lui permettre de bénéficier d’importantes ressources financières.
 
#72 ·
YooMee Live dope la vitesse de téléchargement

(Agence Ecofin) – Fournisseur d’accès Internet sans fil au Cameroun, YooMee vient de lancer YooMee Live, une nouvelle génération de Microsoft Windows Live, en partenariat avec Microsoft Cameroun.
Sur une seule interface, YooMee Live propose plusieurs fonctionnalités: gestion du courrier électronique, partage de photos, messagerie instantanée, intégration avec Facebook, YouTube, etc.

Jules Sylvain Koumbo, directeur des ventes, estime que « c’est plus bénéfique même pour un internaute de faire tout au même instant que de passer de fenêtre en fenêtre pour le même résultat ».

Avec YouMee Live, les Camerounais vont expérimenter des vitesses de téléchargement de 640 kbits, alors que la moyenne nationale oscille entre 256 et 128 kbits, parfois moins que cela. Bien que gratuit, le service est cependant réservé aux clients du fournisseur de service sans fil.

De l’avis du directeur général Stephane Abrahams, YooMee Live est « une autre manière de répondre aux exigences de nos clients qui doivent être à la pointe des industries de communication ».

Agence Ecofin
Il s’agit d’une plateforme intégrée en ligne qui offre aux utilisateurs, de manière très simplifiée, de nouveaux moyens de communication en ligne.
 
#75 ·
AfDB finances gas-powered electricity project in Cameroon

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has reached an agreement with other financiers to avail nearly 200 million euros to finance a gas-powered electricity project in Cameroon, the Tunis-based sovereign lender said in a statement Friday.

AfDB is lending 39.5 million euros to the Kribi Power Project in Cameroon. The Kribi project will help Cameroon to meet its growing demand for power, particularly during peak periods, and further stimulate the country‘s economic development, the bank said.

The Bank, along with other finance institutions including the World Bank’s private-lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Development Bank of Central Africa (BDEAC), Proparco, have agreed on a syndication of local banks led by Standard Chartered Bank.

The banks signed on 22 December a loan agreement to provide a total of 198 million euros to the Kribi Power Development Company (KPDC), a subsidiary of the AES Corporation of the US.

The American power company trades in 27 countries worldwide, in partnership with the Government of Cameroon, which owns 44% of the joint venture.

The project comprises the construction and operation of a 216 megawatt gas-fired power plant located in the north of the coastal city of Kribi, in the southern province of Cameroon with a 100 km 225 kV transmission line to be connected to the country’s Southern Interconnected Grid.

“It will provide increased reliability of electricity supply and enhanced energy security in Cameroon,” the AfDB said in its statement.

Tas Neside Anvaripour, AfDB’s Infrastructure finance manager, said the lack of reliable electricity was a key obstacle to doing business in Cameroon.

“The Kribi project will increase access to reliable energy. The use of domestic gas will capitalize on the country’s own resource and substitute for fuel imports,” she said.

“We are pleased to work with local banks in responding to Cameroon’s critical infrastructure needs,” she added.

The Kribi project will diversify Cameroon’s energy production sources through gas generation expansion while displacing inefficient thermal power plants.

The new energy mix will reduce environmental impact, including carbon emissions. The project will support the expansion of the aluminum industry in Cameroon

African Manager
 
#76 ·
Bharti Airtel plans to go to South Africa, Cameroon in 2012- Report

Bharti Airtel, India’s one of the major telecom service providers with operations in 19 countries in Asia and Africa is mulling expansion of its network in two more countries in the black continent. These countries are South Africa and Cameroon.
Despite incurring losses primarily because of its network expansion in Africa, roll-out of 3G services and tariff war in overcrowded telecom sector in India, its expansion plans in Africa may continue to unfold in 2012, according to media reports appearing in Africa.

The saturated markets in developed and economies particularly in Asia has forced many global players to look to Africa which still offers opportunities for mobile penetration. Other major players who are also offering services in the continent are Vodafone, MTN and Orange. It is believed that competition will get stiffer in 2012.

Currently Airtel offers services in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. By adding South Africa and Cameroon, two of Africa’s fastest growing mobile economies to the list, Airtel aims to strengthen its position in Africa.

