Barcamp Cameroon 2012 Banner - Photo E. Etamba @etamba

Cameroonwebnews| 19 Mai 2012 |

The Social Network - pix 05 (Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin) (Photo credit: k-ideas)

Well that’s some slick timing. Eduardo Saverin, who is best known for co-founding Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg back in their college days at Harvard, has given up his United States citizenship.

His name appeared on a list published on April 30 by the United States Office of the Federal Register, which issues a quarterly list of people who have given up their U.S. citizenship. The news was first picked up by Bloomberg earlier today.

The switch will almost certainly decrease the number of American taxes he owes on the $3.84 billion or so he is reportedly in line to make once Facebook goes public, which is widely expected to happen next week. As Bloomberg reported: “Renouncing your citizenship well in advance of an IPO is ‘a very smart idea’ from a tax standpoint, said [University of Michigan international tax law professor Reuven] Avi-Yonah.”

On the surface, this might seem like an opportunistic move. In many ways, Facebook’s story is the most modern example of the American dream gone right. Some would argue that those who have gotten rich from the company should pay some dues back into the system that enabled that success. As billionaire Mark Cuban has written on his blog, the “most patriotic thing you can do” is “bust your ass and get rich. Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes.”

But to be fair, Saverin is a pretty unique case: He was born in Brazil in 1982, became a U.S. citizen at age 16, and has lived for the past several years in Singapore (where he reportedly drives a Bentley, parties at posh members-only clubs, and prefers the company of supermodels.) He’s also said to be investing in lots of South American and Asian companies at the moment. By all accounts his footprint is legitimately a global one.

And anyway, this isn’t the first time Saverin has shown savvy with complicated international financial regulations. In a widely published IM conversation from his college days, Mark Zuckerberg described Saverin like this: “My friend who wants to sponsor [Facebook] is head of the investment society. Apparently insider trading isn’t illegal in Brazil so he’s rich lol.”

Coleen Taylor | May 12, 2012 Techcrunch |

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Despite the rapidly growing controversy around its plantation project, Herakles Farms has stated that it wants to become a model for sustainable palm oil development in Africa. On the contrary, this specific project exemplifies the possible detrimental impact of large-scale palm oil plantations on people’s rights and livelihoods, biodiversity and the global climate. Herakles Farms’ plans have already been strongly contested by local communities, Cameroonian NGOs and international conservation organizations, as well as by leading scientists.

Herakles Farms is headed up by an American businessman, Bruce Wrobel, who is the CEO of several companies with connections to The Blackstone Group, the New York private equity giant. An injunction case brought against Herakles’ local subsidiary, SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon Ltd., by Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE), cited the possibility of irreparable damage or injury to local communities if the plantation were to go ahead.

Given the terms of a 99-year agreement under which Herakles Farms is allowed to establish a plantation of about 70,000 hectares, it’s not difficult to see why Cameroonian NGOs fear the worst for local people. The agreement does not clarify to what extent – if at all – Cameroonian labour laws will apply, it exempts Herakles Farms from paying any taxes for the first 10 years, and it enables Herakles to rent the land from as little as US $0.5 per hectare, increasing by 2 % per year, contributing almost nothing to the state budget. The legality of the agreement itself has been contested by one of Africa’s leading civil society organizations, the Center for Environment and Development (CED). The agreement was signed by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, contrary to Cameroonian law which requires the President’s approval for land allocations over 50 hectares. Under the agreement, Herakles is even given the right to organize its own protection of the zone using a private police force with the power to “search, apprehend, detain, exclude and evict unauthorized persons”.

Herakles’ presence in Africa’s rainforests does not solely threaten the rights and livelihoods of local people, who depend on the forest as a source of food and building materials. The proposed plantation is located between four protected areas of huge ecological importance: the Korup National Park, Bakossi National Park, Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve and the Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary. Destroying tens of thousands of hectares of forests that serve as a crucial corridor between these reserves would put the endangered species that live in these forests, including forest elephants, chimpanzees and the highly threatened Drill under further pressure.  Leading conservation scientists have warned the company that the proposed plantation will “cut the heart out” of this vital rainforest region.

