A young Cameroonian film director told AFP Monday he was kidnapped, interrogated for 11 days and tortured for a political fiction seen as lampooning President Paul Biya’s longevity.

Richard Fouofie Djimili insists his film entitled “139… The Last Predators” about an imaginary nation’s leader who has been in power 139 years and shows no sign of stepping down is not a reference to the 80-year-old Biya, who has been in power for three decades.

“I was abducted, held in a secret location for 11 days. During my detention, I was tortured. My finger was chopped off,” Djimili said, showing off his bandaged left arm.

“I was starved and I lost around 10 kilos. On the night of April 2, my kidnappers wanted to kill me and dump me in a swamp but one of them helped me escape,” he said.

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President Paul BIya of Cameroon and President Barack H. Obama of USA along with first ladies

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European Union leaders have agreed to phase-in a single supervisory body for Eurozone banks during the course of next year.

A legislative framework is to be agreed among member states by the 1st of January 2013.

The European Central Bank, the ECB, will be given supervisory responsibility with the power to intervene in any bank within the Eurozone.

The deal appears to be a compromise between France and Germany who earlier disagreed over the timing and over the number of banks the ECB will oversee.

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Cameroon’s foreign development partners have pledged to donate for the second phase of the Change Habits, Oppose Corruption (CHOC) Project that brings government and the partners together in the efforts to fight against corruption in the country.

During a meeting in Yaounde on February 21, 2012, Germany promised about FCFA 40 million, African Development Bank, FCFA 50 million.

Other partners of the CHOC Project like the United States of America, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Great Britain, United Nations Development Programme, the European Union and the World Bank said they were to make their contributions known to government in the days ahead.

The Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi who chaired the meeting said the second phase of the CHOC Project that started in January 2012 will cost a total of FCFA 1.235 billion.

FCFA 239 million is expected to financed the first part of the project that spans through January to September 2012.

The first phase of the Change Habits Oppose Corruption Project started in 2007.

Its success according government officials is the creation of the National Anti-corruption Committee (NACC), the National Strategy for the fight against corruption and the active involvement of the civil society organizations in the fight against corruption.

Cameroon Politics: Afriland First Bank General Manager, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Appointed Cameroon’s Finance Minister

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Cameroon’s Supreme State Audit Office wants to establishment cooperation ties with Morocco’s Court of Accounts in order to tap from Morocco’s public finance management experience.

The Supreme State Audit Office is a ministry in charge of fighting against the corruption, as well as embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.

The Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of the Supreme State Audit Office, Henri Eyebe Ayissi and new Ambassador of Morocco to Cameroon, Lahcen Sail discussed the possibilities of the relations and Morocco’s assistance to the ongoing anti-corruption crusade in a meeting in Yaounde, February 17, 2012.

It emerged from the discussions held behind closed doors that Minister Eyebe Ayissi solicited the support of the Moroccan Embassy in Yaounde in establishing the cooperation ties whose ultimate goal is exchange of working visits.

The Moroccan Court of Accounts, Supreme State Audit Office, the Head of Division in charge of Training and International Cooperation, Alfred Enoh said , has a leading experience in fighting against the embezzlement of public funds and corruption.

He disclosed that Cameroon dispatched experts to learn from the Moroccan experience during the establishment of the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court, specialised in ensuring proper management of finances of public and semi-public companies in Cameroon.

The courtesy visit of the Moroccan Ambassador is part of the ongoing discussions Minister Eyebe Ayissi has been holding with national institutions and foreign partners in seeking ways of strengthening the fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Cameroon Banks – CEMAC Zone Banks Record Marked Progress. The 45 banks in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) zone, have recorded a marked progress in their activities.

From October 2010 to October 2011, the balance sheet of licenced banks progressed from FCFA 6.982 billion to FCFA 8.914 billion, the activity report of the Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) states.

The Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Lucas Abaga Nchama presented the report in Yaounde, Cameroon on Wednesday, February 8, 2012.

Mr Nchama said the amount the banks collected as deposits increased by 19.4 percent , meaning from FCFA 6.064 billion to FCFA 7.241 billion.

