NationStates Jolt Archive

NAME: Cameroon (RL Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea)

POPULATION: Approx. 17,880,000

CAPITAL: Yaounde (pop. 1,512,000)

LARGEST CITY: Douala (pop. 1,696,000)

MAIN PORTS: Douala, Malabo, Bata

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS: Malabo, Douala, Yaounde

GROWTH RATE: 2.04%

TOTAL GDP (PPP): $66,520,000,000

GDP - PER CAPITA (PPP): $3,720 (The population in southern Cameroon (RL Eq. Guinea) has a GDP-Per Capita of about $50,000)

MAIN RESOURCES: Petroleum, Natural Gas, Oil, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Timber/Lumber, Gold, Diamonds, Tantalum, Clay


HISTORY: In early 2005, a few months after an attempted coup d'etat attempt on former Equatorial Guinea president Teodoro Obiang, the tiny central African nation was thrown into upheaval when he announced he was throwing all potential successors to the presidency in jail and naming his son, Teodorin Obiang, as the next President of Equatorial Guinea.

With oil production increasing in the country, Paul Biya, president of Cameroon, urged Obiang to reconsider his move, which had thrown some of Biya's allies in jail. Obiang flatly refused. Formerly warm relations between the two nations soured after the desicion Obiang made to ignore the requests of his Cameroonian counterpart.

In 2002, the ICJ drew maritime borders between Eq. Guinea, Cameroon, and Nigeria. However, disputes between Eq. Guinea and Cameroon erupted not long after that over the new borders, and implementation of the ruling was delayed. In August 2005, new potential spots for offshore oil drillings were found; immediately, both Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea claimed the land.

With relationships already having gone sour, Obiang threatened to use his vast wealth to support a rebellion in southern Cameroon, disrupting the heavy mining in the area. Secretly, western powers, long annoyed by Obiang and his ways, pledged allegiance to Paul Biya and persuaded him to invade the tiny country to the south and annex it. Paul Biya did exactly that.

The invasion happened in December of 2005, and by February, Obiang and his son were in prison, and Equatorial Guinea under the control of Cameroon, officially recognized as Cameroonian land.


OVERVIEW: Since the annexation of former Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Cameroon has been relatively free of any significant political crisis. Obiang and his son were far from popular, so the people quickly accepted the Cameroonians, who promised them equal rights in every respect.

Currently, however, Cameroon very much remains a third-world country, but Paul Biya, the current president, has proposed many ideas to the 210 person National Assembly on how to improve life for the almost 18 million that call the country home. With an abundance of natural resources that have yet to be exploited, it is rumored that on Biya’s agenda is to give the government stake in all major mining and refining projects; how that will be accepted by potential foreign investors has yet to be seen.

With minimal casualties and damage done to what is now officially southern Cameroon, reconstruction of infrastructure will not put a dent on the budget of the government. However, road and rail transportation continues to be lacking in development, as with much else in the country. Connections between the main cities of Bata, Douala, Yaounde, and Malabo (by ferry or air) is satisfactory, but things get shaky outside of those general metropolitan areas.

The economy has been experiencing slow growth, and with oil extraction in southern Cameroon at an all-time high, it is expected to pick up quite a bit. However, nearly every other industry in the country has potential to be so much better; this includes the mining and timber industries. Manufacturing is very low-scale; the country’s resources are almost exclusively shipped out to be manufactured into consumer or industrial products outside of the country, something that was brought up in one of Biya’s proposals. He stated that in order to further aid the growth of Cameroon, there had to be substantial manufacturing industry in the country, both local and foreign. The tourism industry has been stagnant, despite some of the most beautiful beaches in the world being in the country, as well as jungle treks, safari rides, and even ancient sites from old African civilizations. Promotion of the tourism industry is a must, President Biya has stated.

Not much is known about the military except that it highly unimpressive compared to global, or even African, standards. With the current situations to the south and west of the country, however, there surely has to be more focus by the country’s government on at least improving the nation’s only means of defense.

Paul Biya also proclaimed that laws that might have prevented foreign investment in the past have been eased; attempts to encourage exports and the manufacturing industry have been given a powerlift. With it, Cameroon hopes to embark on an age of growth an economic expansion that would ultimately create jobs and help its people.

