Cameroon’s ART benchmarks Nigeria’s telecom success in high-level NCC visit - ITREALMS

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To strengthen regional regulatory synergy, the Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Board (ART) of the Republic of Cameroon, Philemon Zoo Zame, led a high-powered delegation to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Head Office on May 6, 2026, reports ITREALMS.

The visit, hosted by the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the NCC, Aminu Maida, served as a strategic benchmarking exercise aimed at exchanging best practices in spectrum management, consumer protection, and digital infrastructure expansion.

MNJTF lifts community with educational aid, borehole @Sector 1 - Republic of Cameroon - ITREALMS

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The Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), in collaboration with COGINTA Non Governmental Organisation, has taken a significant step towards uplifting the Daboulda community in Blangua, Sector 1, Cameroon, reports ITREALMS.

As part of its Civil-Military activities, the MNJTF donated educational materials, structures and a borehole for water supply on August 28, 2023.

AfDB approves €17.96m ring-road project in Cameroon - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a €17.96 million loan to the Republic of Cameroon to finance the construction of a Ring-Road Project in the North-West Province of the country, reports ITREALMS.

The Ring Road project, ITREALMS gathered, falls under phase three of the country’s Transport Sector Support Programme, aims to improve the movement of goods and people. It will also strengthen the foundations for strong and sustainable growth by promoting domestic and regional trade.

The loan for the 365 km Ring Road is the Bank’s third intervention in the implementation of this important road network rehabilitation and upgrading project. The loop road crosses five of Cameroon’s seven divisions of the North West Region and includes several links to the Nigerian border.

The project will also include institutional support for the transport sector and related works such as the development of rural roads, the rehabilitation of socio-economic infrastructure for improving women and youth living conditions.

The road project is line with the government’s Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP) 2010-2020, to build an integrated and efficient transport network at low-cost that covers the entire country opening the country to neighbouring countries to effectively enhance economic growth and reduce poverty.

The Transport Sector Support programme under which the project falls is also consistent with Pillar I of the Country Strategy Paper (CSP) 2016-2020 for Cameroon, which focuses on strengthening infrastructure to support agricultural value chains for inclusive growth and aligns with the Bank’s High 5 priorities.

Cameroon’s northwestern region has enormous economic potential, particularly in agriculture, which stands to benefit from the road. Other lucrative sectors include livestock and fisheries; tourism, particularly the spectacular natural landscapes such as the Menchum Falls, Lakes Awing, Oku and Nyos, the Mbengwi Caves.

The project is also expected to have a positive impact on transportation - greatly reducing travel time ; increase in traffic of passenger and goods; foster job creation for women and lead to work for 30,000 youths. The road will result in savings on vehicle operating costs; increase in household income and reduction in post-harvest losses.

The total cost of phase one of the Transport Sector Support Programme is estimated at €255 million (XAF 167.270 billion). It will be implemented from December 2018 to June 2024, with the Bank’s co-financing loan of €179.60 million, an Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF) loan of €42 million and the Government’s counterpart funding of €32.84 million.

At the end of August 2018, the Bank’s portfolio in Cameroon comprised 24 operations (18 national and five multinational operations) for total net commitments of €1,369.02 million. The public sector accounts for €1,218.03 million for 19 operations, while the private sector accounts for four projects valued at €150.99 million. (Transport and ICT sectors account for 63% of the portfolio).

Since 1972, when the Bank started operations in Cameroon, it has participated in financing 28 transport sector operations.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Cameroon Presidential campaign kicks off without Paul Biya - ITREALMS

FocusAfrica@ITREALMS:

Campaigns have commenced in the African country of Cameroon, without the incumbent President, Mr. Paul Biya, who also is running for the 7^th time in office, reports ITREALMS.

The Constitutional Council, ITREALMS recalled had recently validated nine (9) candidates out of about 27 who filed-in for the 7th October presidential election in Cameroon, to seek mandate to rule the country for the next seven (7) years.

The nine presidential candidates, include the incumbent 86-year President, Paul Biya, who has been at the state house for 36 years and is vying for his 7th mandate in office.

Other presidential hopefuls include former minister for justice, Prof Maurice Kamto, and lawyer association président and founder of Cameroon chapter of Transparency International Akere Muna; First vice président of SDF, Joshua Osih among others have commenced campaign, while Président, Mr. Biya, reportedly left the country for over 10 days to an unknown destination in Europe.

A statement by his private cabinet just read, "President Biya and first lady Chantal Biya left the country for a short private visit in Europe." No date or duration of absence was indicated.

But unofficial sources hinted that he may be in Geneva, Switzerland, for some health concern.  There has not been any confirmation of dismissal by the government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who is also the minister in charge of communication.

