New Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, will soon be installed in some secondary schools in Bafia in the Southwest, Bamenda in the Northwest and Mbalmayo in the Centre Provinces of Cameroon.
The ITCs would include new methods of sight surveys, setting up of solar panels and void (intercommunication in local areas). Robert Marsh, Vice-President Engineering and Co-Founder, INVENEO, a US-based NGO, made this revelation to The Post.
FactCheck : http://www.inveneo. org/
"These projects are being sponsored by a US consortium; Advanced Micro Devices, AMD, in collaboration with African Partnership for Development, NEPAD. Cameroon is one of the 20 countries sharing in this initiative, which is also supported by the UN.
The various partners have put together a package of computer equipments, Internet access and training/educationa l materials on a variety of subjects, which will be installed in three different locations of Cameroon," Marsh explained.
According to Marsh, the digital divide between Africa and the West will close soonest. "It's already changing. There is the explosion of the availability of mobile phones. The growth rate of the mobile phones is highest in Africa. The market is exploding in every part of Africa. The people in Africa want better communication," he said.
He said considering continuity and maintenance, they are training five Cameroonian partners before embarking on the installations so that they can have the minimum expertise in all the areas required to carry out the work, especially in the remote areas.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Africa : Undersea Cable Buoys Continent’s Digital Prospects
Africa, the world’s least plugged-in continent, is moving closer to reliable telecommunications and affordable Internet access.
Construction of a 10,000-kilometre undersea fibre-optic cable connecting 21 East, Southern, and Central African countries to West Africa and Europe is to begin next month following the announcement Monday that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and others have come up with 70.7 million dollars in financing for the project.
"The project will transform the African telecommunication landscape and have a direct positive impact on business in East Africa," Lars Thunell, chief executive at the World Bank’s private sector arm, said Monday.
In much of the developing world, digital communications have enabled school and college students to study in virtual libraries and to visit counterparts in other countries. Businesses have harnessed the Internet to reach offshore customers and suppliers and to obtain management know-how and language training, among other things. Farmers in remote regions have been able to check market prices for seed, fertiliser, and their produce — giving them new power over fee-seeking intermediaries.
In Africa, however, the Internet reaches only four percent of the population and users pay the planet’s highest fees to connect at the slowest speeds — when the continent’s notoriously erratic electricity supply and satellite connections permit. The situation is worst in the countries to be served by the new cable.
The East Africa Submarine Cable System, or EASSy, is intended to change all this. Once completed, it is expected to provide digital access to 250 million people, or one in four Africans.
Consumers along Africa’s east coast typically pay 200-300 dollars a month for Internet access, the IFC said. EASSy will cut the cost by two-thirds at the outset and the number of subscribers will triple, it said.
"Because the project gives open access to service providers, prices will fall further as volume and competition increase," it added in a statement.
The cable will run along the floor of the western Indian Ocean and connect South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. At its southern end, it will join cables serving West Africa and Europe.
Thirteen adjoining countries will be linked to the system as additional networks are completed through a broader World Bank initiative. These countries are Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The IFC said it would provide 18.2 million dollars out of 70.7 million dollars in long-term loans sought by the EASSy consortium of companies. The rest would come from the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, German development bank KfW, and French development bank AFD. The European Union also would provide some financing.
The international lenders are channeling their financing through the West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd., formed specifically for the project, the IFC said.
Most of the money for the 235-million-dollar project is to come from 25 private telecommunications operators that make up the 29-company EASSy consortium, the others being government entities. Of the private firms, 21 are African and these will be the cable’s main users, the IFC said.
French firm Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks is to lay the cable. Firms from Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States also are taking part in the venture, according to business documents.
West Africa already enjoys relatively high-speed and low-cost connections to international telecommunications and the Internet through an existing undersea cable. Yet for the most part, according to government and industry sources, Internet usage rates have stalled in the single digits.
Power shortages are partly to blame. In September, the IFC and World Bank launched a separate effort to promote modern and affordable power using products not hostage to fossil fuels or the continent’s lamentable electricity grid.
Beyond infrastructure constraints, industry and development sources long have said that efforts to propagate information technology are stymied by low literacy rates and government curbs against citizens’ online access and activities.
Even those who make it to the information superhighway frequently find the Western Web sites beyond reach or almost impossible to navigate because these are rich in video and sound and cater mainly to users with not only broadband connections but also top-of-the-line processors in their computers.
source:http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1522
Construction of a 10,000-kilometre undersea fibre-optic cable connecting 21 East, Southern, and Central African countries to West Africa and Europe is to begin next month following the announcement Monday that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and others have come up with 70.7 million dollars in financing for the project.
"The project will transform the African telecommunication landscape and have a direct positive impact on business in East Africa," Lars Thunell, chief executive at the World Bank’s private sector arm, said Monday.
In much of the developing world, digital communications have enabled school and college students to study in virtual libraries and to visit counterparts in other countries. Businesses have harnessed the Internet to reach offshore customers and suppliers and to obtain management know-how and language training, among other things. Farmers in remote regions have been able to check market prices for seed, fertiliser, and their produce — giving them new power over fee-seeking intermediaries.
In Africa, however, the Internet reaches only four percent of the population and users pay the planet’s highest fees to connect at the slowest speeds — when the continent’s notoriously erratic electricity supply and satellite connections permit. The situation is worst in the countries to be served by the new cable.
The East Africa Submarine Cable System, or EASSy, is intended to change all this. Once completed, it is expected to provide digital access to 250 million people, or one in four Africans.
Consumers along Africa’s east coast typically pay 200-300 dollars a month for Internet access, the IFC said. EASSy will cut the cost by two-thirds at the outset and the number of subscribers will triple, it said.
"Because the project gives open access to service providers, prices will fall further as volume and competition increase," it added in a statement.
The cable will run along the floor of the western Indian Ocean and connect South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan. At its southern end, it will join cables serving West Africa and Europe.
Thirteen adjoining countries will be linked to the system as additional networks are completed through a broader World Bank initiative. These countries are Botswana, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The IFC said it would provide 18.2 million dollars out of 70.7 million dollars in long-term loans sought by the EASSy consortium of companies. The rest would come from the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, German development bank KfW, and French development bank AFD. The European Union also would provide some financing.