TelecomTiger
 
#77 ·
Cameroon farmers turn dung into power

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame

BAFUT, Cameroon – Starved of electricity but with plentiful methane-rich manure, rural livestock farmers in this heavily agricultural nation have become unlikely heroes and beneficiaries of Africa’s fight to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Take 46-year-old Juliana Mengue, who was widowed five years ago and has to care by herself for 40 cows on her a one-and-half acre farm in Bafut village in northwest Cameroon. A government program set up with the help of the Cameroon branch of global nonprofit Heifer International has turned her animals’ manure, more traditionally used only as a fertilizer in crop-farming, into fuel, boosting her family’s income.

As a result of the cheap bio-gas she produces, she is now able to spend more on medical care, education and on increasing her animal stock.
“We also use (the bio-gas) for lighting and heating, replacing our local bush lamps and the use of wood fuel,” she told reporters during a trip organized by the government to view demonstration bio-gas production centres set up in her village and two others nearby.

Mengue said her family has not only gained financially from the project but has also grown in understanding of the environment and climate change.

“We were not aware how much destruction the decomposing dung was doing to the environment. Now we have been told it releases tonnes of methane gas that is very harmful, she said.

Methane, released from manure, is a potent driver of climate change, and efforts to curb its release around the world now focus on everything from capturing the gas to produce biofuel to changing the diets of livestock so they produce less of it.

Jean Kuete, Cameroon’s agriculture minister, told reporters that the bio-gas effort is just one of a range of government initiatives aimed at improving the lives of livestock farmers and their communities through innovative, sustainable and low-cost projects.

NEW JOBS

With combined technical and financial support from a specialized service in the Ministry of Agriculture that educates farmers about new techniques, farmers from the villages of Bafut, Bamendakwe and Santa have begun bio-gas production alongside cattle rearing and farming, generating new jobs, said Abel Kemba, an expert working on behalf of the agriculture ministry to help farmers learn new techniques in the northwest region.

“The biogas energy production technology is relatively low cost, therefore permitting many livestock farmers to embrace it, integrated with their traditional farming, without any big financial assistance,” Kemba told Alertnet during the visit to Bafut.

Many of the farmers say the new technology has brought meaningful changes in their lives and to their community, especially given the spiralling cost of fuel.

Henry Njakoi, country director of Heifer International Cameroon, says the construction of bio-gas digesters in demonstration farms can generate enough gas for whole communities. Farmers pay only about a quarter of the $120 cost of a manure biodigester, with Heifer International and the Ministry of Agriculture footing the rest of the bill.

Heifer International works internationally to donate livestock, seeds, trees and other support to small-scale farmers with the aim of giving them a sustainable source of long-term support.

To produce bio-gas, farmers collect dung from their livestock – cows, pigs, goats or sheep – and carrry it by wheelbarrow to the tank of the biodigester. They then mix the manure with an equal amount of water and stir. The mixture is left to decompose for some time with the resulting methane gas settling in an upper compartment of the tank.

The biodigester has a capacity of 18 cubic metres and is reinforced with earth bricks and, if possible, cement to ensure it is airtight.

At the end of the decomposition process, the manure is removed and dried into pads that are later transported to local fields to be used as fertilizer, Njakoi said.

A second biodigester pioneer, Micheal Mbu, who breeds pigs and goats as well as caring for 50 cows, says the process is simple enough for any farmer to understand and assures consistent profit, especially for those who use this new source of energy for other income-generation projects.

“I have piped and connected the methane to 10 cookers with two burners each to ensure a constant supply of fuel. This is because I use the energy to bake potatoes and flour cake and bread. This cottage baking industry employs five persons,” he said.

The manure generated by the biodigestion process is high in urea and other nutrients needed by plants, Njakoi said, and is an effective fertilizer.

Eugene Ejolle Ehabe of the government-owned Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (IRAD) Bambui- Bamenda in northwest Cameroon said in an interview that bio-gas production from manure and other waste matter, be it from animals or humans, if replicated nationwide would save the country large volumes of fuel wood lost to domestic cooking and could significantly boost development.

He noted that only a fifth of rural households have electricity and, in urban areas only 40 percent of homes have access to power. Every year in Cameroon, thousands of trees are cut down for wood as well as charcoal, the main source of cooking energy for rural dwellers who constitute over 65 percent of the population according to official figures from the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, he noted.

“The production of bio-gas will reduce emissions of greenhouse gas, reduce deforestion,help preserve the forest and soil fertility, and above all improve the livelihood of farmers,” he said.