The Roycelandian Government- which has territorial holdings in Gabon and the Cape Verde Islands, and was almost certainly responsible for (or at least involved in) arming and training Biya's military during the annexation of EqG- has pledged full support to "ensuring the integrity of Cameroon", and has already despatched "High level people" to Yaounde for discussions...

After Reports that Roycelandian officials arrived in Yaounde amongst rumors that they might have been one of the western powers who supposedly "gave the green light" to President Biya to take over former Equatorial Guinea, the Cameroonian government has released this statement:

The Cameroonian government has received several high-level members as part of a Roycelandian delegation sent to Yaounde to hold talks on several subjects, which will be disclosed to the public at a later time. The Roycelandian Empire are Cameroon's southern neighbors in Gabon, and to ensure that the relationship between the two nations continued to develop, the delegation will be met by President Paul Biya for both dinner and official talks.

The Cameroonian government denies the reports, and will not comment further, that the Empire of Roycelandia assisted the Cameroonian Army in their successful mission of liberating the once oppressed southern Cameroon. The Empire have made it known in no uncertain terms their delight in seeing Cameroon unified as one, and have congratulated President Biya on his mission to free the people of former Equatorial Guinea. The government thanks the people of Roycelandia for their kindness and warmths as President Biya receives their delegation with open arms.

The statement has addressed and confirmed the fact that a Roycelandian delegation did indeed land in Yaounde and also confirmed that there was to be talks between them and President Paul Biya. The Cameroonian government has once again denied, however, that there was assistance from outside powers during the conquest of Equatorial Guinea, despite many reports pointing to the contratry. It is still up in the air what the talks between the Roycelandian delegation and President Biya's administration will be about. More news as it follows.

OOC: Oops, wrong user. My guess is this is going to happen frequently...

Stop! Its Bumpage time!

-Cameroon-

The rumors that Cameroon's government was going to expand its stake in internal industries stirs the long slumbering Combine's interest, and diplomatic feelers towards Cameroon are launched. Armandians are very eager to see the Cameroonians take a socialist path, and the more they tread upon that path the more financial, military, and energy assistance they will receive from the Combine...

OFFICIAL DISPATCH TO THE COMBINE:

The Cameroonian government is most pleased that the Combine has taken the time to contact Yaounde, and a warm invitation is extended to the Combine to come forth to Cameroon to meet President Paul Biya and his administration.

While the Cameroonian government has indeed stated its intention to profit from its industries, this is because the belief is exploitation of Africa by foreign powers as long been the norm, and that is not the path Cameroon is willing to take. Control of the country's resources must be controlled by the people of the country, and the benefit of the country's resources shall have to be to the country's people.

The government is not focusing on "labels", as one might call it, whether it be socialist or capitalist. The Cameroonian government holds human rights and freedom dear, and shall never impose itself unneccessarily on its people. The economic reform that has been proposed by President Biya has the people of Cameroon in mind and improving the country they live in, regardless of what label might come with it.

Once again, President Biya is eager to meet, discuss, negotiate, and talk with any delegation the Combine might send to Yaounde. There should be lots to talk about.

Southern Oil Fields Back in Action

Bata, Southern Cameroon - A few months after the liberation of southern Cameroon from the oppressive forces of Obiang, the oil fields in the area are now back to "normal operations", according to Friday Quashie, newly appointed Economy Minister.

"During the liberation of southern Cameroon, the forces of the now imprisoned criminal Teodore Obiang damaged some of the oil fields in an attempt to disrupt our advance on them," commented Quashie. "We've been working day and night on setting up the drilling capabilities that used to be present in this area of the country, but we've taken it a step further...We've actually invested in technology to help us drill more amounts than was possible before. Under the old regime, the area used to pump 420,000 bbls a day. Now, we pump approximately 480,000 bbls a day."

The comments by Quashie came after questions from local authorities about getting the former workers of the oil fields back to their jobs. There had been recent rumblings after the people promised that they would return to their work, with an increased pay, began feeling that perhaps the government in Yaounde had forgotten about them.

"The fact is, we were getting worried," stated oil field worker Justin Obakwa. "After the invasion, the oil drilling was put to a stop. We were promised increased wages to make up for the time we spent without work, but this is Africa. Its rare when the government keeps its promise, and when we heard things were going to get delayed, a certain panic hit us. Thankfully, they've kept their promise to the full extent."