The international lenders are channeling their financing through the West Indian Ocean Cable Company Ltd., formed specifically for the project, the IFC said.
Most of the money for the 235-million-dollar project is to come from 25 private telecommunications operators that make up the 29-company EASSy consortium, the others being government entities. Of the private firms, 21 are African and these will be the cable’s main users, the IFC said.
French firm Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks is to lay the cable. Firms from Britain, India, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States also are taking part in the venture, according to business documents.
West Africa already enjoys relatively high-speed and low-cost connections to international telecommunications and the Internet through an existing undersea cable. Yet for the most part, according to government and industry sources, Internet usage rates have stalled in the single digits.
Power shortages are partly to blame. In September, the IFC and World Bank launched a separate effort to promote modern and affordable power using products not hostage to fossil fuels or the continent’s lamentable electricity grid.
Beyond infrastructure constraints, industry and development sources long have said that efforts to propagate information technology are stymied by low literacy rates and government curbs against citizens’ online access and activities.
Even those who make it to the information superhighway frequently find the Western Web sites beyond reach or almost impossible to navigate because these are rich in video and sound and cater mainly to users with not only broadband connections but also top-of-the-line processors in their computers.
source:http://www.cipaco.org/spip.php?article1522
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Entrepreneurship: Coming Soon- One Stop Clearinghouse for Business Creation
Entrepreneurship: Coming Soon- One Stop Clearinghouse for Business Creation
It is set to see the light of day during the National Forum of Private Entrepreneurship and of SME/SMI which will be held December 6 and 7th, in Yaoundé.
It is an open secret; enterprise creation in Cameroon remains a hard slog both for nationals and for foreign investors. Without exaggerating, experts maintain that it would take almost 400 days for any entrepreneur to complete the administrative formalities required for the formal registration of a company. And among the causes of this administrative burden, an accusatory finger is quickly pointed at corruption, from actors in both the public and private sectors. The initiative for a national forum on entrepreneurship, with the backing of Pme-Impacts, a Cameroonian civil society organization, is born from this state of affairs. The forum is primarily geared towards putting in place a pilot one-stop clearinghouse for enterprise creation. The 10 day experience at the Palais des congrès in Yaoundé which takes place alongside this forum, would, according to its organizers, allow all the project backers to benefit from the administrative and financial facilities on a much shorter time frame. Given that one of the determining factor in enterprise creation remains the facilitation administrative procedures.
Even more , it would be an opportunity fro the president of Pme-Impacts, Christiane Mantey, “to inform project promoters about the existing modalities for enterprise creation, while trying to bring concrete solutions to the problems faced by entrepreneurs in the daily management of their activities”.
The National Forum on Entrepreneurship and for SME/SMI is hosted in collaboration with Projet Choc! (Changer d’Habitude, s’Opposer à la Corruption), upon recommendation of a mission from the members nations of the OECD(Organization Economic Cooperation and Development) to address corruption in Cameroon , in July 2006. It was championed by the prime Minister who by his involvement, according to organizers, his governmental team would be involved in the setting up of a true clearinghouse in 2008 through the intervention of the ministries of Justice, Finance, Labor and Social Security, of SMEs, and of the Social Economy and Crafts of the CNPS.
It is set to see the light of day during the National Forum of Private Entrepreneurship and of SME/SMI which will be held December 6 and 7th, in Yaoundé.
It is an open secret; enterprise creation in Cameroon remains a hard slog both for nationals and for foreign investors. Without exaggerating, experts maintain that it would take almost 400 days for any entrepreneur to complete the administrative formalities required for the formal registration of a company. And among the causes of this administrative burden, an accusatory finger is quickly pointed at corruption, from actors in both the public and private sectors. The initiative for a national forum on entrepreneurship, with the backing of Pme-Impacts, a Cameroonian civil society organization, is born from this state of affairs. The forum is primarily geared towards putting in place a pilot one-stop clearinghouse for enterprise creation. The 10 day experience at the Palais des congrès in Yaoundé which takes place alongside this forum, would, according to its organizers, allow all the project backers to benefit from the administrative and financial facilities on a much shorter time frame. Given that one of the determining factor in enterprise creation remains the facilitation administrative procedures.
Even more , it would be an opportunity fro the president of Pme-Impacts, Christiane Mantey, “to inform project promoters about the existing modalities for enterprise creation, while trying to bring concrete solutions to the problems faced by entrepreneurs in the daily management of their activities”.
The National Forum on Entrepreneurship and for SME/SMI is hosted in collaboration with Projet Choc! (Changer d’Habitude, s’Opposer à la Corruption), upon recommendation of a mission from the members nations of the OECD(Organization Economic Cooperation and Development) to address corruption in Cameroon , in July 2006. It was championed by the prime Minister who by his involvement, according to organizers, his governmental team would be involved in the setting up of a true clearinghouse in 2008 through the intervention of the ministries of Justice, Finance, Labor and Social Security, of SMEs, and of the Social Economy and Crafts of the CNPS.
Energy: USD$88.1Million to help boost growth
Jean David Bilé is all smiles. At the end of a long process of negotiations with various banking institutions operating across Cameroon , Aes-Sonel, the company in charge of production and distribution of electric energy which he runs has, in effect, pulled off a very important deal. It is a loan of about 39,3 milliards Fcfa (USD$88.1Milion) granted by a consortium of banks including Standard Chartered Bank (10 Billion Fcfa), Afriland First Bank (10 Billion Fcfa), Bicec (8 Billion Fcfa), Ecobank (6,3 Billion Fcfa) and Crédit Agricole Scb Cameroun (5 Billion Fcfa).
A convention to this effect was signed yesterday, Tuesday December 4 2007, at the Aes-Sonel headquarters in Douala . An accord which, according to the presentation by the General-Director of Aes-Sonel, would contribute to towards financing the thermal substations at Dibamba and at Kribi. The first, a heavy-fuel facility, would have a nominal capacity of 86 megawatts, for a cost of about 52 Billion Fcfa(USD$116.6Million).According to estimates, It should come into service around the months of January 2009.