In Cameroon, government does not communicate on government personnel's health even though they stay absent for months.

Recently, the vice prime minister in charge of relations with assemblies, Amadou Ali, spent more than 3 months out of duties.

It is only when National Assembly went into session that Cameroonians noted the minister was not the one they know.

He was replaced provisionally by his colleague in charge of work and social assistance Grégoire Owona.                 

Alex Gustave AZEBAZE/GEE

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CTO takes telecom management course to Cameroon - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is taking its Diploma in Telecommunications Management Studies(DTMS) to Cameroon in August, reports ITRealms.

Communications Officer at CTO, Osman Siddiqui, confirmed this to ITRealms, saying that DTMS would take place from 20 August – 28 September 2018 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

This session of DTMS, ITRealms gathered, has been developed specifically for CTO francophone members and will be taught in French only.

Siddiqui noted that to be an effective telecom professional all round knowledge about the sector from technical, policy, regulation and management skills is required.

“Organisations in the sector are actively encouraging technical employees to obtain managerial, marketing and other skills while facilitating non-technical staff to gain a greater understanding of technologies, networks and applications,” Siddiqui said.

The DTMS, ITRealms  also gathered is a unique programme suitable for both public and private sector, employees.

“Over the past eight years the DTMS has provided comprehensive training to over 180 telecom professionals from across the World including South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Swaziland, Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Fiji Islands, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nigeria, Seychelles, and Rwanda, and Cameroon.

The DTMS, position itself as a well-balanced six week programme developed to help personnel in the telecommunications sector gain a thorough understanding of all aspects of the industry, from network operations to marketing and management.

ITRealms further reports that the course is delivered through a combination of lectures and group exercises, to make the learning relevant and practical.

Nenye Dom/GEE 

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Canada votes $47m on humanitarian assistance in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria

ITREALMS:

The Canadian government has voted some $47 million n humanitarian assistance in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

Proclaiming this recently on behalf of the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, Matt DeCourcey, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, informed ITRealms that over $27 million in funding to humanitarian partners to support people in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Canada is providing assistance to address the critical needs of the more than 20 million people who are affected by drought, food shortages and ongoing conflict in the Lake Chad Basin.

In Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, millions of people are in need of life-saving assistance as a result of conflict, natural disasters and epidemics. In Cameroon in particular, more than half a million people are displaced because of conflicts in the Lake Chad Basin and Central African Republic, adding pressure to already scarce resources and limited basic services in host communities. Canada’s contribution will provide vulnerable communities with food, acute malnutrition treatment, clean water, health care, protection services, including psychosocial support, and support for livelihoods.

Parliamentary Secretary DeCourcey made the announcement during his trip to Africa, which included a visit to Cameroon.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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120 stakeholders storm Cameroon for CTO spectrum management

ITRealms:

Some 120 policymakers, regulators, private sector executives and representatives from interest groups stormed the Camerounian capital, Yaounde for the first-ever spectrum management meeting put together by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), reports ITRealms.

The three-day session was attended by representatives from the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA), International Telecommunication Union and African Telecommunications Union.

Also in attendance were international and regional organisations as well as private-sector participants including AINMT, ATDI, Avanti Communications, Inmarsat, Facebook and MTN.

Over the past three decades, the CTO has run numerous capacity development and training programmes for radio communications engineers and policymakers on spectrum. At one point, the organisation was known mainly for such technical programmes.

CTO’s Secretary-General Shola Taylor in his opening address underscored the importance of spectrum management.

"As mobile and wireless communication technologies continue to improve, and as many more of us access and increasingly also depend on these technologies, spectrum is becoming an evermore important resource," he said.

Taylor also said that at the very least, spectrum's economic value has increased dramatically from what it was only 20 years ago, and today it is no longer a mere natural resource or commodity for many of CTO member countries, it is increasingly also a life-critical and life-changing resource.

“5G data and machine-to-machine wireless networks alone will inevitably increase ICTs contribution to the economy of those countries, but the underlying technologies require more spectrum and international consensus on how it should be allocated, hence our decision to dedicate a whole event to this subject," Mr Taylor said.

During three days, participants discussed a range of issues, including: Planning for 5G: global and regional perspectives; WRC-15’s outcomes and implications for spectrum sharing, Maximising spectrum capacity for broadband development; Spectrum bands, technologies and solutions; Efficient spectrum utilisation for universal access Spectrum planning for the future of broadcasting and spectrum auctions

The event was officially opened by Honourable Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts & Telecommunications of Cameroon who also called on regulators to maintain transparency and fairness when assigning spectrum.