Herakles claims that it will not clear primary forests or forests of high conservation value, but it remains very vague on what this means. They suggest that the forest they want to destroy is highly degraded with only a small part of it of high conservation value. However, recent satellite images reveal that 71% of the area has 70% forest cover, which is a similar proportion to the neighbouring Korup National Park. Tellingly, the original Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of the area was never officially published.

Greenpeace believes the Herakles palm oil plantation project must be stopped now, before it is too late, and sent this letter to the company on May 10, 2012.

Read more company’s documents below:

1

2

Email the company here to stop destroying Cameroon’s precious rain forest: info@heraklescapital.com

Szabina Moze | May 11, 2012 | Greenpeace

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Collected from one of four video camera traps set up by researchers in the protected area, the footage reveals eight Cross River gorillas casually making their way along a forest path.

“This video gives us all a spectacular view into the hidden world of one of our closest relatives, which is in dire need of our help to survive,” said Steve Sanderson, WCS President and CEO.

Christopher Jameson, Director of WCS’s Takamanda Mone Landscape Project, added: “The video represents the best images to date of Cross River gorillas, normally shy animals that flee at the slightest hint of human presence. The footage provides us with our first tantalizing glimpses of Cross River gorillas behaving normally in their environment. A person can study these animals for years and never even catch a glimpse of the gorillas, much less see anything like this.”

Running at almost two minutes in length, the video begins with the entry of one gorilla, which sits at the base of a tree while others emerge from the dense forest. At one point, a male silverback appears, surveying the area (and perhaps aware of the camera) before running past the camera lens giving a classic “chest-beating” display. Another gorilla (appearing in the footage at around 1:18 in the sequence) appears to be missing a hand, a healed injury but a disquieting indicator of the presence of snares within the family group’s range in the past before increased patrolling in the now-protected area.

“Cross River gorillas occur in very low densities across their entire range, so the appearance of a possible snare injury is a reminder that continued law enforcement efforts are needed to prevent further injuries to gorillas in the sanctuary,” said Dr. Liz Macfie, Gorilla Coordinator for WCS’s Species Program.

The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary was established by the government of Cameroon in 2008 for the sole purpose of protecting the Cross River gorilla and evolved out of the “Gorilla Guardian” community network, created by WCS to improve gorilla survival prospects in the most vulnerable unprotected forest sites in Cameroon. The sanctuary is now managed by a conservator (chief warden) assisted by two ecoguards, all appointed by the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF), and a strong team of local staff from the eight villages near the protected area. Kagwene is the only site where daily monitoring of Cross River gorilla movements takes place.

“Spectacular footage such as this, which we’ve never had before for Cross River gorillas, is absolutely vital to inspire local people, the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon, and the global community to care about and to save this unique subspecies,” said Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director for WCS’s Africa Program. “Continued research of this kind will help fine-tune management plans to protect this rarest of apes.”

The Cross River gorilla is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla, with fewer than 250 individuals remaining across its entire range, limited to the remote forested mountainous terrain on the border region of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subspecies is listed as “Critically Endangered” and is threatened by both habitat destruction and hunting, as the entire population lives in a region of high human population density and heavy natural resource exploitation. Local community residents in the area surrounding Kagwene do not directly hunt Cross River gorillas due to traditional beliefs, but they do set snares for other forest animals, and these could occasionally injure gorillas.

Key support for the creation of the sanctuary was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which also provided funding for the camera traps and other monitoring equipment. Other support for the project came from: Pro Wildlife; Berggorilla; and World Wide Fund for Nature. In Cameroon, WCS works in cooperation with the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF).

Additional supporters for Cross River gorilla conservation in both Cameroon and Nigeria include: the governments of Cameroon and Nigeria; North Carolina Zoological Society; the Arcus Foundation; KfW (German Development Bank); International Union of the Conservation of Nature’s SOS Program; Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation; Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – Great Apes Survival Partnership; UNEP – Convention on Migratory Species; The Gorilla Organization; National Geographic Society; Fauna and Flora International; Pandrillus; the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF); Cleveland Zoological Society; Kolmarden Zoo; Taronga Zoo; and World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA).