As for the second, the gaz substation at Kribi, its capacity is estimated at roughly 150 megawatts. The project will be tied to the setting up of a transportation line 225 kilovolts drawn over 100 kilometers. The construction of the Kribi gaz substation requires a budget of 90 Billion Fcfa(USD$202Million), and should come online in January of 2010. The 39,3 Billion loan grated by the bank is, so to speak, a contribution towards the overall investment required of 145 Billion Fcfa expected by Aes-Sonel, and which would have to be realized by the Kribi Project Development Company (Kpdc), a subsidiary of Aes (56%) and the Cameroon government (44%). The construction of the Dibamba and Kribi substations, according to Aes-Sonel, “will allow us to supply Cameroon’s electric grid with supplementary capacity of 230 megawatts ; which would be an increase in the available power of about 25% before 2010”.
Investments
Through its various investments, Aes-Sonel is therefore pursuing an alternative which will cost its dearly: a diversification of its energy sources, in order to “free itself from influences in climate”. According to Jean David Bilé, “This project will allow us to bring some diversity to our production sources, through combustibles, while providing an opportunity for the development of Sanaga Sud , one of the major gaz fields Offshore from Cameroon . The project will also provide for additional capacity to support industrial expansion, including that of Alucam, to satisfy demand in the public sector, which grows by 6% each year, and which is expected to continue growing at the same rate over the coming years”.
The loan convention signed yesterday comes within the context of a visit to Aes-Sonel, between December 3rd and 7th ,2007, of a sixty-member delegation of international lenders, who represented many financial institutions. The goal of this visit, as some information published several days ago reveals, is to evaluate the construction projects at the Dibamba and Kribi substations. This delegation of lenders were scheduled to meet with several members of government this Wednesday in Yaoundé; as well as with officials from the Electricity Regulation Agency (Arsel), the National Hydrocarbons Company(SNH) , from Perenco and from Alucam. At the end of these exchanges, the group of lenders could, in turn, disburse an envelope of 290 millions dollars (approximately 128,6 Billion Fcfa) to Aes-Sonel. The goal, in the end, being to “Urgently resolve the risk of an energy deficit and to contribute towards beating back the specter of power outages …"
A convention to this effect was signed yesterday, Tuesday December 4 2007, at the Aes-Sonel headquarters in Douala . An accord which, according to the presentation by the General-Director of Aes-Sonel, would contribute to towards financing the thermal substations at Dibamba and at Kribi. The first, a heavy-fuel facility, would have a nominal capacity of 86 megawatts, for a cost of about 52 Billion Fcfa(USD$116.6Million).According to estimates, It should come into service around the months of January 2009.
As for the second, the gaz substation at Kribi, its capacity is estimated at roughly 150 megawatts. The project will be tied to the setting up of a transportation line 225 kilovolts drawn over 100 kilometers. The construction of the Kribi gaz substation requires a budget of 90 Billion Fcfa(USD$202Million), and should come online in January of 2010. The 39,3 Billion loan grated by the bank is, so to speak, a contribution towards the overall investment required of 145 Billion Fcfa expected by Aes-Sonel, and which would have to be realized by the Kribi Project Development Company (Kpdc), a subsidiary of Aes (56%) and the Cameroon government (44%). The construction of the Dibamba and Kribi substations, according to Aes-Sonel, “will allow us to supply Cameroon’s electric grid with supplementary capacity of 230 megawatts ; which would be an increase in the available power of about 25% before 2010”.
Investments
Through its various investments, Aes-Sonel is therefore pursuing an alternative which will cost its dearly: a diversification of its energy sources, in order to “free itself from influences in climate”. According to Jean David Bilé, “This project will allow us to bring some diversity to our production sources, through combustibles, while providing an opportunity for the development of Sanaga Sud , one of the major gaz fields Offshore from Cameroon . The project will also provide for additional capacity to support industrial expansion, including that of Alucam, to satisfy demand in the public sector, which grows by 6% each year, and which is expected to continue growing at the same rate over the coming years”.
The loan convention signed yesterday comes within the context of a visit to Aes-Sonel, between December 3rd and 7th ,2007, of a sixty-member delegation of international lenders, who represented many financial institutions. The goal of this visit, as some information published several days ago reveals, is to evaluate the construction projects at the Dibamba and Kribi substations. This delegation of lenders were scheduled to meet with several members of government this Wednesday in Yaoundé; as well as with officials from the Electricity Regulation Agency (Arsel), the National Hydrocarbons Company(SNH) , from Perenco and from Alucam. At the end of these exchanges, the group of lenders could, in turn, disburse an envelope of 290 millions dollars (approximately 128,6 Billion Fcfa) to Aes-Sonel. The goal, in the end, being to “Urgently resolve the risk of an energy deficit and to contribute towards beating back the specter of power outages …"
Innovation-Cameroon’ s First Scientific Festival
The very first festival of Science and Technology opened yesterday in Yaoundé. The initiative of a Cameroonian Organization is supported French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Science and its applications contribute to the socio-economic development of countries and towards the protection of their environment. Scientific technical know-how has to leave the laboratories and transmitted in greater numbers." François Ndoum Samnick, president of the Organisation for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture (Copcst), during the press conference which he gave last Thursday, in Yaoundé, at a prelude to the holding, between December 4 to 10, at the Chamber of Agriculture, of the very first Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy). Organized with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), the Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy) has a goal of encouraging scientific and technical debates based on the bland facts and actions from daily life.
The official opening ceremony took place yesterday, midday, in the absence of Cameroonian authorities. The French party that supported the festival was present through the representative of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the French Ambassador’s representative and the resident representative of IRD in Cameroon. She highlighted the need for the emergence of a Scientific Culture in a developing country like Cameroon. As for the representative from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the festival hosted by Organization for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture, is an event which has been held for many years in France, under the banner of “Fête de la science”. Other African countries, like Togo and Senegal, already host a science festival. And the goal of these events, she explains, allows them to raise the issues relating to scientific development, to multiply the linkages between scientists and the public.