Oya Midele/GEE

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Pix: Secretary-General Shola Taylor and the Honourable Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts & Telecommunications of Cameroon

Dangote says choice of Cameroon for N49.79b cement investment strategic

ITRealms:

The President, Dangote Group, AlikoDangote, has revealed that the choice of Cameroon for the multi-billion Naira cement investment is quite strategic, ITRealms reports.

Cameroon is the largest economy in Central Africa and is well endowed with abundant natural resources. The country also enjoys political stability, adequate security and growing infrastructural development in addition to President Biya’s creation of an enabling environment that has continued to attract investors both from within and outside the African continent.

“For this reason, we feel particularly at home in Cameroon. And for this reason too, we are determined to explore other areas where we can contribute our own quota to the remarkable economic transformation, taking place under the government of President Biya”, he said.

He stated that due to the warm welcome given to Dangote Cement, the company has decided to begin work on the second phase of the plant, which will see the doubling of its capacity from the current 1.5mmetrictonnesperannum (mtpa) to 3.0mmtpa.

“Our desire to increase our investment with the Phase 2 project is based on not only the fast growth rate of the Cameroonian economy but also due to the warm welcome extended to us and the enabling environment created by the government of Cameroon,”he said.
 

As part of its effort to fast-track economic integration within Africa, Dangote Cement Plc,  commissioned its $250 million (about N49.79 billion)  1.5million metric tonnes per annum cement grinding plant in Douala, Camaroon,  barely three weeks after the cement plant in Zambia was commissioned.
 

The company, in addition laid foundation for a 200m Jetty in Base Elf area, of the Douala Port of Cameroon.

Dangote said he was delight at the commissioning of the project which commenced in 2011, adding that the plant is the company’s largest Greenfield project in a neighbouring country, which Nigeria has a long history of brotherly relationship that dates back to the colonial era.

CyriacusNnaji/GEE

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GIMAC Cameroon visits CWG facility, seeks collaboration

ITRealms:

The Managing Director of Cameroon’s interbank agency, “Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l'Afrique Centrale (GIMAC), Mr. Valentin Mbozo’o led a delegation of the agency on a working visit to the corporate head office of Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) in Lagos, recently, reports ITRealms.

The objective of the team, ITRealms gathered was to appraise CWG’s cloud offerings and identify areas of potential collaboration between both firms.

Welcoming the visitors, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at CWG, Mr. James Agada, explained that CWG has garnered a rich history of offering business enabling IT solutions to the finance industry in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“CWG has rolled out a plethora of innovation products and excellent support services to financial institutions in Nigeria that has improved their customers’ experience and expanded the business scope.”

He also said that CWG in partnership with First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) plc powered Firstmonie, an innovative product that enables customers to access financial and other value added services offered through their mobile phones.

“We have recently followed up with Diamond Yello account in conjunction with Diamond bank and MTN. We have also deployed the Finacle banking application to leading banks to enhance their operations. We deployed about a third of the aggregate ATMs in the country and support quite a number as we speak.” “Today, the visit by GIMAC bears the possibility of replicating this history in Cameroon and Francophone Africa,” he explained.

                          

For GIMAC, the visit presented the team with a unique opportunity for the agency to partner with CWG in her bid to extend her scope of operations and service delivery.

As said by Mr. Mbozo’o, their objective at GIMAC, code named vision 2017 is to introduce a unique payment card that will be adopted in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) countries by 2017 to enable a functional, regulatory financial ecosystem in the entire region in the nearest future.

“We have seen that CWG has the technical expertise and the credibility to help actualize our vision and we are willing to partner with them to make this vision a reality” he declared.

Also speaking, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CWG Plc, Mr. Austin Okere, observed that growing GIMAC’s transaction base to include the unbanked and underbanked population is a precursor for a successful actualization of her vision and that CWG has the capacity to boost the transaction base geometrically through financial inclusion and SME empowerment.

“We have rolled out a number of solutions that address the issue of financial inclusion. FINEDGE is designed to give Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) sustainability and mechanisms for control. With it they can automate their services and serve the SMEs community effectively. Diamond Yello account has brought banking to the door step of everyone capable of operating a mobile phone. We introduced SMERP; an ERP solution that allows SMEs keep their inventory and track sales. Another is Openshopen, an e-commerce platform that will help them boost their visibility and improve sales. With these, not only will the SMEs be able to secure loans and increase profitability but MFIs will feel safe to grant them these loans,” he said.

Okere emphasized that in all CWG has created a technology platform in the cloud where the various players in the economy transact using technology. Stressing that CWG believes that GIMAC will leverage on the unique opportunities offer thereof through these solutions to actualize its vision.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)
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Pix: (L-R): Mr. James Agada, CTO, CWG Plc; Mr. Austin Okere, CEO CWG Plc; Mr. Valentin Mbozo’o, MD GIMAC and Mr. Valentine Essimbi Jean Valentin, Head Applications, GIMAC; during Groupement Interbancaire Monétique de l'Afrique Centrale (GIMAC) during a working visit to Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG)’s corporate head office in Lagos recently.

