Cameroon has cut subsidies on petroleum and diesel prices under pressure from international donors such as the IMF. The IMF alleges that the move is necessary for the country's long-term economic sustainability. Let's remember a similar situation was responsible for the 2008 protests when the government cut fuel subsidies leading to nationwide protests.
Such a situation is not unique to Cameroon. The IMF was also blamed for riots in Indonesia during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis which turned deadly in some parts of the country. Similarly, the IMF put pressure on the Nigerian government to cut oil subsidies in 2011. The Nigerian government however put off the cuts till 2012, when it finally cut fuel subsidies, causing the price of petrol to increase from N65 to N140 ($1.5 per gallon). This move sparked violent protests all over the country so much that the government was forced to keep the price low at just under N97 per gallon. Unofficial word is that the government plans to re-introduce the issue of subsidy cuts again in 2015 after the general elections.
Back in Cameroon, the price of petrol has risen by 14% while the price of diesel has risen by 15% all due to the subsidy cuts. This puts the price of a litre of petrol at 650FCFA ($1.36) and the price of a litre of diesel at 600FCFA. In a statement, the IMF claims it is a necessary move to try to cut the approximately $600 million the government spends on subsidies. The statement did nort say exactly how much the government is going to save as a result of these measures.
In May, the IMF said Camerron's 2014 fiscal deficit woulmd be 5.5% of it's GDP mainly due to fuel subsidies. For the first six months of 2014, the subsidies have already cost Cameroon 157 billion FCFA, and so the IMF looks to see Cameroon and many other sub-saharan African countries balance their budgets by scaling back on subsidies. The main concern is that considering Nigeria's failed attempt to cut fuel subsidies and the violence surrounding it, would Cameroon succeed where others have tried and failed?
But now another question looms. Why has it taken so long?
There could be three different answers to this question.
First of all, there's the fact that Cameroon's leaders have a history of postponing neccesary changes. The same was the case with former president Ahmadou Ahidjo who kept postponing the neccesary structural adjustments that were needed to contain the global financial crisis of the 1980's untill he no longer could; and how did he do that? By extensive subsidisation. When Paul Biya came to power and could no longer keep pace with the economic pracices of the previous administration, the currency was devalued.
Secondly, the government has been cautious not to re-ignite the flames of the 2008 crisis that threatened to shaken the power base of the ruling elite. The riots provided a platform for people to vent their anger and frustration towards the government of Paul Biya who has been in power since 1982 (32 years), and the deteriorating economic situation that has come along with his regime. Cameroon is by no means the poorest country in Africa, but the growing gap between the various classes of society has angered many.
Lastly, part of the subsidy money comes from international donors, and not from government coffers. This provides an opportunity for many of those handling the funds to enrich themselves seriously. So the longer the funds flow, the richer they become.
The population of Cameroon have not welcomed this move, and the Union of Taxi Drivers is planning a strike action. In a bid to calm down tensions, the government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a press conference,. “
I call upon our people to accept these adjustments with responsibility, understanding and civic-mindedness…,". The government has also promised to open talks about increasing the minimum wage angd other measures to try and console the Cameroonian people.
It's only left to be seen how the Cameroonian people finally react.
DISCLAIMER: THE PICTURE ABOVE IS THE PROPERTY OF WIKIPEDIA
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has not yet been solved monthe after the plane allegedly crashed into the Indian Ocean. With the hundreds of hours, tens of millions of dollars and most cutting edge technology that have been used in the search, no positive nexs yet. Yet another plane seems to be missing, but this time a world away...in Cameroon.
A four-sitter plane that left Kano in Northern Nigeria at 6:00 a.m on Monday June 24th and was scheduled to land at Lebreville at 11 p.m after a stopover at Douala never made it there. Apparently, the plane got missen in Cameroon's airspace after it was handed over to the Cameroon Air Traffic Controllers by their Nigerian counterparts.
Cameroon's aviation authorities have said they did not see the plane on their territory, and all efforts to find the plane have produced no positive results. The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Airspace Management Authority Abdulsalam Ibrahim told the press "The plane has gone out of Nigeria. We handed it to the Cameroon airspace". However, the Cameroonian authorities do not fully agree with his comments, as they claim the plane didn't make it to Douala.
The Cameroonian authorities say the last signal or contact they got from the plane was over the Mungo which is two hours of flight away from Douala. The Cameroonian Search and Rescue (SAR) have not had any sign of the plane yet. The plane is owned by the American company Global Aviation and had only the American pilot on board.
Most official documents in Cameroon are addressed or headed in both english and french. At least that seems to be the francophone dominated government's own way of showing anglophones that they matter in this country. We have become used to this and it has become common practice. The anglophones should be satisfied with this.