For the promoters of Festy, the scientific culture remains largely undefined in the global outlook of Cameroon. This situation persists because of certain parameters: the poor communication between the areas of research and the broader public because of the hermetic language used by scientists, the very weak attention which the medias grants to scientists; within the lycées and collèges, the youth shy away from scientific fields of study. In hoes of improving the linkages and mediators between the public and the scientists, on one hand, between scientists and decision-makers, on the other, the festival which last until Friday, will have the benefit of bringing together on the same location both scientists and the broader public to talk about science and technology as factors in socio-economic development.
Many exchanges are planned under this platform according to an agenda established by the organizers. Specialists from different domains will present exposés, documentaries, reports and even fictions. But, already, on the stands of the exposition yesterday, researchers exposed some accomplishments, ranging from the transformation of some agro-food products, to various technological demonstrations. Papayas, dried Ndolé, etc. Other stands are hosted by environmental organizations. Today, a exposé by the Ministry of Secondary Education is expected on the theme: “Technical Education for Sustainable Development" . Also planned is a video presentation by Anafor on the theme: "Reforestation of Cameroon Woodlands, the urgency for action".
"Science and its applications contribute to the socio-economic development of countries and towards the protection of their environment. Scientific technical know-how has to leave the laboratories and transmitted in greater numbers." François Ndoum Samnick, president of the Organisation for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture (Copcst), during the press conference which he gave last Thursday, in Yaoundé, at a prelude to the holding, between December 4 to 10, at the Chamber of Agriculture, of the very first Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy). Organized with the support of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), the Yaoundé Science and Technology Festival (Festy) has a goal of encouraging scientific and technical debates based on the bland facts and actions from daily life.
The official opening ceremony took place yesterday, midday, in the absence of Cameroonian authorities. The French party that supported the festival was present through the representative of the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the French Ambassador’s representative and the resident representative of IRD in Cameroon. She highlighted the need for the emergence of a Scientific Culture in a developing country like Cameroon. As for the representative from the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, the festival hosted by Organization for the Promotion of Scientific and Technical Culture, is an event which has been held for many years in France, under the banner of “Fête de la science”. Other African countries, like Togo and Senegal, already host a science festival. And the goal of these events, she explains, allows them to raise the issues relating to scientific development, to multiply the linkages between scientists and the public.
For the promoters of Festy, the scientific culture remains largely undefined in the global outlook of Cameroon. This situation persists because of certain parameters: the poor communication between the areas of research and the broader public because of the hermetic language used by scientists, the very weak attention which the medias grants to scientists; within the lycées and collèges, the youth shy away from scientific fields of study. In hoes of improving the linkages and mediators between the public and the scientists, on one hand, between scientists and decision-makers, on the other, the festival which last until Friday, will have the benefit of bringing together on the same location both scientists and the broader public to talk about science and technology as factors in socio-economic development.
Many exchanges are planned under this platform according to an agenda established by the organizers. Specialists from different domains will present exposés, documentaries, reports and even fictions. But, already, on the stands of the exposition yesterday, researchers exposed some accomplishments, ranging from the transformation of some agro-food products, to various technological demonstrations. Papayas, dried Ndolé, etc. Other stands are hosted by environmental organizations. Today, a exposé by the Ministry of Secondary Education is expected on the theme: “Technical Education for Sustainable Development" . Also planned is a video presentation by Anafor on the theme: "Reforestation of Cameroon Woodlands, the urgency for action".
Friday, November 30, 2007
StratoComm lands $45M contract
StratoComm Corp., an Albany, N.Y., developer of telecommunications products, has landed a contract worth $45 million for equipment and services in Cameroon.
StratoComm is selling its equipment and services to Airseal International Cameroon, an Internet service provider. Airseal made the purchase as part of its plan to expand its coverage area and improve its quality and reliability.
"StratoComm's innovative technology represents the answer to solving the cruel infrastructure problems plaguing developing countries, thereby enabling them to bridge the daunting 'digital divide,'" said William Tallah, Airseal's director general.
Roger Shearer, StratoComm's CEO, said the contract "validates StratoComm's market development strategy."
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Lost treasures of Cameroon
Agoga.com would have been absolutely unremarkable website, if not for two minor details, it has about one million US visitors and it belongs to domain mogul Kevin Ham (The man who owns the Internet). How comes that boring website got attention of millions? Very simple, Kevin Ham cooked up some shadow deal with some corrupted Cameroon official that made him effectively king of Cameroon domain space (.cm). Any .com domain mistyped as .cm is re-directed via “wild-card” DNS server to Kevin’s site - agoga.com. Where is the profit? Agoga.com is typical domain parkng site showing ads, any click on these ads contributes to Kevin’s wealth estimated at $300 million. Maybe not exactly clean but definitely brilliant scheme.
Article about Kevin Ham, domainer who took under his control Cameroon domains, has created real buzz and revived interest to Cameroon domains. A lot of domainers asked themselves maybe it’s worth to buy a few Cameroon domain names to profit from traffic when somebody mistypes .cm instead of .com. A few days ago Compete Blog has published an interesting statistics (see A Look at Domain-Squatting) that answers this question.
I would say that this statistics is rather discouraging unless you intend to buy Cameroon domains in numbers, which is prohibitively expensive and fussy considering steep price of about $800 per domain and lack of established registers working with Cameroon domain names. If mistyping Amazon.com brings in only about 7,000 monthly visitors, buying a few generic keyword domain names will hardly make you a millionaire overnight. Just like wife said “Try to touch it less with your hands”.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Electricity : Cameroon and Chad Connected
Energy is at the backbone of all development. Not only does it facilitate domestic and public lighting but it also provides necessary resource to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises which are the true support for socio-economic- development" ...
“One could not say it enough, to illustrate the importance of the accord signed yesterday between the government of Cameroon and Chad , for the construction of an electrical interconnection and the electrification of cross-border localities in both countries. The act was signed by the State Minister, Chadian Minister of Mines and Energy, Mahamat Ali Abdallah Nassour and the Cameroonian minister fore Energy and Water, Jean Bernard Sindeu.