Source: Wildlife Conservation Society | May 8, 2012 | Newswise |

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Selon l’Organisation internationale des bois tropicaux (Oibt), le Cameroun est le deuxième exportateur de bois des pays africains. Cette filière contribue à hauteur de 8% au Produit intérieur brut (Pib). Elle génère environ 165.000 emplois directs et constitue la deuxième ressource d’exportation, dont 60%  destinés au marché de l’Union européenne (Ue). Seulement, plus de la moitié de ce bois est exportée de façon illégale, selon des sources au ministère des Forêts et de la Faune (Minfof). Conséquence, les recettes n’entrent pas dans les caisses de l’Etat. C’est pour éradiquer ce phénomène que le Cameroun a signé le 06 octobre 2010, un accord avec l’Ue sur l’application des réglementations forestières, la gouvernance et les échanges commerciaux de bois et produits dérivés vers l’Ue (Flegt). Ratifié le 09 août 2011 par le chef de l’Etat, cet accord entre en vigueur le 03 mars 2013. Mais le Cameroun sera-t-il en mesure d’appliquer ces accords en 2013 ?

Blocages

Parmi les exigences du Flegt, il y a l’organigramme du Minfof. « Il faut réorganiser notre ministère parce que l’organigramme actuel ne permet pas une application du Flegt. Il y a beaucoup de postes qui se chevauchent. Ensuite, il nous faut des agents partout. A la fois mobiles et fixes. Il faut des délégations d’arrondissement  qui savent en quoi consiste leur travail, etc », explique un fonctionnaire du Minfof. Autre problème, la loi de 1994 portant régime des forêts, de la faune et de la pêche est inadaptée aux aspects du Flegt. Elle ne prend pas en compte les besoins des peuples autochtones, pourtant obligatoires pour le Flegt. De même, il faut introduire la Reed (Réduction d’émission due à la dégradation de la forêt, Ndlr). Salomon Belinga, le chef de service des normes et point focal Flegt au Minfof, confie que cette loi est en relecture et sera soumise à l’Assemblée nationale. Il faut donc attendre, au plus tôt,  la prochaine session.

La gestion des données informatiques pose aussi problème. Selon nos sources, le logiciel qui servira de base de travail pour le Flegt est en cours de fabrication à Londres au Royaume-Uni, sans la présence des techniciens camerounais. Pour l’effectivité du Flegt, il faut pourtant que tous les acteurs s’approprient le logiciel. « Le Cameroun a exigé qu’on rapatrie le logiciel. Ça sera fait. Sauf que les fabricants demandent un local sécurisé. Ça aussi, c’est en train d’être finalisé à Nkolbisson », affirme Salomon Belinga.

Lors du premier conseil conjoint de mise en œuvre de cet accord tenu le 06 mars dernier à Yaoundé, les deux parties, l’Ue et le gouvernement du Cameroun, se sont dites « préoccupées » par le retard accusé dans la mise en œuvre du « projet de traçabilité du bois camerounais ». Une traçabilité qui implique d’autres administrations. Les services des impôts, de la douane, de la Cnps, etc.

Retard

Pour l’instant, c’est un grand flou. « Nous ne comprenons rien à cette affaire de Flegt. Nous ne savons pas ce qu’ils veulent au juste », s’inquiète Daniel Mouil, 1er vice-président chargé des relations publiques à l’Association nationale des forêts communautaires du Cameroun (Ancaf/ Cam).

La non-connaissance du projet par la plupart des acteurs de la filière n’incite pas à l’enthousiasme. Happy Stève, assistant administratif à la Société camerounaise de transformation de bois (Sctb), dit n’avoir jamais entendu parler des Apv/Flegt. Son collègue, le responsable du bureau de l’exploitation forestière, Hilaire Noutack, lui, en a entendu parler, mais il n’en sait pas grand chose. Idem à la Société forestière du Haut Nyong. Là bas, seul un ingénieur des eaux et forêts a entendu parler des Apv/Flegt.

Younoussa Ben Moussa (Stagiaire) | Mardi, 08 Mai 2012 | Le Jour |

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Bowleven/Cameroon: Memorandum of Understanding Signed

Apple stores were responsible for a little over 10% of its total $39.2 billion revenue (with $11.6B in profit).

While still impressive the number is a drop from last quarter, where $6.1 billion of Apple’s $46.3 billion in revenue came from its retail operations. Of course this drop is to be expected, as Q1 is traditionally good for Apple, being a holiday quarter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also revealed that half of the Macs sold in the quarter were to customers that had never owned Macs before and that the average revenue per store was 12.2 million compared to 9.9 million in the year ago quarter. Apple has seen 85m visitors to its 363 stores during this quarter, compared to 71m year over year; on average 18k visitors per store per week.

