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☆ As Nigeria scraps fuel subsidy, a vibrant black market collapses
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Desire Danga Essigue | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Since Nigeria scrapped a state fuel subsidy on May 31, black market fuel vendors and commercial drivers in Cameroon, Benin and Togo who were heavily reliant on petrol smuggled from Nigeria have seen their businesses collapse. With supplies dwindling, queues have been forming at official petrol stations, where fuel is now competitively priced. "Supply has become scarce and customers think we're ripping them off with this high price, yet it's from Nigeria that prices have soared," said Perevet Dieudonne, a black market seller. The trade in black market fuel is so central to the local economy that authorities either turn a blind eye or are complicit. At Hilacondji, a border crossing between Togo and Benin, some black market fuel stalls were shut, while at others vendors waited among rows of empty plastic jerricans for potential deliveries.

Persons: Danga, turvy, Perevet Dieudonne, Ousmanou Mal Djoulde, Ayi Hilla, Alice Lawson, Pulcherie, Amindeh Blaise Atabong, Elisha Bala, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Estelle Shirbon, Bate Felix, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, CFA, Reuters, Dangote Petroleum, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Garoua, Cameroon, GAROUA, West, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Nigerian, West Africa, Dangote, Hilacondji, Africa, Cotonou, Pulcherie Adjoha

☆ Titan of Cameroon's opposition politics John Fru Ndi dies at 81
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"It is with sadness that we announce the transition into eternal glory of John Fru Ndi on June 12, 2023, at 11:30 p.m.," it said. "I salute the memory of a singular, charismatic and courageous leader," said current opposition leader Maurice Kamto. An English-speaking businessman from Cameroon's northwest region, Fru Ndi formed the SDF, the first opposition party in the bilingual Central African country, which is dominated by its French-speaking majority. Fru Ndi claimed the vote had been rigged and he was placed under house arrest as riots swept opposition strongholds. As Biya's grip on power tightened, Fru Ndi secured fewer votes, according to official figures.

Persons: John Fru Ndi, Paul Biya, Fru Ndi, Moussa Faki, Maurice Kamto, Ndi, Cameroon's, Akere Muna, Akintunde, Cabral Libii, Biya, Amindeh Blaise Atabong, Nellie Peyton, Anait, Edward McAllister, Conor Humphries Organizations: Social Democratic Front, Union's, Central, REUTERS, Cameroon People's Democratic, Thomson Locations: YAOUNDE, Central, Cameroon's, Central African, Cameroon, Yaounde, CAMEROON, U.S

☆ Former tennis pro helps children shine on court in Cameroon
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Now she wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to start a round of workouts, practice sessions, and school classes alongside nine other girls and 22 boys boarding at the Oyebog Tennis Academy in the town of Souza. She caught the eye of former national champion Joseph Oyebog when she was in tears after losing a practice match, aged just eight. Since graduating from the academy, some beneficiaries have won scholarships for further training abroad, while more than 20 academy trainees have International Tennis Federation rankings. He won national tournaments and competed in the Davis Cup international men's team competition. It offers tennis training at little or no cost.

☆ Chad recalls envoy to Cameroon as dispute over Exxon's asset sale escalates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Exxon closed the sale of its operations in Chad and Cameroon to Africa-focused oil and gas producer Savannah in a $407 million deal in December. Chad has nationalized the assets on its side of the border, including Exxon's share of the over 1,000 km (621 miles) Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. Savannah Energy has said it will pursue its legal rights over Chad's decision to nationalize Exxon's assets it had acquired. The company said on Wednesday that it had sold a 10% stake of the share capital of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company which owns and operates the 903km Cameroon section of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to Cameroon national oil company (SNH). Chad said in its statement that it was not informed of this sale which was contrary to the status of the pipeline company.