Beyond the fact of being purely for protocol, according to the two principal actors at the ceremony held yesterday in Yaoundé, it reflects the will by both countries to enter into a concrete phase of positive cooperation. In the area of Energy, there is a matter of regaining the ground lost by the Central-African sub-region. The area of cooperation is one in which there is great need for a boost. This resolve is championed by the Heads of Sate of the sub-region, in the creation of the Central African Power Pool (CAPP/PEAC). The experience undertaken by Cameroon and Chad is pioneering in this regard, which had been to prepare the groundwork for an area, in the eyes of many, would stimulate the rapid economic development of the cross-border communities affected.
In the area of investments, it would involve the construction of a hydroelectric facility at Warack, to compensate for the threats of saturation at the Lagdo dam. Also, two transportation lines will be needed, one of 255km between Maroua and Kousseri an another 5km line between Kousseri and N'Djamena, also a domestic network. Equally, many transformation stations and fittings on the existing network are planned. The total cost of this project is estimated at about 33.6 millions FCFA(USD$73,726), based on estimates from 1998.
Camtel Goes Live With Deployment of FTS' Leap(TM) Billing
HERZLIYA,
Camtel is Cameroon's national telecommunications provider, providing a wide range of telephony services to its consumer and business customers, including national and international telephony, Internet services, leased lines, satellite communications, and wireless CDMA.
With the introduction of Leap Billing, Camtel is now able to deliver new and exciting services to its customers while at the same time benefiting from creative billing schemes। The key benefit to the customer will be a single, unified bill that outlines the different services they have used from across the package that they subscribe to. The bill details all of the services that they have been charged for, from wireline telephony and internet services to wireless CDMA usage. The Customer Management solution also provides all of Camtel's customers with a single point of contact for all their queries.
The implementation includes FTS' Leap Billing interconnect, rating (featuring the company's patented Do Tree(TM)) and customer management platforms. FTS' Leap solutions are based on Business Control Layer Technology, which is a software layer residing alongside the network/OSS and BSS system. The Leap Billing solution enables Camtel to develop new revenue opportunities via enhanced customer support and experience.
"Leap Billing opens Camtel up to a new world of services and flexibility," said David Nkoto Emane, Camtel's Director General. "In addition to the new services we are able to provide, Leap Billing also improves our subscriber-facing activities. We can now offer our subscribers true unified bills and state-of-the-art customer management capabilities. On top of this, we saw an immediate RoI as the system allows us to improve our revenue collection."
"The current deployment is an important milestone in a larger, long-term project with Camtel," said David O'Reilly, Sales Director,
The Camtel deployment went live with SUN's T2000 Application Servers and data storage');" onmouseout="setTimeout('hideLayer()',500);" class="hotlink2">data storage, a result of FTS' aggressive partnering plan whereby the company engages with local and global partners to address market needs.
About Camtel
About FTS
FTS (LSE: FTS) is a leading provider of Business Control, Billing and CRM solutions for communications service providers. FTS pioneered the Business Control Layer market and is the leading player in the space. By analyzing events from a business standpoint rather than just billing them, FTS allows providers to better understand their customer base and leverage business value from every event and interaction. FTS deploys its full range of end-to-end, stand-alone and add-on solutions to customers in over 40 countries and has implemented solutions in wireless, wireline, cable, content and broadband markets including multiple cross-network installations. Serving the evolving needs of both traditional and next generation service providers; the company's operations comprise four international R&D locations and strategically located sales support offices worldwide. FTS is one of EMEA's fastest growing technology companies, consistently earning a place within the Deloitte Technology Fast-500 EMEA listing.
FTS was recently voted the 'Most Promising Company' at the prestigious 2007 TeleStrategies Billing and OSS World industry event. The award was presented to FTS as it was felt the company will have the biggest impact on the sector in the coming year. For more information please visit http://www.fts-soft.com/.
Cameroon to power up its economy
Tom Nevin
The precarious reliance on electricity power from hydro-generation would be short-circuited with the strategic installation of gas-fired capacity. Gas turbine power stations are relatively quick to build, are cost-efficient to run and are clean-burning.
Importantly, gas will also be integrated into homes for domestic use as a substitute for traditionally-used wood fuel, preventing further damage to the environment through the stripping of forests.
Cameroon�s economy has been under a liberalised transformation for the past decade, with a significant departure from centralised economics to market dynamics and competitiveness.
�However,� notes the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, �the performance of the power sector since 2001 has been extremely disappointing, but at least one external condition cannot be blamed on the reform. Severe droughts have limited the supply of water, which is the energy behind 90 percent of the electric power produced in Cameroon. This led to major power shortages that have damaged consumers as well as the whole economy.�
Cameroon is now taking a long, hard look at its hotch-potch energy sector, and gas has emerged as the most logical choice.
Gas-fired turbine generators would be a welcome substitute to hydro for both urban and rural electrification, the latter being in the greater need.
Cameroon�s established energy sources are fuelwood, electricity and petroleum. The switchover to gas will gradually predominate and replace the more expensive and environmentally damaging fuels sources.
�The wider picture of life in Cameroon is also an encouraging one,� reports Tafu. �The country is benefiting from a 3-year programme of poverty reduction and growth promotion, along with an IMF-supported debt relief initiative.�
Modest at best, the production of petroleum in Cameroon is now in decline and exploration for new deposits is being encouraged. Enlarged electricity network
Cameroon�s sole energy provider AES SONEL plans to more than double its electricity network, bringing in hitherto unserved parts of the country. The company expects to add about 50 000 new electricity connections each year over the next 15 years in the upgrading its of its existing transmission, distribution and generation facilities. AES SONEL, in partnership with the Cameroon government, is the sole electric utility in Cameroon and currently generates and distributes electricity to more than 528,000 customers in the country.
�This is the most ambitious expansion program for Cameroon�s electricity sector. We expect to more than double the number of people we serve in Cameroon and to provide electricity to thousands of individuals who never had it before,� said John McLaren, president of AES, SONEL�s European parent.