“We feel very good about our business and new product pipeline …” Cook said, “The new iPad is on fire, and we’re selling them as fast as we can make it.”
Tech Crunch| 24 April 2012 |

La mesure prise par le secrétaire d’Etat a suscité l’étonnement aussi bien aux Pays-Bas qu’à l’étranger, d’autant plus que l’Office of Biotechnology Activities, aux Etats-Unis, après quelques hésitations, n’a vu aucun problème dans la publication de l’article de Ron Fouchier.

Mais la mesure suscite aussi de la compréhension. Ben Ale, professeur en matière de Sécurité et de Lutte contre les catastrophes à l’Université de Delft, ne trouve pas injustifié que les autorités réfléchissent sur la nécessité de publier des articles sur des organismes ou d’autres biens qui puissent susciter un problème à l’échelle mondiale. “Dans le cas présent, les chercheurs indiquent qu’un virus muté de grippe peut susciter un pandémie. Cela me semble suffisamment préoccupant.”

Code de conduite
Les recherches scientifiques sur les virus constituent une nécessité médicale. En même temps, les connaissances acquises peuvent contribuer à la mise au point d’armes biologiques. Le fameux dilemme “A double usage” a amené en 2007 l’Académie néerlandaise des Sciences a créer un Code de conduite sur la Biosécurité. Ce code cite explicitement les risques des publications scientifiques. “Ce code scientifique était censé sensibiliser les scientifiques aux risques eventuels. Non pas pour entraver les recherches”, dit Koos van der Bruggen, secrétaire du groupe de travail à l’origine du code.

Les recherches sur H5N1

Ron Fouchier et ses confrères ont fait des recherches pour savoir si le virus H5N1 pouvait muter dans l’organisme humain. Ils ont réussi à développer une variante en laboratoire qui est transmissible entre les hélices(. En théorie, il suffit ensuite de peu pour faire un virus transmissible par l’homme. Cette découverte lui a valu cette semaine de figurer dans le Top 100 de Time Magazine des personnalités les plus influentes. La rédaction soutient Fouchier dans ses recherches : “Son travail n’est pas sans danger, mais ne rien faire est encore plus dangereux.”

Expert en biotechnologie et du double usage des connaissances, le Néerlandais Koos van der Bruggen suit de près le débat actuel : “Pour moi, en se référant à la réglementation sur les exportations, le secrétaire d’Etat fait preuve d’un pis-aller, fondé à tort ou à raison sur l’angoisse du terrorisme. ” Ainsi se crée l’étrange situation que la revue Nature peut publier les résultats de l’étude américano-japonaise mais que Science ne peut disposer des conclusions des chercheurs néerlandais.

Conflit
Au premier abord, l’office américain avait trouvé irresponsable une publication de l’enquête néerlandaise ainsi qu’un article semblable écrit par une équipe américo-japonaise. Les chercheurs, mais aussi l’OMS ont fait par de leur déception. L’Organisation mondiale de la santé exigeait l’ouverture dans l’intérêt de la lutte contre la grippe. Le NSABB modifia son opinion après avoir vu la version adaptée du Centre médical Erasme.

Ceci mis à part, tout terroriste n’est pas capable de mettre en pratique les conclusions de la recherche. De plus, selon les scientifiques néerlandais, nous ne sommes pas à l’abri d’Etats voyous qui peuvent les reproduire sans aide. Cet argument ne suffit pas selon Ale. “La période nécessaire à ces pays pour faire ce virus nous donne un délai supplémentaire pour développer un vaccin. L’argument selon lequel ils peuvent le faire seuls est un peu vrai, mais il n’y a pas de raison d’être imprudent.” Bien entendu, la recette du virus tombera en fin de compte dans le domaine public, reconnaît-il. “Mais les Etats peu scrupuleux ne vont pas nécessairement suivre notre tempo.”

Question de principe
L’ interdiction d’une publication scientifique n’a jamais eu lieu jusqu’à présent aux Pays-Bas. Koos van der Bruggen : “De plus, il manque aux Pays-Bas une structure nécessaire pour arriver à un jugement correct. Aux Etats-Unis, c’est le NSABB qui remplit ce rôle. Il y a possibilité de discussions qui mènent parfois à l’annulation d’une décision prise antérieurement.”

