YAOUNDE, CAMEROON AFRICA, OCTOBER 2010 (NEWS.CAMEROON-TODAY.COM)  -  President Paul Biya went on record at the weekend Montreux summit as he expressed willingness to revitalize the Francophonie.

President Paul Biya of Cameroon Africa

As the 13th International Organization of the Francophonie draws to a close in Montreaux there were many announcements from its various members and if they are to be believed there is scope for the 70 member organization taking a radical change of direction. Though there were vehement and strong declarations about the importance of French speaking countries needing to indicate a larger presence in world affairs nothing much has ever been done in this regard.

However this time there were some fresh insights as French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to present concerns of Francophonie at the G 20 summit in Seoul as he takes over as President followed by the G-8 as well. There was also reassurance from his Canadian Counterpart the Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Stephen Harper as he promised that his country would never “let down the poorer nations”. Mr. Sarkozy also promised to push for African representation in the UN Security Council.

President of Cameroon Paul Biya should be the happiest delegate of the summit because these were exactly the concerns that he had echoes time and time again. He used every single opportunity that he got to evoke the international fraternity to oppose the differential treatment meted out to the economically inferior African countries. The stand that he has always taken against the unjust trade clauses, lower prices of raw materials and absence of global harmony as well as poor representation of African countries in world decision making forums are famous.

The President would have definitely felt better to hear that many of the world’s supremos shared the same opinions about his concerns as they spoke out about the same issues at the Montreux summit on Saturday. For President Biya, the “Francophonie, through its institutions, is one of the privileged forums within which a new model of international relations which reconciles opportunities for globalization and the exigencies of the general interest, especially those of the most vulnerable groups.”

As food scarcity and global warming was discussed rampantly at the Summit the President told the summit that Cameroon was a strong presence in the whole picture since excessive drought was eating into the existing sources of water which were fast depleting and the once green pastures were drying up.

The desert was expanding as more and more areas became drought stricken, agriculture produce was at its lowest ever and the hydroelectric power production fluctuated heavily. These were issues that the country faced almost on a daily basis.

He said that the country had already taken measures within itself like the flag-off of the “Green Sahel” project which was aimed at curbing the growth of the desert and had also inked their acceptance and participation in all major agreements on food security and climate change.

In Montreux, the president made it very obvious that Cameroon was in full co-operation with all initiatives that would be taken by the Francophonie to address all the above mentioned concerns. The IOF Secretary-General Abdou Diouf was expressed his serious and genuine concerns about the requirement to secure more funding in education sector and was found to ignore what many of the world nations viewed as a threat the English language posed to the French language. Cameroon, had many more experiences and stories to share than most of their other counterparts most of them very positive with other Francophonie members owing to its bicultural situation where both the languages co exist successfully without any major clashes or fights.

The two subsystems of education in the country are highly appreciated for their proven expertise in developing some of the adeptly oriented individuals who have been widely accepted by the International fraternity irrespective of whether they are French speaking or English speaking. The President of the Republic came out as a satisfied and confident supporter of such a system.

In addition to expressing his concerns about these issues which were slowly engulfing not just Africa but the whole world, the President of the Republic of Cameroon Mr. Paul Biya also made best use of his stay in Montreux to make some mutually beneficial ties which could only be highly advantageous to helping Cameroon to get the image of a country that is genuinely interested in developing new relationships that aim at enhancing mutual cooperation and friendship.

The President of the Republic was viewed at several instances during the tenure of the Summit integrating happily with his counterparts and co- delegates who had flown in from all parts of the world. Back at the hotel, where he was staying prior to taking the flight out of Montreux, the President had provided audience to the Presidents of Georgia and the Swiss Confederation in different sessions.

Cameroonian has had a pretty long and fruitful association with Switzerland.

However the same cannot be applied to Georgia who is definitely fresh association.
The happenings of the Summit in tandem with the active participation of the President Paul Biya show some very positive signs hinting towards overall growth and development of the country.

Cameroon may also get some support both economic and emotional from the international Fraternity as their problems are brought into the open and it becomes imperative that the country be represented at not just French speaking summits but all other international summits as well so that they receive international support for their concerns.