Cameroon enacted a new electricity law in 1998 and privatised its integrated utility in 2001. The main goals were to stimulate investment, develop competition and decrease prices, in accordance with structural adjustment projects from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. AES-Sonel holds a series of concession contracts in generation (952 MW), transmission, system operations, distribution and sales. As it is currently the only company holding such concession contracts, it is a de facto monopoly. The new legislative framework of the sector would, however, allow other players to enter the generation and wholesale markets. -Business in Africa Magazine
New firm to soothe Cameroon's energy crisis
The public Electricity Development Corporation (EDC), would manage the old infrastructure, as well as promote public and private sector investment to reduce power failures by increasing energy supply.
The firm would acquire funds to construct the Lom Pangar Dam, in eastern Cameroon, to enable AES-SONEL to increase its hydroelectric generating capacity.
In addition to water resources, the firm would also look at gas energy sources to provide sufficient energy supply to the industrial sector.
It wasnt immediately clear whether EDC would make infrastructure investments, would simply encourage them or both. -Business in Africa OnlineCameroon Is Making Strides In ICT - Dr. Mbarika
Interviewed By Fidelis Pegue Manga [Originally published in The Post]
Dr. Mbarika's research interests are in the areas of information infrastructure diffusion in developing countries and multimedia learning. He is a Professor of E-Business in the Department of Management, Marketing, & E-Business, at the Southern University and A&M College College of Business. On one of his visits, he paid The Post a courtesy call and granted an exclusive interview. Excerpts.
The Post: Dr. Mbarika, welcome back to Cameroon. What was your impression when you came back?
Dr. Mbarika: I must say I see a lot of changes, changes for the good. I still see a lot of poverty; a few people getting richer while the majority get poorer and poorer. There are some positive developments, which are very encouraging. I also see changes in terms of infrastructure and development in information technology.
How long have you lived out of Cameroon?
About 13 years. I have been ten years in the United States and two and a half years in Kenya.
Your PhD thesis was titled Telecommunication, Professionals, Stakeholders and Strategies to Tackle ITC… what are the obstacles in overcoming the problems in Africa?
We don't have the kind of infrastructure that can support the most complex kind of information technology application. For instance, if you wanted to run an education system using information technology in Cameroon, you would need the kind of backbone infrastructure that can support that kind of transaction. Like the kind of projects we have in Ethiopia, you must develop backbone infrastructure that has the kind of lines needed to support the connectivity in the country before you start building all these complex applications.
So, how can that be achieved, given that we are living in a developing, heavily indebted poor country?
First of all, government policy must be enacted with full participation from the technocrats. Politicians cannot enact technology policies because they don't know about them. They need to get the involvement of people who are in the telecom and the ITC industry who should be able to enact such policies.
I have been invited by the government of Ethiopia to do this and what happens is you have politicians who give their full support to some of us who are in the ITC to come and help put together sound policies that are realistic to the technology we are looking at.
If you want to develop electronic converts in Cameroon, you have to bring in those who are versed with electronic converts to help develop policies on electronic converts. You have to bring telemedicine experts to develop policies on telemedicine. You cannot just have general information technology policies; they must be specific.
The second thing is moving to build the infrastructure. For instance, we cannot neglect lamplight, which is limited to wireless and satellite. We need the manpower; the expertise. The issue here is that we have to pay the experts. If you don't pay them, they will run away.
When you look at Cameroon, how do you rate it? Has there been any remarkable progress in terms of telecommunication infrastructure?
Sometimes we can only talk a lot of negative things about the country but Cameroon has been one of the leaders in the sub-Saharan African region in terms of technology. We are far ahead of many other countries in Africa. Cameroon was one of the first countries to have import duty free policy on computers.
Well, that is a great policy and I recommend the government for that. The only issue in it is that when you enact a policy like that you have to train the people who have to implement the policy to do the right thing.
What should be done to make it even better?
Cameroon, like other sub-Saharan African countries, must look for local investors. Right now foreign investors own the telecom sector in Cameroon. While everybody in the village can have a cell phone, where is the profit of that cell phone going.
When you sell the incumbent, that is, the Cameroon Telecom that was normally run by the Government and you have only foreign companies that are purchasing it and/or building network infrastructure for the country, when the profits come out, those profits are not to build Cameroon, they are invested abroad.
We have to look for a way to encourage Cameroonians at home and abroad to be able to come and invest here in the ITC sector. I have done some investments in the ITC sector here but they kill me with the taxes and it is discouraging.
You seemed to have been hired by other countries; you have been to Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. Has the Cameroon government made any attempt to hire your expertise?
Sometimes I would travel all the way helping other African countries but not doing much for my own country. I must confess it is very disappointing for me. I have made attempts to involve some entities here in Cameroon but I guess I might not have been meeting the right people.
Recently I received a grant from the US government, which I want to use to develop ITC in this country. The money is going to help students interested in ITC research. That way, I can contribute to my country whether or not it embraces me.
It seems you are very much focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Does it mean North Africa is fine and the telecom infrastructure out there is the best?
I have travelled to North and the South Africa Republic. They are way, way ahead and in fact we should call them Western countries. I have been to Cairo and their infrastructure is very advanced. And one thing they do is their policies. What the Egyptian government does is loan out computers to their citizens and their citizens pay in instalments.
When they finish paying and want an upgrade of the computer, they get upgrade and they continue to pay for the upgrade. They have gone really far in IT area. I don't involve them in our research because they are totally different from sub-Sahara Africa. A lot of countries in the sub-Sahara Africa share a similar socio-economic and political structure, which is so different from the North African countries, so I concentrate on sub-Sahara Africa.
Have you made an attempt to approach the Government of Cameroon, let's say the Prime Minister while on your visit from the US; maybe try to impress him with what you know and what you can do for your country?
I have never met the current Prime Minister but I met the former Prime Minister before he became Prime Minister. But it is now with this new grant from the US that I am going to establish such contacts with the Cameroon Government. Currently I have some contract with the University of Yaounde I.
I would like to have contact with the University of Buea while here. You know, in Cameroon, it is difficult to get such contacts. I left this country at the age of 19 and at that time I did not know many people in the government, it is now that I am trying to establish such contacts.
