On 19 February 2022, the day dedicated to Italy at the Promote exhibition took place in a fantastic way.
This year, PROMOTE 2022 promoted the theme of 'l'industrialisation de l'Afrique, une clé de l'émergence du Continent'.
Dr. Filippo Scammacca Del Murgo e Dell Agnone is the new Italian Ambassador to Central Africa
Dr. Filippo Scammacca Del Murgo and Dell Agnone is the new Italian Ambassador to Yaoundé, Cameroon, (Central Africa with a mandate also for Chad and the Central African Republic, is Minister Plenipotentiary Filippo Scammacca del Murgo. The Italian diplomat succeeds his colleague Marco Romiti, in office since 2017.
SONARA crisis: COBAC suspension of outstanding bank loans in Cameroon?
The Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) has warned that the suspension of operations of the National Petroleum Refinery Company (SONARA) has greatly influenced the non-payment of debts in Cameroon. The fire has in fact completely destroyed units 10 (atmospheric distillation), 30 (fractionation and stabilisation of essences), 40 (fractionation of vegetable gas and buspo washing, domestic gas) and 70 (process water treatment) , the refinery, paralysing its activities. As for units 20, 50 and 100, the analysis equipment, laboratory and offices were partially damaged. An analysis after the accident that hit the company on 31 May, which damaged the processing chain of the country's only refinery, reducing the national production capacity of refined hydrocarbons to zero, shows that the volume of arrears in the Cameroonian banking system will increase. "The estimated gross loans granted to SONARA was CFAF 119.3bn at the end of April 2019, representing 3.3% of the total loan volume. Assuming that SONARA is unable to meet its financial commitment due to the suspension of its activities, despite depositing about CFA francs 87 billion at the end of April 2019, mainly for urgent cases, the volume of arrears in the Cameroonian banking system would be 19.6% compared to 16.2% at the end of April 2019," the Commission said. COBAC's analysis is not reassuring for a sector where commercial bank debt in Cameroon in 2016 amounted to CFAF 489 billion. Thus, with 106 billion CFA francs of unpaid debts in the microfinance sector in 2017, Cameroon concentrated 79% of all CEMAC's non-performing loans at the time. According to COBAC, the suspension of the country's main refinery, with a refining capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of crude oil per year, has an impact on the stock of bank loans in Cameroon. SONARA's management decided to suspend contractual obligations after four of the company's 13 production units burnt down. The disaster suffered by the Sonara company comes at a time when the State of Cameroon plans to contribute financially to the rehabilitation of its damaged units. The bill would reach FCFA 300 billion. Created on 24 March 1973, Sonara has a capital of FCFA 32,540 billion. In 2010, an extensive modernisation and expansion project was started with the aim of increasing the refinery's production from 2.1 to 3.5 tonnes of crude oil per year. The disastrous fire on 31 May 2019 unfortunately stopped phase 2 of this major project. africa aedic.eu
French company Eramet obtains exploration permits for 500,000 tonnes of minerals in Cameroon
(Invest in Cameroon) - The Minister of Mines, Gabriel Dodo Ndoke, signed on behalf of the government the specifications for the company Eramet Cameroon's research work on the Akonolinga reusable block (about 500,000 tonnes ), in the central region. For a period of three years, this work will allow the mining group's teams to carry out field activities and feasibility studies necessary to obtain an operational mining agreement. According to the Ministry of Mines, permits for exploitation in the central region of Cameroon have been the subject of preliminary mineral exploration campaigns that have identified a high potential for rutile. Rutile is a mineralised titaniferous mineral sand mainly used in the production of pigments. The Eramet Group, one of the world's leaders in alloyed metals (including manganese and nickel) and metallurgy, was awarded exploration permits for the Akonolinga mine after an international tender process. The tender was launched in September 2018. Eramet won this contract after a comparison with the BWA group, based in Lisbon, Portugal. Rutile has been known in Cameroon since the turn of the century. But it was only exploited between 1935 and 1955. According to the Cameroon Ministry of Mines, the total production of rutile invented since then is almost 15,000 tonnes with mainly artisanal exploitation. However, Cameroon estimates its potential at 2,849,000 tonnes. This makes the country the second largest rutile reserve in the world, after Sierra Leone. africa aedic.eu
Brewer SABC and Name Recycling launch plastic waste collection at universities in Cameroon
