Business

Billionaire Nigerian business man, Aliko Dangote was on Thursday named as the Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2014.

Dangote was feted at the unveiling ceremony held in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. He bet a strong list of finalists to emerge tops for the coveted award. With businesses spanning across the continent Dangote was said to have made an impact not only in the industries he invests in but also to the lives of people.

During the ceremony ABN’s founder and vice chair Rakesh Wahi noted that the event is all about honouring exceptional leaders.

“This is our fourth Person of the Year Event. The mission of this event is to honour one exceptional leader from the African continent, who has made an impact not only on the industry he or she serves, but who also has touched the lives of people, and in doing so is a role model for future generations of business leaders,” said Wahi.

Among the finalists were Thuli Madonsela, South Africa’s Public Protector, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian author,  Arunma Oteh, Director-General of the Securities & Exchange Commission Nigeria and Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank.

“Aliko Dangote is a lion of Africa in terms of business. He is second to none when it comes to investing in Africa, not just Nigeria. He is also a capitalist with a big heart. He puts his money where his mouth is and his foundation is a step forward for a man who wants to make a difference on the continent,” noted the panel of judges in selecting Dangote.

Speaking at the same event, Chris Bishop managing editor at Forbes Africa said, “For the fourth time I am honoured to celebrate the Forbes Africa Person of the Year. Every year we see tough competition and great debate in choosing winners of great import.”

This was Dangote’s fourth nomination for the prestigious awards. Other past finalists include his Highness Dr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (2011), James Mwangi (2012) and Akinwumi Adesina (2013).

Also feted during the event was Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank. Kaberuka received the lifetime achievement award.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Dec.2014

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As activists mark Wildlife Conservation Day, elephants and hippopotamuses are trampling over farms and crops in northern Cameroon. Authorities face a difficult balancing act - conserve wildlife or protect property?

Residents in Mayo Danay in northern Cameroon say hundreds of elephants and hippopotamuses have been causing enormous damage to their farms and villages.

Ledou Ahmadou from Bougay village told DW he had lost all his crops to the animals.

"The elephants and hippopotamuses have destroyed my sorghum and onions and continue to attack us in our villages," he said.

The animals left the 4,000 hectare (9,900 acre) Kalfou Wildlife Park for greener pastures. Senior administrative official Nkwenti Simon Doh said parts of the park had been converted into farmland and villages by local inhabitants. This was putting pressure on resources. Doh said three hippopotamuses had been killed as the animals moved out and he urged people to show restraint.

"I am calling on the population not to take the law into their hands by killing the animals. There will be enormous social and economic benefits if people help us to protect these gigantic animals," he said

Alexandre Breche from the World Wildlife Fund warned of dire consequences if government officials and people whose property has been destroyed continue killing the animals.

He told DW that Cameroon and the wider Congo basin was one of the world's natural treasures, the second largest rain forest in the world, and it was losing its big, emblematic mammals like the elephants.

"The forest elephant population has dropped by 60 percent in the last 10 years. We need the message to be sent, stop killing the elephants otherwise in the next 10 or 20 years we might not be able to see wildlife in the forest," he said.

Conservationists' concerns

Sone Noke works for Wildlife TRAPS (Wildlife Trafficking Response Assessment and Priority Setting), an NGO seeking to protect global biodiversity from the threat of the illegal trade in wildlife.

He defends his organization from the allegation that it is more interested in animals than in people, saying it was "a misconception." The issue was natural resources.

"Maybe in the next 10 years we will not have lions in Cameroon. Black rhinoceros are virtually extinct in Cameroon. So that is what we are talking about," he told DW.

Dan Challender, conservation scientist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), speaking on DW's Africalink show, highlighted the role played by communities in present and future conservation of species threatened by wildlife crime.

"There are a number of case studies where communities have led conservation initiatives and it's proved incredibly successful," he said.

Wildlife Conservation Day falls on December 4.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Dec.2014

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Bolloré Africa Logistics, the French Group that virtually owns Cameroon Railway Company (Camrail) has presented and commissioned a new geometric version of a repair locomotive that will be used to detect faults on the railway tracks throughout the national territory.  The vehicle presented to the media today in Yaounde comes from the Austrian Plasser & Theurer species and is equipped with modern technology making repairs on rails much easier.

Speaking during the ceremony,the Minister of Transport Robert Nkili said the modern equipment has the capacity to detect faults and report them to the technical crew at the speed of light. Cameroon Concord gathered that the Cameroon Railway Company spent 2 billion 310 million Fcfa to acquire the machine.

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Ngwa Bertrand

03.Dec.2014

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At the close of the 46th general meeting of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), organised by Air Algérie earlier this month November Fatima Beyina-Moussa, managing director of ECAir (Equatorial Congo Airlines) was named President of AFRAA. She has headed the national airline of the Republic of the Congo since its creation in 2011.