☆ Nineteen athletes wounded after blasts at race in Cameroon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YAOUNDE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Nineteen athletes were being treated for blast injuries on Saturday after multiple small explosions during a running race in part of western Cameroon where English-speaking separatists are fighting government forces, a local doctor said. There was no immediate comment from authorities in the town of Buea in South-West Region, where 529 athletes were running up the highest mountain in West and Central Africa as they competed in the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope. "Our primary target was the Cameroon elite forces ... that were providing security for the athletes. Another video showed a different explosion going off near a pack of runners elsewhere on the route. Participants in the race included athletes from East, Central and Northern Africa and France.

☆ Cameroon detects two suspected cases of Marburg virus near Eq. Guinea
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Equatorial Guinea officially declared its first outbreak of the Marburg virus, an illness similar to Ebola, on Monday. Neighbouring Cameroon had restricted movement along the border to avoid contagion following reports of an unknown, deadly hemorrhagic fever in Equatorial Guinea last week. Forty-two people who came into contact with the two children have been identified and contact tracing was ongoing, he added. The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier on Tuesday that it was increasing its epidemiological surveillance in Equatorial Guinea. He added that the country's authorities had not reported any new suspected cases in the last 48 hours.

☆ Equatorial Guinea quarantines 200 after unknown hemorrhagic fever deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People wait to cross the border into Equatorial Guinea by car and by foot in Kye-Ossi, Cameroon, May 23, 2015. Authorities have restricted movement around the two villages that are directly linked, he said, and contact tracing was ongoing. Equatorial Guinea's neighbour Cameroon on Friday restricted movement along its border after the "unexplained deaths", its Health Minister Malachie Manaouda said in a statement. Equatorial Guinea said on Wednesday that it had registered the "unusual epidemiological situation" over the past weeks in Kie-Ntem province's Nsok Nsomo district that caused nine deaths in two adjacent communities over a short period. A Cameroon district health official near the border area said around 20 deaths had been recorded on Wednesday in villages in Kie-Ntem province, which borders Cameroon's Olamze district.

☆ Five killed in gun attack on Cameroon farm workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YAOUNDE, Feb 10 (Reuters) - At least five banana plantation workers were killed and several wounded on Friday in Cameroon’s Southwest region that is riven by separatist violence, a union leader said. The unidentified assailants shot at a truck carrying employees of Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) - the country's largest state-owned agro-industrial firm whose workers have previously been targeted by Anglophone armed separatists fighting for an independent state. The ambush took place at around 5:30 p.m. local time near the town of Tiko after the labourers finished their work, said Gabriel Mbene Vefonge, president of the Cameroon Agricultural and Allied Workers Trade Union (CAAWOTU). They killed three other workers who were sitting in front before shooting sporadically," Vefonge told Reuters by phone, confirming that five were killed in total. Since then, thousands have been killed in the central African state, and rebels and government troops have taken turns to commit grievous atrocities.

☆ Prominent Cameroon journalist found dead after abduction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YAOUNDE, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The mutilated body of a prominent Cameroonian journalist was found on Sunday near the capital Yaounde five days after he was abducted by unidentified assailants, the press union and a colleague said on Sunday. Media advocates described Martinez Zogo's disappearance and death as a further sign of the perils of reporting in the African country. "Cameroonian media has just lost one of its members, a victim of hatred and barbarism," Cameroon's journalists' trade union said in a statement. "Where is the freedom of the press, freedom of opinion and freedom of expression in Cameroon when working in the media now entails a mortal risk?" Outspoken reporter Paul Chouta, who worked for private news website Cameroon Web, was beaten and stabbed by unknown attackers in 2019.

☆ Canada says Cameroon warring parties agree to enter peace process
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

YAOUNDE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The government of Cameroon and some separatist factions in the English-speaking regions of the country have agreed to enter into a process aimed at resolving a conflict that has killed over 6,000 people, Canada's foreign ministry said. "Canada welcomes the agreement by the parties to enter a process to reach a comprehensive, peaceful and political resolution of the conflict," foreign minister Mélanie Joly, said in a statement on Friday. The statement said Canada had accepted a mandate to facilitate the process and the parties have agreed to form technical committees to begin work on confidence-building measures. The parties further express the hope that other groups will join the process," the statement said. Spokespersons for the separatist factions could not be reached for comments.