(Investing in Cameroon) - As part of their partnership to collect and recycle plastic waste in some of Cameroon's major cities, the SABC group, the country's leading beer market and recycling company Namé Recycling , 22 October 2019, a collaboration with the University of Douala has been initiated. The method implemented by the brewing company and Namé Recycling is to collect, process and recycle as much plastic waste as possible, to give it a second life and real economic value. Therefore, between 2017 and 2018, we officially learn that 38 million bottles or 1350 tonnes of waste were collected and recycled. For the first eight months of 2019, almost 1,000 tonnes of plastic waste was collected and processed. According to the leader of the beer market in Cameroon, "these relics have made it possible to manufacture plastic utensils and other supplies, which are marketed in Cameroon and in IKEA shops abroad. "The partnership we started with the University of Douala, where we deposited a dozen Namébins (waste collection bins, editor's note), will continue with all the universities in Cameroon, with the aim of offering students a pleasant living environment, a source of intellectual fulfilment and performance," announces the SABC group. The partnership between the SABC group and Name Recycling is part of the implementation of regulations in Cameroon. This requires each producer or distributor of non-biodegradable packaging to establish a take-back system for recycling, recovery or disposal. africa aedic.eu
Speech by Senator Francesco Giacobbe (PD) Italians Abroad - Conte 2 government inauguration
We quote the valuable intervention of Senator Francesco Giacobbe during the inauguration of the second Conte government, here is his speech in the Senate Chamber during the debate on the confidence in the government.
Senator Francesco Giacobbe:
Mr President of the Council,
Allow me to congratulate you on your new government. You have a very good team of ministers and I am sure that the hard work ahead of you, indeed ahead of us, in the coming months will help to change Italy.
In this speech, I intend to elaborate on some of the issues you mentioned in your policy statements regarding Italian communities around the world.
These are the many young people who leave and have left Italy in the past to settle in a foreign country. I was one of these.
Today, it is almost unimaginable to think of the past without modern technologies that allow us to connect with our nearest and dearest in real time, communicated by letter and the information when it arrived was already old.
Despite these difficulties, distance has not made one forget, indeed has increased the love for loved ones, for one's homeland. This great love has contributed and continues to contribute to the development of Italy and silently and unconditionally continues binding millions of Italians around the world to Italy.
Remittances from young emigrants, for example, provided Italy with valuable foreign currency when it was much needed to finance economic development.
DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: Japan donates CFAF 1 billion to Cameroon for paddy field development
Japan donates CFAF 1 billion to Cameroon to boost rice sector
Investing in Cameroon - The Minister of Economic Affairs, Planning and Spatial Planning (Minepat), Alamine Ousmane Mey and the Japanese Ambassador to Cameroon, Tsutomu Osawasigned a donation agreement, 20 August in Yaoundé.
Fight against Boko Haram: a 25-year-old Cameroonian designs a solar drone
With this solar drone, it will be possible to monitor borders and fight insecurity.
It is a great revolution and innovation. It is also and above all a very important support in the fight against the terrorist sect Boko Haram, which has been disrupting the lives of Cameroonians living in the Far North region for many good years. Borel Teguia , a young engineer of renewable energies knows the situation in the far north very well. And he is strong that he wanted at his level to contribute to the fight against this terrorist sect.
"After going to high school in the far north of Cameroon and constantly seeing many families forced to leave their homes because of the war, I told myself that something had to be done. Because there is nothing more horrible than war and nothing more important than a human life. That is how I started working on this miniature device that could fly, take images that could be viewed in real time and better monitor the borders of Cameroon. I wanted, so to speak, to give the Cameroonian sky an eye that monitors its borders,' he tells the microphone of our colleague Sputnik.
African women in agribusiness
Despite holding 60% of the world's arable land, African countries import almost USD 50 billion net of food each year. However, a growing population and a rising middle class represent a huge opportunity for the current and future agribusiness and consumer market. The agricultural sector in Africa is undergoing a dramatic transformation as a result of the influx of women into the sector. As such African women are playing an important role in shaping the growth of agriculture on the continent. One of the 17 ambitious global development goals adopted in 2015 aims to give women equal rights to economic resources, including access to land ownership and control. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO ), women account for 70% of the agricultural labour force in Africa and 10% of basic food processing. africa aedic.eu
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