Loans accorded to customers also increased from FCFA 3.696 billion to FCFA 4.617 billion. The improvement in performance, he explained is because the banks are increasing conforming to banking rules in place.

In another press dinner in Yaounde at the BEAC headquarters, the same February 8, 2012, the bank’s Governor disclosed that it has recorded a positive balance sheet of FCFA 7.9 billion in 2010, which is a great leap from the FCFA 29.5 billion deficit of 2009.

He announced a new management plan for the bank code-named, “Reform and Modernization Plan, BEAC-Horizon 2013,” endorsed by the Board of Directors during its July 12, 2011 session.

The plan is aimed at reinforcing the bank’s accounting information system and budgetary management, put in place a viable internal audit and improve services offered financial institutions

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – The African Development Bank (ADB) is providing FCFA 32.9 billion and the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC) FCFA 20.3 billion to finance hydro-electricity plant, transmission line and distribution of energy with the framework of the Lom Pangar Dam project in East Cameroon.

The two financial institutions and the Cameroon government Wednesday, January 18, 2012 ,signed the loan agreements in Yaounde.

The Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi signed for Cameroon, while Racine Kane, representative of ADB and Michael Adande of BDEAC, respectively signed for their institutions.

Government is still expecting FCFA 42.8 billion from the French Development Agency, FCFA 38.85 billion from the World Bank and FCFA 21.4 billion from the European Investment Bank needed for the construction proper of the 45- metre high dam in the confluence of Rivers Lom and Pangar.

“We are expecting by January ending an evaluation mission of the World Bank, European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency”, the Director General of the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC), Dr Théodore Nsangou said after the loan agreement signing ceremony. EDC is the State institution overseeing the project.

The construction of the Lom Pangar dam is estimated to cost FCFA 193.6 billion.

Dr Nsangou disclosed that the project site has already been bulldozed, access roads on course, Deng Deng and Lom Pangar axis completed, stating that the decrees for the payment of compensation to the displaced population were being signed and the beneficiaries will be paid in the days ahead.

Cameroon Politics: Afriland First Bank General Manager, Alamine Ousmane Mey, Appointed Cameroon’s Finance Minister

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) According to Cameroon Tribune, Samuel Eto’o Fils has created the country’s third mobile network, SET’ Mobile at the cost of XAF 100 million CFA francs, in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala.

At the lunching ceremony, Set’Mobile was tips off to provide mobile network services including prepaid mobile phone services, short message services, SMS and mobile Internet connection to the locals.

The CEO charles Gueret, at the luncheon event in Douala, mentioned that Set’Mobile will provide the lowest prices in the nation for mobile network services, emphasizing that there is plenty of room for growth in Cameroon, as mobile network penetration is presently only at 50% which is relatively low compared regional neighbors.

Set’Mobile, it should be noted, would be competing with the likes of Orange Telecom, a French telecommunication giant operating in Cameroon and MTN from South Africa.

Big competition will mean more business for locals and more competitive pricing of mobile network services provided government regulator foster a free market environment

Samuel Etoo Fils Cameroon Striker

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Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Cameroon Money The Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Lucas Abaga Nchama says there is no envisaged devaluation of the CFA francs, the currency used by countries of the Franc zone in West and Central Africa.

Luca Abaga Nchama who is also the chairperson of the Monetary Policy Commission of the Central African States, granted a press conference in Yaounde, Cameroon’s political capital city after the commission’s meeting on December 16, 2011.

He said Franc zone member countries and their external partners do not envisage any possible devaluation of the CFA francs. This, he explained was because countries of the zone have high prices for their export products such as cocoa, coffee, cotton and petroleum products.

10000F CFA - Cameroon Money

Economic growth is the Central African Sub-region, he said is about 5 percent, countries have comfortable exchange reserves, external coverage of the currency is 100 percent and economies are generally stable.

The CFA Francs was devalued in January 1994, Lucas Abaga Nchama said, because of serious economic recession. He said there was balance of payment deficit, drop in prices of export raw materials and a depreciation of the banking system leading to the bankruptcy of some of the financial institutions.

There was the need to devalue the currency to enable countries of the Franc zone to regain balance of payment, reduce budgetary deficits and for growth to pick up, the BEAC Governor explained.

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