You are abreast with the grading system at the University of Buea. Are you sure taking a bold step in creating such a system would be setting a standard?
I have been trying to take students from the University of Buea to my home university and one of the main problems is that the grades look poor as compared to the American standard. The grade of 2.5 in Buea is just as good as the grade of 3.5 in the US, including the top universities in America.
I know that in a way the professors here in Buea do that because they want to keep a high standard but that is killing the students. Every country is giving its students good grades for their efforts not only for free.
For example, if a student comes from the University of Buea with a 2.5 and a student comes from America with a 3.0, the one from the University of Buea is definitely a stronger student. Why would an American professor sitting on an admission board for a Masters programme, who does not know about the University of Buea, admit a student from the University with a 2.5 and not admit an America student with a 3.0 grade?
It is only when some of us are in those campuses that we might influence the admission. I have influenced it but there are lots of students who apply to other universities where they have somebody to influence such admissions. The system in Buea is difficult, so it kills the students.
If there is something I would want to recommend to the University of Buea and other universities in Cameroon it is not to bring down the standard but to better the grades of the students' efforts. They can do that without bringing down their standards.
So, if you were to propose solutions to these problems, what would they be?
Just be a little more lenient in your grading. It does not kill a professor to be a little more lenient. It doesn't make a professor tough if he fails students. Of course, students would have to fail if they do not work hard but those who are making an effort should be given a chance.
Those who plan to leave the country and apply for scholarships should be able to get admission. I have a friend in my university who came from the University of Buea with a fairly low degree but he just finished his Masters as one of the best in his class in my university.
Are you saying Cameroonians are doing great?
They are doing super even when they are coming with low GPAs but it is first of all difficult for them to get admission. If at all they go to any university, they end up going to low-level universities. The Cameroonians in my university are doing great. We have four who are doing PhD and we are hoping to recruit more.
Would you say you have achieved your American dream?
No, I don't have an American dream. The term is very common in the US and I am a child of God and I am satisfied with what He is giving me. I come from a very blessed family here in Cameroon and I have never lacked anything so being in the US was never really like wonder for me because God has blessed my father.
He is a very hardworking man. He has his own company and some businesses here in Cameroon. I am satisfied with what I have and use the most I have to serve God by serving people.
Cameroon: ICT body wins 15M Fcfa youths
Cameroonian centre for Information and Communication Technology, ICT and Non-Governmental Organisation, ADCOME, has won the 2007 Global Junior Challenge Award worth FCFA 15 million. The award took place in Rome, Italy, from October 3-5, sponsored by Digital World Foundation.
Foreign_Ministry_DK_ict_education_africa
Communication Agent at ADCOME, Calsidine Toufo commented that the money will be ploughed-back into the Cameroonian youths via the projects of ADCOME, which are aimed at bridging the Digital Divide within the national territory, Information Technology, IT and Education. “We’ve sent a proposal to Rome already. These entail what we’ve been doing; going to remote areas in Cameroon to install multimedia centres, we need more vehicles to access the country, buy more and good quality computers to improve on our services,” she added.
Human Resources Assistant at ADCOME, Frederick Tinefeh corroborated; “We’ll employ ICTs to market products in our society. This will be done in the programme ICT and Rural Entrepreneurship. We’ll take one-step forward from the school milieu to meet other youths in the society who need to be ICTs oriented. We’ll use ICTs to transform the other challenges in our Cameroonian society to opportunities. We shall look at persons in the agricultural sector to use ICTs to market their products in the internet. We shall train them on that.”
Tinefeh found in the award more challenges for ADCOME. “We intend to continue to win narrow the IT gap in our country.”
The Global Junior Challenge Award is designed to young people and to schools to identify and reward best case practices on the use of ICTs in Education and Training.
Tinefeh explained how ADCOME got to be part of the award; “We looked at how ADCOME has been implementing its ICTs projects to schools across Cameroon. We employed software development components that facilitate learning processes in schools in Cameroon. That made us different from the other contestants. We prepared the feedback of the award and sent it with our colleague Julius Nganji who went and represented us. The finalists were selected by a committee and then forwarded to the President of Italy, who subsequently and officially received them for recognition. So, ADCOME was on the spotlight as one of the leading platforms of ICTs selected.”
ADCOME is amongst the leaders of ICTs in Cameroon. It provides young people with access to internet and allows them to discover, develop their potentials for a positive impact on the socio-economic landscape of Cameroon via ICTs.
It is planted in eight provinces of Cameroon and has so far engaged more than sixty-thousand students, young people and teachers nationwide. They are breaking new grounds in the African continent, with the inauguration of an ADCOME Centre in Bamako, Mali slated for December.
Students on internship from the University of Buea’s departments of Journalism and Mass Communication and Management respectively at ADCOME, are currently criss-crossing some parts of Cameroon to prospect for schools that could be linked to the Information Superhighway Technology.
Cameroon Becomes First African Nation to Introduce Cisco Networking Academy to all Universities
The Republic of Cameroon is the first country in Africa to plan the introduction of a Cisco® Networking Academy® in every university.
In addition under the proposal, all secondary schools will also provide children with a foundation in technology through the IT Essentials course.
The move, the centerpiece of a major IT-based country transformation project, became official earlier this year with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Cameroon administration and Cisco Systems Inc.
Egypt and Nigeria have also announced plans to introduce the program as a standard across all universities, marking an important milestone for the Networking Academy, now in its 10th year.
The Cameroon agreement came after Cisco Middle East and Africa Vice President Mark de Simone led a delegation from Cisco that met with the Cameroonian Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni in October 2006.
During the visit, Cisco made a pledge to support the development of IT infrastructure in the African republic, with particular emphasis on the national rollout of broadband Internet access.
Julius Ayuk Tabe, Networking Academy West and Central Africa area Academy manager, says: "Cisco identified an opportunity for country transformation and the initiative was presented to the highest authorities in Cameroon.
"Their concern was to ensure the sustainability of the program. This naturally led to the idea of matching capacity building to the delivery of IT skills across the country."
