The Chia Report

US NGO to the Rescue of HIV/AIDS Orphans in Cameroon

By Innocent Chia 
Rural communities in Cameroon are not only the final dwelling places for the many victims of HIV/AIDS; its grounds are the final resting places for most of the victims. In the majority of cases, the village is where Grandma and Grandpa are - in relative peace and quiet. Back in my day, the village was where struggling parents and prostitutes indiscriminately took their kids to in order to pursue their goals or pleasures. But ever since the scourge of HIV/AIDS visited the national bedroom, the incidence of grandparents burying their kids and raising their beloved grandkids has skyrocketed. These kids are a social enigma for the future because one wonders what happens after Grandma and Grandpa.  One such wondering organization that has been impacting the lives of these orphans is called “A Place of Hopes, Inc” - founded in 2004 by two Cameroonians in Charlotte North Carolina , Yvonne Tiandem Adamu and its CEO, Abong Ngranui Fankam who talked with the Chiareport.  

The Haitian Apocalypse (Part II) - “We saw a light”

By Julius Nyamkimah Fondong*

Six weeks after a ferocious earthquake hit Haiti, claiming 225,000 lives and causing untold damage to life and property, life is gradually but surely coming back to normal.  For the United Nations staff - who lost close to 100 of their colleagues with about 2 dozen others still unaccounted for - a long healing process has begun. The Mission is in the process of re-structuring itself and re-defining its mandate.

Military Coup Ousts Niger president

The president was seized in a gun battle in Niger's capital, Niamey Story by Idy Baraou of BBC News A coup has taken place in Niger and the president has been captured after a gun battle in the capital, Niamey. In a television announcement, a spokesman for the plotters said Niger's constitution had been suspended and all state institutions dissolved. The country was now being led by a group called the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (CSRD), the spokesman said. President Mamadou Tandja is believed to be in captivity at a military barracks. Reports say government ministers are also being held.

Banks, Poverty and Cameroon

Written by Hinsley Njila and edited by Innocent Chia
Warning: This article requires a basic understanding of country-level economics.

Cameroon must urgently reform its banking sector or delay its economic progress indefinitely.

Common sense tells us that for any country to have any kind of sustained economic growth, people and businesses must have access to capital in order to take risks, buy equipment and supplies, undertake capital investments, hire workers etc. Banks and major lending institutions are typically the best and most effective channels for central banks to manage money supply and control inflation in any economy. In our article, we are looking at how banks in Cameroon are contributing to economic development compared to those in South Africa, Nigeria and South Korea in their respective countries.

 
All the data we use come from the world development indicators database (WDI) at the World Bank.

Nigerian acquires London Gatwick Airport

Written by  Gena Reuben Lubem 

Adebayo Ogunlesi, 56, is the chairman and managing partner, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in infrastructure assets, has been reported to be the new owner of the London Gatwick Airport.
The son of an 86-year old professor of medicine has presided over a great number of sweet deals that made him the envy of his peers abroad even if his forays into the brisk world multi-billion dollars deals are barely talked about in his home country.

The Chinese Charm

By Innocent Chia
  Regardless of who we are and where we live, there are a finite number of variables determining why we elect to pay so much for a piece of furniture, a car, a loaf of bread, or a medical service at the local clinic or hospital. A most important of these variables is price – Can I afford it? More often than not, the price is secondary to or dependent on the need. Therefore, if we desperately need the item or service and can afford it, we are willing to pay the price tag. In this follow-up piece to an earlier posting which I titled “The Chinese of Province of Cameroon”, I am positing that the Chinese bait of selling new and defective products is largely succeeding in Africa because of a wanton absence of any consumer protection agencies, little consumer knowledge, and governments made up of officials who have inoculated themselves from the ability to care enough for their people.

The Chinese Province of Cameroon

By Innocent Chia
A general consensus among the cross section of Cameroonians - especially the disenfranchised, economically dwarfed and disenchanted – is that the influx of Chinese and Chinese products on every street corner is overwhelming. Most people you talk to do not know how many Chinese there are, just that it is not commonsensical to have Chinese immigrants competing for jobs in the unregulated sector of the economy – such as frying puff-puff and street hawking everything in-between. If it is the ruling regime’s idea of promoting Sino-Cameroon relations through bilateral trade, main street Cameroon is neither equipped to compete at home nor able to afford the cost of a plane ticket to China to hawk on its streets. The sledgehammer, meantime, is that shortsighted politicians may not have thought about the political ramifications of a loose immigration policy that fails to protect its citizens – the potential for an explosive Chinese-Cameroonian population to become political godfathers, kingmakers and, yes, even President of Cameroon by 2040!