DOHA/RABAT, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Moroccans slumped with disappointment on Wednesday after their team's semi-final defeat to France, but were still pumped with pride for a World Cup run that spurred tears of joy across Africa and the Arab world. In the first World Cup held in an Arab country, and one already marked by upsets, Morocco won supporters far afield as the first Arab team to reach the quarter-finals and the first African team to reach the semis. It is already an honour and we are proud to see people from different countries root for the Moroccan team," said Taoufiq Ouchikh. We lost to a world Cup champion and we dominated," said Abdelilah Sair, another fan watching in the same cafe. Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch lauded a team he called heroes that brought joy to Moroccans and made the country's name "resonate on every tongue during the World Cup".

In an Abidjan cafe where people were watching the game and drinking beer to celebrate the win, customer Jules Goule said Ivorians were proud of Morocco's win. "Through Morocco Africa has just shown that it can compete with other continents in football," he said. As the game wound on, Morocco fans screamed "Ole, ole, ole!" In the media box, a security guard, screaming with triumph, hugged a Moroccan journalist who was weeping with happiness. But in Rabat, joyful fans thronged the streets, people poured towards the downtown square where Morocco's victories are celebrated.

☆ Landslide kills at least 14 attending funeral in Cameroon capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

YAOUNDE, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A landslide in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on Sunday killed at least 14 people who were attending a funeral, the region's governor said. Dozens of people were attending a funeral on a soccer pitch at the base of a 20-metre high soil embankment, which collapsed on top of them, witnesses told Reuters. Yaounde is one of the wettest cities in Africa and is made of dozens of steep, shack-lined hills. Heavy rains have triggered several devastating floods throughout the country this year, weakening infrastructure and displacing thousands. Reporting by Amindeh Blaise Atabong; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukraine sees less than 3 mln tonnes of grain leaving in November - minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 27 (Reuters) - Exports of Ukraine's grain will not reach 3 million tonnes in November as Russia tries to limit ship inspections at ports, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said late on Sunday. In October, some 4.2 million tonnes of grain left Ukrainian ports, Kubrakov said on his Facebook page. read moreUkraine and Russia are major global grain exporters. They agreed that teams would check the vessels to ensure no barred people or goods were arriving at or departing from Ukrainian ports. Russia's President Vladimir Putin said in September that Russia and the developing world had been "cheated" by the UN-brokered Ukrainian grain export deal, delivering the grain to its own states.

☆ Air traffic controllers suspend strike in West and Central Africa
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DAKAR, Sept 24 (Reuters) - A 48-hour strike by air traffic controllers in West and Central Africa has been suspended, their union said on Saturday. The strike, which started on Friday, has disrupted flights across the region and left hundreds of passengers stranded at airports on Saturday. The Union of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions (USYCAA), which called the wildcat strike, said in a statement it decided to suspend its strike notice for 10 days immediately so as to allow for negotiations. The union said more than 700 air traffic controllers joined the strike to demand better working and pay conditions. The controllers work under the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) an 18-member state agency that manages air traffic over an area covering 16 million square km of airspace.

☆ Air traffic control strike disrupts flights across West Africa
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterDAKAR, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Dozens of flights were cancelled across West and Central Africa on Saturday as a strike by regional air traffic controllers entered a second day, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at airports. The 48-hour strike was called by a union representing workers of the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), which regulates air-traffic control in 18 countries. The air traffic controllers, who have threatened to prolong the strike if their demands are not met, are seeking better working and pay conditions. "In spite of the prohibition of the strike by all the courts ... the Union of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions (USYCAA) has launched a wildcat strike," ASECNA said on Friday. National carrier Camair-Co said on Friday it had cancelled all its flights due to the strike.

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