A graduate of HEC Montreal with an MBA from the University of Ottawa, Beyina-Moussa obtained a DEA (postgraduate degree) in International Economics at Sciences Po in Paris and went on to become a consultant in Congo for Ernst & Young. She later joined the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), and then worked for the United Nations Development Programme before being named an adviser to the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio. One of the key matters she dealt with was the establishment of a national airline.

Next November, the national airline of the Republic of the Congo, ECAir, will host the 47th annual general meeting of AFRAA in Brazzaville. "In three years, we have been on a journey with our company. We have trained many Congolese people in aviation trades and our network is growing, along with our fleet. AFRAA represents continuity and complementarity. It is an excellent opportunity to promote our air transport policy and to stimulate discussions with our partners." Beyina-Moussa said.

Culled from Defence web

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Ngwa Bertrand

01.Dec.2014

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Following a press release,the break-up between Cameroon’s Industry Minister Emmanuel Bondé and heads of the Indo-Cameroonian company, Justin Sugar Mills, which was leading a design project for the Batouri sugar complex in East Cameroon seems final between the two parties.

The end of the partnership came in the form of a call for expressions of interest released on November 20, 2014 by the Minister of Industry for the “selection of a private investor to create and run the agro-industrial sugar complex in the Bertoua-Batouri mid-zone in the East region” of Cameroon. Interested investors have 10 weeks, counting from November 20, 2014, to submit their bids.

According to the government call for tenders, the Batouri sugar project consists of developing 32,000 hectares for sugar cane production. This commodity will be processed thanks to a factory to be built on site in order to correct the deficit in domestic production which varies between 60,000 and 90,000 tonnes and take advantage of the opportunities available on the sub-regional market.

The call for expressions of interest just launched by the Cameroonian government was announced by the Industry Minister in a release dated June 26, 2014 in which Emmanuel Bondé revealed the termination of the agreement protocol established on April 13, 2012 with Justin Sugar Mills, for the implementation of a sugar complex in Batouri which is located in the East region of Cameroon.

Emmanuel Bondé announced that the government’s decision follows “dysfunction (raised by the international auditing firm, Ernst & Young) in the application of the said agreement protocol, as well as in the carrying out of the project.” The government official had also specified that the site designated for the project was “immediately” reclaimed by the government, with Justin Sugar Mills being barred from accessing it.

Tug of war

On August 6, 2014, Justin Sugar Mills brushed aside the Industry Minister’s release by way of its Director of Finance and Investments, J. C. Geut. “Justin Sugar Mills Cameroon SA was never informed about any such decision by the State of Cameroon to stop such a major, socially oriented, developmental instrument in the East region and the hopes of the young people of a whole nation. Justin Sugar Mills finds that opinions expressed in the media, other than those of the company or the State, are being used to manipulate, discourage or sabotage the community development and anti-poverty project. A personal interest lobby has been trying for years to do this, without success,” wrote J. C. Geut.

In a defiant stance, to the extent that Mr Geut assured that throughout a meeting held on the same day when the Industry Minister announced the termination of the agreement with Justin Sugar Mills, “the Prime Minister expressed the need for competition in Cameroon’s sugar industry and affirmed, as usual, the government’s total support for our project, in accordance with the agreement protocol signed on April 13, 2012, which grants exclusive rights to Justin Sugar Mills Cameroon SA, to build the sugar complex in the Bertoua-Batouri, to guarantee 17,500 jobs to Cameroonians.” These remarks weakened the call for expressions of interest launched by the Cameroonian government on November 20.

Competition on the horizon for Sosucam

Worth an investment of 60 billion FCFA, the Batouri sugar complex was to be operational from January 2014, but allegedly had a variety of difficulties which continue to compromise the project’s execution. The project is to give birth to real competition from sugar production in Cameroon.

Its local subsidiary, Sosucam, is the only company to produce sugar and its base ingredient, sugar cane. Because of this, it has contracts to supply sugar (in powdered form) to local agglomerates (companies that convert powdered sugar into squares) who, unfortunately, complain generally about not being able to buy from this provider and often being obliged to import and this increases production costs.

Like Sosucam, Justin Sugar Mills, which is already present in Nigeria, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is planning to establish sugar cane plantations on 15,000 hectares out of a total of 155,000 hectares belonging to the company on sites in Tikondi and Bodongoué, in the Batouri district. With its initial capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes per annum, the Batouri sugar complex plans to also produce energy for its operation and rural electrification using sugar cane waste.

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Ngwa Bertrand

01.Dec.2014

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"I made a choice not to sanction because that would have been easy," EC President Jean-Claude Juncker told journalists from a group of European newspapers. However, EU Economy Commissioner Pierre Moscovici stressed that "all possibilities" will be on the table when Paris' budget plans are reviewed in March without ruling out sanctions. "The commission will, of course, be extremely demanding," said Moscovici. Authorities in France, Italy and Belgium have promised to implement economic overhauls to shore up their public finances. So far, no country in the eurozone, which groups 18 countries, has come under sanction for failing to respect the EU's deficit target.

Culled from Presstv

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Nov.2014

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