In all this, there is a little black spot, it appears that only francophone polititians are making an effort. Just take some time out tonight to watch the evening news on CRTV and you'll notice an interesting trend which I have come to notice myself. During press conferences granted by government officials, you'll be surprised at how many francophone government officials speak english, and fluently. I was astonished by a press conference granted by Réné Emmanuel Sadi in the Northern Region with regards to the security threats posed by Boko Haram. Now contrast that to the number of anglophone politicians who can speak french.
The reasons of course for this contrast could be many and varied. first of all, we could link it to the long-standing calls by some anglophone politicians for a Southern Cameroon. This group of people see a united Cameroon as some form of evil, and therefore bilingualism to them (learning to speak french in particular) is a betrayal of their vision. However, it would be myopic to limit this trend to the fight for cessation.
This trend could also be attributed to the socio-cultural differences between french-speaking and english-speaking regions of Cameroon, that came aboout as a result of colonialism. The french-speaking regions had France as their colonial masters, while Great Britain colonised the english-speaking regions (South West and North West Regions). This has turned out to be one of the biggest sources of division in Cameroon today. The french naturally are dynamic people, just look at how they eat, dress nd party. As for the british, well, let's just say they conservative and hold on to tradition and the past a lot. That probably explains why among anglophone politicians, there are still 'disciples' of 60's politicians like Muna, Jua, Foncha and Nde Ntumaza. These people seem to have a problem letting go of the past and moving on.
That's just one of the many sides of the story. There's another side of the story where anglophone politicians actually have a point. The lack of opportunities for anglophones in Cameroon is a cause for concern. Take public exams such as ENAM and EMIAfor example, and consider how many anglophones actually make it into these schools; and you may be tempted to agree with cessationist groups like the SCNC, who see french as the 'language of the enemy'.
The truth remains this; francophone government officials in Cameroon have done a lot to reach out to their 'anglophone brothers', but unfortunately, that has not been reciprocated by the anglophones. In the eyes of many, these two groups have switched sides; the francophones have now become the 'integrationists' while many anglophones have become 'separatists', unfortunately.
One thing is clear; unless the anglophone politicians wake up and recognise that they can't change the present language diversity of the Cameroonian society; and the francophone dominated government creates more opportunities for the anglophones, this divide will only continue to widen.
DISCLAIMER: THIS PICTURE IS THE PROPERTY OF OF WORLD ATLAS
We often hear lots of people talk about what they think is wrong with Cameroon, the state and the economy. But if we go deep down, we may be surprised by what we actually discover. It's almost always a case of people ,blaming the government aka Paul Biya for all the misfortunes of Cameroon. Let's put it into perspective 'Paul Biya is the cause of all of Cameroon's problems?' That sounds absurd even in the ears of a baby.
Despite all the usual ranting of opposition politicians about Paul Biya ruining the country, the actual data tells a different side of the story.
Paul Biya came to power in 1982, and during that time, the economy of Cameroon was already in bad shape. But the thing is, during that time, there was a lot of media cencorship and so not many people knew about the real state of the economy. Cameroon was striving on excess subsidization at the time. Infact, just ask you dad how much a tin of sardines, a bottle of beer and a bar of soap cost in 1980. That year, 1980 was when the first signs of the economic crisis began to show, but as was the fashion at the time, we subsidized our way through it. And guess who was in power at that time...you guessed right - not Paul Biya.
We continued in this fashion, selling commodities and raw materials and using the proceeds to subsidize domestic consumption. that created a culture in us which has been hard to get rid of till this day.
However, subsidizing domestic consumption wasn't the worst thing we did back then, ask me what the worst thing we were doing back then was, I'll say it was our continued subvention granting to inefficient and uncompetitive parastatals, and protecting them from foreign competition, which only made them more inefficient. And all this subvention came from the proceeds from our massive raw material sales.
The big problem came up when the crisis stroke, which was a global one by the way, even hurting most of our Asian and European buyers. What this meant was that their demand for most of our commodities was substatially reduced. Any one who has ever had even the slightest idea on economics knows that when demand falls, prices fall. Hence, our revenue from the sale of our raw materials was drasticalmly reduced, and consequentlmy, we did not have the money to continue with our subsidy scheme anymore.
When Paul Biya came to power, the global effect of the crisis was strengthening, and our infant economy couldn't stand it anymore, so many of those subsidies had to either be removed completely, or substantially reduced. That's when the hatred started.
The truth is this; the reason why our economy took so long to recover is because our economy had never really been trained to cope with external shochs. We were a consumption economy, producing very little, except food and drink, which was mostly done by state-owned companies. But now...you don't need to be told about the explotion of private companies in Cameroon.
The previous administration had run the country with lots of communist principles, which was done with the best intentions; but with little consideration of the effects of communist. That's why they carried out such a massive subsidy scheme of consumption, production and a lot more. But the problem,...just take a look at other former communist states like Cuba and Russia and consider what they went through when they had to face competition. China is an exception of a well-organized and highly-competitive 'communist state'.
The real problem here is that a group of people still nostalgic of the 1970s can't seem to come to reality.
To be continued....
EGEOGHO CARLSON KIMBI