The result has been an undertaking which mimics-and surpasses-initiatives in countries such as South Africa and Ethiopia, where Networking Academy has been integrated into state education systems in a bid to support massive infrastructure rollout projects.
In Cameroon, the delivery of broadband services across the country will be carried out by the state telco as part of a USD$25 million project.
Cisco is helping to ease the financial burden of the build-out and the government expects the skills needed to complete the project will be home-grown, which is where the Networking Academy comes in.
Cameroon currently has nine Networking Academies, four of which are in the capital, Yaoundé, with the oldest (at the University of Yaoundé 1) having been in existence since early 2001.
Under the proposed expansion of the program, however, the total number of Academies will increase to 30, equivalent to three in each of the country's 10 administrative regions, within the next 18 months and around 80 in three years.
To oversee this undertaking, the director of Cameroon's national Agency of Information and Communication Technologies, Dr Ebot Ebot Enaw, is leading a Networking Academy taskforce.
This includes representatives of the Education and Post & Telecommunications ministries, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, ITU, United Nations Development Fund for Women, U.S. Peace Corps and United States Agency for International Development.
Ayuk Tabe is realistic about the challenges the taskforce faces. Local authorities and government departments will need to set aside their own interests and collaborate to ensure the scheme is a success.
And with only 10 percent of roads tarred, logistics could pose a significant obstacle for the project. "This country could have information highways before it gets real highways," notes Ayuk Tabe.
Nevertheless, he adds: "There is a lot of political will. The President and Prime Minister are committed to making it happen. And we are keen to see the value in terms of social impact. By the close of 2007, we want to see not only people trained, but also people with jobs."
If this seems ambitious, Ayuk Tabe points to the fact that until recently there were virtually no mobile phones in the country and "now people who cannot read or write have one."
In addition, the country's mobile explosion has created wealth, not least through the roadside selling of phone cards. Going forward, the hope is that broadband, supported by skills delivered through the Networking Academy, will have an even greater effect.
John Edwards, Networking Academy director in Europe and Emerging Markets, says: "I am delighted that we are set to play a role in providing the skills to aid the IT transformation of Cameroon, especially as we enter the Academy's 10-year anniversary.
"Having an Academy in 100 percent of a country's universities is a very welcome first for us."
De Simone adds that Cisco is ideally placed to provide the technical and educational expertise to underpin IT capacity building in Cameroon: "The addition of skills to the community can only help improve the country's presence on the global stage.
"Cameroon is one of the many emerging markets where we are working alongside governments with the aim of transforming economies and societies."
Jason Deign is a freelance journalist located in Barcelona, Spain.
In addition under the proposal, all secondary schools will also provide children with a foundation in technology through the IT Essentials course.
The move, the centerpiece of a major IT-based country transformation project, became official earlier this year with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Cameroon administration and Cisco Systems Inc.
Egypt and Nigeria have also announced plans to introduce the program as a standard across all universities, marking an important milestone for the Networking Academy, now in its 10th year.
The Cameroon agreement came after Cisco Middle East and Africa Vice President Mark de Simone led a delegation from Cisco that met with the Cameroonian Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni in October 2006.
During the visit, Cisco made a pledge to support the development of IT infrastructure in the African republic, with particular emphasis on the national rollout of broadband Internet access.
Julius Ayuk Tabe, Networking Academy West and Central Africa area Academy manager, says: "Cisco identified an opportunity for country transformation and the initiative was presented to the highest authorities in Cameroon.
"Their concern was to ensure the sustainability of the program. This naturally led to the idea of matching capacity building to the delivery of IT skills across the country."
The result has been an undertaking which mimics-and surpasses-initiatives in countries such as South Africa and Ethiopia, where Networking Academy has been integrated into state education systems in a bid to support massive infrastructure rollout projects.
In Cameroon, the delivery of broadband services across the country will be carried out by the state telco as part of a USD$25 million project.
Cisco is helping to ease the financial burden of the build-out and the government expects the skills needed to complete the project will be home-grown, which is where the Networking Academy comes in.
Cameroon currently has nine Networking Academies, four of which are in the capital, Yaoundé, with the oldest (at the University of Yaoundé 1) having been in existence since early 2001.
Under the proposed expansion of the program, however, the total number of Academies will increase to 30, equivalent to three in each of the country's 10 administrative regions, within the next 18 months and around 80 in three years.
To oversee this undertaking, the director of Cameroon's national Agency of Information and Communication Technologies, Dr Ebot Ebot Enaw, is leading a Networking Academy taskforce.
This includes representatives of the Education and Post & Telecommunications ministries, as well as the United Nations Development Programme, ITU, United Nations Development Fund for Women, U.S. Peace Corps and United States Agency for International Development.
Ayuk Tabe is realistic about the challenges the taskforce faces. Local authorities and government departments will need to set aside their own interests and collaborate to ensure the scheme is a success.
And with only 10 percent of roads tarred, logistics could pose a significant obstacle for the project. "This country could have information highways before it gets real highways," notes Ayuk Tabe.
Nevertheless, he adds: "There is a lot of political will. The President and Prime Minister are committed to making it happen. And we are keen to see the value in terms of social impact. By the close of 2007, we want to see not only people trained, but also people with jobs."
If this seems ambitious, Ayuk Tabe points to the fact that until recently there were virtually no mobile phones in the country and "now people who cannot read or write have one."
In addition, the country's mobile explosion has created wealth, not least through the roadside selling of phone cards. Going forward, the hope is that broadband, supported by skills delivered through the Networking Academy, will have an even greater effect.
John Edwards, Networking Academy director in Europe and Emerging Markets, says: "I am delighted that we are set to play a role in providing the skills to aid the IT transformation of Cameroon, especially as we enter the Academy's 10-year anniversary.
"Having an Academy in 100 percent of a country's universities is a very welcome first for us."
De Simone adds that Cisco is ideally placed to provide the technical and educational expertise to underpin IT capacity building in Cameroon: "The addition of skills to the community can only help improve the country's presence on the global stage.
"Cameroon is one of the many emerging markets where we are working alongside governments with the aim of transforming economies and societies."
Jason Deign is a freelance journalist located in Barcelona, Spain.
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