UBA tops‘Prepaid Innovative Product of the Year’ 2015

  

 ITRealms

   
 

 United Bank for Africa (UBA) Cameroon has topped the "Prepaid Innovative Product of the Year" award for its innovative "Cobranded Student ID Visa Prepaid" concept in the 2015 edition of the Visa sponsored Prepaid Summit in Middle East,ITRealms reports.

UBA’s emergence came with "Cobranded Student ID Visa Prepaid"which aims to provide universities and students with a multi-function Visa card.

 
 The event which held in Dubai, according to the company press release by the Africa Press Organisations and made available to ITRealms indicated that over 150 leading participants were in attendance.

ITRealms equally reports that various awards were presented during a ceremony to regional financial institutions, including a significant number based in Africa and the Middle East, namely Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, Banque Al Jazira, BanqueLibano-Française, Commercial Bank of Qatar, SCC Bank, Kuwait Finance House and United Bank of Africa (UBA) Cameroon were honoured.

UBA’s Cobranded Student ID Visa Prepaid concept, ITRealms further learnt serves as an identification card for the student, with information identifying the student and indicating his or her department and university year, this reloadable prepaid card can also be used internationally and is reputed as the first prepaid programme of its kind in Francophone Africa.

Cyriacus Nnaji/ GEE

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CWG rewards best graduating Computer Science students @ UNILAG, UNIDouala

ITRealms:

The Computer Warehouse Group (CWG Plc) has rewarded the best graduating students of the Computer Science Department of the University of Lagos and the University of Douala, Cameroon, as part of her Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, reports ITRealms.

At the two distinct ceremonies, CWG representatives presented gifts to the students in furtherance of the company’s bid to extol the essence of attaining academic excellence.

The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Rahman Bello observed that if the focus of Computer Warehouse Group Plc’s (CWG) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative is sustained, it is capable of aiding Universities in Nigeria to attain desired greatness.

“This award presentation has been an annual event. Since inception, CWG has lived up to their promise of rewarding the best graduating student in Computer Science Department every year, for five years now. On behalf of the management of the University I thank your organization for your commitment to this partnership. Your commitment to promoting academic excellence will help us in going forward,” he said.

As said by Prof. Bello, CWG deserved every commendation, declaring the contributions have been helpful.

“At the moment, University of Lagos is the twentieth best school in Africa and the first in Nigeria, according to the 4icu rankings. Going by our consistent progressive performance, we look forward to being the first in Africa anytime soon. This is our target. And, we believe that the input of corporate partners like CWG will see us through to the point we aim to get to”, he said.

In response, Mr. Phillip Obioha, CWG’s Chief Operating Officer, pointed out that the annual award presentation event underscores CWG’s emphasis on hard-work and qualitative education. According to him, “Our business scope covers a range of sectors; from banking to telecoms and recently SMEs. Our business is all about the quality of our workforce. We boast of an array of professionals whose expertise has formed the bedrock of service providers in the telecoms sector, for example. Our premium on quality workforce explains our emphasis on quality education.”

Thereafter, he presented the prize to the Master Agho Adrian Osemwonyemwen, and informed the audience that the award includes a prospect of employment with CWG, if the recipient so desires.

“Someone told me that a reward for hard work is more hard work. This will go a long way in motivating me to aim for higher attainments. And I promise to use what I have been given to do more than I have done”, he assured.

Similarly, in Cameroon, Mr. Alexis Mbele Ngono received the CWG excellence award for being the best graduating student of the Computer Science Department, Institute of Technology, University of Douala.  Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Mrs. Olapeju Ayo-Fisher, Head of Human Resources and Administration, noted that excellence is an integral component of the CWG corporate culture. This, she noted, has defined CWG’s business approach and service delivery over the years.

“At CWG, we appreciate excellence wherever we find it. We nurture excellence within our system. And, we are very particular about doing whatever we do to the best standard of excellence, the first time and at all times.”  “Our presence here today offers us a unique opportunity to make known to our host business community here in Cameroon that we promote excellence in academic pursuit and support our host communities” she noted.

Responding, Alexis Ngono thanked CWG for the novel gesture. He observed that the initiative is capable of motivating other students to aim for excellence in their academic pursuit. According to him, “this award presents a remarkable opportunity for students who want to leave a legacy of excellence to be appreciated and encouraged.” “This is also an opportunity for many of us to pursue an excellent carrier outside the school environment,” he said.
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 Pix: Master Agho Adrian Osemwonyemwen receiving is prize from Mr. Obioha.