Sur invitation du gouvernement néerlandais, les fonctionnaires, virologues et experts en matière de sécurité débattent la semaine prochaine sur le sujet. “Espérons que les résultats vont offrir à Bleeker un échappatoire élégant.”

Selon Van der Bruggen, il est question d’une enquête scientifique fondamentale, pour laquelle aucune autorisation d’exportation n’est nécessaire. “C’est une question de principe. J’espère que le secrétaire d’Etat ne s’éloignera pas du débat.”

Willemien Groot| 23 Avril 2012 | RNW|

Il affirme avoir constaté ces infractions « suite aux inspections et contrôles effectués par la Brigade nationale et les brigades régionales des inspections environnementales de son département ministériel dans certains établissements du territoire national ». Sur les 139 cas répertoriés, trente-cinq sont attribués à la société pétrolière française Total dans une multitude de stations- services à travers le pays et principalement à Yaoundé, la capitale camerounaise.

Le Journal du Cameroun | 18 Avril 2012 | JDC

When thinking of tech hubs, Africa doesn’t exactly spring to mind. But the continent has had some amazing spurts of open innovation, with 45 collaborative hubs now open.

Africa faces some hurdles in developing information technology. Even though global Internet penetration is about 32%, it’s lower in Africa, where only around 11% of the population have access to the Internet through a computer or mobile phone. Within the continent, too, there are enormous divides. While a country like Nigeria has 28% of its population online, Ethiopia has less than 1%. But all that is changing: Internet usage in Africa has grown faster than on any other continent over the past decade.

So what exactly do tech hubs do? In the African continent, they train, connect, and encourage innovation. Here’s a closer look:

Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology: Ghana

A nonprofit starts a school to train the next generation of tech entrepreneurs–and then funds their projects. Meltwater graduated its first 20 students in 2010 and 20 more last year. The graduates can then use seed funding of between $30,000 and $200,000 to develop software businesses that will reach both Ghanaian and global markets.

One example of a recent startup is Dropifi, a web messaging platform which helps companies better analyze, visualize, and respond to incoming messages from contacts. Last fall it took top honors at the Accra Startup Weekend.

ActivSpaces: Cameroon

One of the first tech hubs in Sub-Saharan Africa, ActivSpaces serves to engineer socially responsible investment and the incubation of African small and medium-sized enterprises. One thing Cameroon has going for it? A ballooning population of young people–40% under the age of 15–many of whom are online and engaged.

One example of a project is Bisou, a motion-activated streetlamp. When motion is detected, the light comes on and a piece of music or a public service announcement can be played, helping out parts of cities that can’t afford to keep the lights on all the time, but want to reduce crime.

iHub: Kenya

iHub just won $150,000 in funding from Google to expand its operations. Acting as a more traditional incubator, iHub seeks to connect entrepreneurs with funders. Membership is open and free to those who work in programming, design, or research, but different levels of membership open up different opportunities.

iHub supported the creation of M-Farm, a mobile-phone service that delivers real-time information to farmers on current market prices, weather alerts, and agro-supplies in their area. It also brings farmers together to buy or sell their products in groups, helping them to gain access to larger markets.
M-Farm enables farmers to carry out a cost-benefit analysis before deciding where to sell their products, with voice controls in both English and Swahili.

Co-Creation Hub: Nigeria

Co-Creation calls itself a pre-incubation space, where work to catalyze creative social tech ventures can take place. It recently launched Ideas 2020 a crowdsourced platform to gather citizens’ ideas to improve Nigeria ahead of the year 2020, when the country is expected to be one of the largest 20 economies in the world.

CcHub is supporting Budgit, an online platform that uses infographics to make the Nigerian government budget easier for citizens to read and understand. The platform was born out of the Hub’s training series, which focused on good governance. Budgit went live in September last year, posting 100,000 hits in its first month online.

And there are more on the way. A pilot program funded by Google in South Africa called Umbono has just started taking applications for its six-month fellowship, training entrepreneurs and then connecting them with funding sources.

Katharine Gammon | 6 April 2012 | FastCoExist