Reuters AlertNet
 
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Cameroon Power Plants Start Output to Produce 100 Megawatts

Four diesel-fueled thermal plants in Cameroon have started tests to produce 100 megawatts of electricity amid plans to boost supplies, said Akamba Zengue, an official with the Electricity Development Corp.

The plants at Bamenda, Yaounde, Mbalmayo and Ebolowa are part of Cameroon’s emergency plan to increase output as construction continues at two hydroelectricity projects, he told reporters in Yaounde, the capital, yesterday.

Bloomberg
 
#79 ·
Kosmos to explore for oil in Cameroon

YAOUNDE Jan 12 (Reuters) – U.S. Kosmos Energy signed an agreement with Cameroon’s state oil company SNH on Thursday allowing it to explore in the central African state’s offshore Fako block, SNH said.

Kosmos will invest 9 billion CFA francs ($17.56 million) to explore within the 1,289-square-km block, which sits near Cameroon’s productive Rio del Rey and Kribi-Campo basins, for six years, SNH said in a statement.

The deal was signed by the vice president of Kosmos’ Cameroon subsidiary Christopher Stone and SNH manager Adolphe Moudiki, SNH said. It adds to Kosmos’ exploration efforts in two other Cameroon blocks, Kombe-N’Sepe and Ndian River.

Kosmos, backed by private equity firms Blackstone Group and Warburg Pincus, is focused on frontier areas in Western Africa and South America.

It helped discover in 2007 the Jubilee oil field offshore Ghana, which began pumping in late 2010.

Cameroon is one of Africa’s oldest oil producers but has seen output slump to around 65,000 bpd from 185,000 bpd at its peak in 1985.
 
#80 ·
Banana Production: Cameroon Targets 500,000 Tons Annually by 2013

Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, Minister of Trade, on Wednesday January 11 launched the 2012 banana season in Limbe amidst Cameroon’s major producers; the CDC (Cameroon Development Corporation), the PHP (Penja Banana Plantations), and the SPM (Mbanga Banana Plantations). He underscored the challenges that await producers namely to maintain the banana sector on the lead as a major cash crop export. As such, he advocated inter-professional solidarity amongst producers and urged that the target production of 500,000 tons annually be met in line with government directives.

On his part, Mr. Henry Njalla Quan, President of Cameroon's Banana Producers (ASSOBACAM) and General Manager of the CDC, underscored the great employment that the banana sector offers to Cameroonians (13,243 workers) on a total banana cultivation surface of 7,404 hectares. He noted that Cameroon exported 247,210 tons of bananas in 2011 mainly to Europe. He affirmed that the producers were working to respect the target of 500,000 tons prescribed by government by 2013. He explained that banana production in Cameroon today is carried out by both the public and private sectors. In the case of the public sector, the CDC operates the Tiko Banana Project in partnership with Delmonte as well as the Banana Expansion Project, wholly owned by the CDC. Meanwhile, in the private domain, banana is produced by the PHP Group, SPM and the BOH Plantations.
 
#81 ·
SABMiller pourrait reprendre les Brasseries du Cameroun

Le brasseur sud-africain SABMiller a exprimé hier son intérêt pour un éventuel rachat de l’activité brassicole du groupe français Castel en Afrique après l'annonce d'un renforcement de leurs liens sur ce continent.
En 2001, SABMiller et Castel avaient établi une alliance qui avait conduit le groupe sud-africain à prendre une participation de 20% dans la branche bières et de boissons non-alcoolisées de Castel en Afrique. Simultanément, Castel avait acquis 38% de la filiale africaine de SABMiller.

Les deux sociétés disposent d'un droit de préemption sur les activités de brasserie de l'autre en Afrique. SABMiller a déclaré que ces droits étaient désormais « clarifiés et amplifiés » et que, «à la lumière de nos recoupements en Afrique, nous serions évidemment intéressés par l'acquisition de la part de Castel dans notre alliance ».

L’enjeu porte sur des volumes annuels de plus de 21 millions d’hectolitres, soit trois fois plus que ce que produit SAB Miller en Afrique aujourd’hui.

Le rachat éventuel de Castel, n°2 de la bière présent essentiellement en Afrique francophone (Cameroun, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso…), serait estimé à 4,7 milliards d’euros.
 
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