The Cameroonian government has reportedly put in just over 10.5 billion CFA Francs (or $20 million) into fixing and renovating the drilling machines in the south of the country. The newly appointed Economy Minister has overseen the project, which he deemed a "full success."

Workers were paid just over $250 a month before the liberation of southern Cameroon now see $310 a month.

Factory Opens Doors in Douala

Douala, western Cameroon - After months of delays and unquestionable frustration, the Printex Textile Factory finally opened its doors for business this morning on the southern outskirts of the city.

The owner, Mr. Justin Gurabo, stated that he didn't want to make a commotion out of the event, but he was happy he finally had permission to begin operations.

"We've had several months of delay even though the factory was ready to a while back. Several government officials made it hard for us, but thankfully, all has been worked out and we can now look to the future."

The factory, which has just over $3 million invested in it, will provide 3000 new jobs to a city racked by high unemployment numbers. The mayor of Douala, the Honorable Prosper Tetteh, stated that the opening of the Printex factory will ease pressure on local authorities to provide jobs for a growingly uneasy population.

Factory workers, as tradition has it in these parts, are paid nearly half of the $3720 per capita GDP the country averages, with a "factory hand" usually receiving between $1200 to $1600 a year. Printex's owner suggest that he will be paying the base level workers which comprise of 2750 of the factory's total of 3000 workers, $200 a month.

The factory is owned 100% by Printex Textiles, despite claims from President Biya that the government was to begin taking percentages from their industrial and manufacturing factories and industries.

The factory is expected to cater to the Cameroonian and Nigerian markets, with no reliance on export outside of the country's war-ridden western neighbor planned in the short term future.

"The Cameroonian and Nigerian market are more than sufficient, and we will have our hands full providing them with enough textiles that the market demands," suggested owner Mr. Gurabo. "Obviously, everyone wants to see their investments grow, but for now, I'm happy to be up and running."

The Printex Textiles Factory is the first non-governmental investment into the country, both local and foreign, since the liberation of southern Cameroon.

The Combine's diplomats arrived in Cameroon with typical flair, donning black suits, emerald ties, and dark sunglasses. Their vehicle was the infamous green dyed, hydrogen powered jet, and their theme song was the Beatles tune, Revolution. Hearing rumors of capitalist leanings within Cameroon, and speculation about a deal with the damned Austrian money grubbers, the Combine is eager to push the small African nation on the right path---or rather, the left one.

Combine diplomats are quick to point out the economic success of various Leftist models; Neo-Anarchos has risen from the depths of third world poverty thanks to leftist economic practices, as have Beth Gellert, Spyr, and countless others. They also note that Armand has one of the world's largest reserves of oil and natural gas, and only offers it cheaply to leftist allies. The Combine also mentions the many crimes that ensue due to capitalist exploitation, and urge the Cameroonians to reject such an inherently oppressive system.

Most of the talk is pleasant, or as pleasant as a discussion with a row of synchronized diplomatic drones can be, except for the final note of menace. Leftist forces were on their way to liberate West Africa from France's iron grip; perhaps they would drop by Cameroon on the road to liberation...?

OOC: Completely didnt know you had posted, Armandian. Sorry for the tardiness.

President Paul Biya, over dinner, discussed many matters with the Combine delegation, and listened intently as the delegates spoke of their "leftist success", as they put it, as well as their caution towards dealing with the Austrian.

Word must have reached them about the recent deal between Cameroon and Austria concerning the opening of a Gizatte Company manufacturing factory (albeit sans military vehicles) and also the opening of a Reardin Materials office in Yaounde, a raw materials company based out of Mauritius looking to export resources out of Cameroon. They, ofcourse, would have to divert some of their profits to the Cameroonian government under the newly introduced law. Both were still in their research phases, but both had been given the green light by the government to begin work as they pleased.

President Biya's response was consistent with the new stance the government has taken: labels, such as "capitalist", "leftist", "rightist", etc., had little importance to the Cameroonian people and its government. What was of concern was the well-being of the nearly 18 million who called the nation home, and improving their lives, as well as the economy and infrastructure of the country. If that combining the best of both sides, so be it.

President Biya also expressed his happiness that the Combine had made the effort to visit Cameroon, and was eager to establish diplomatic ties with them. He saw economic and political potential between the Combine and the Cameroonians working together and wanted to know what the delegation thought of the matter. He also pointed out the economic potential of his country and asked the delegation if something could be worked out along those lines.

Austrian Companies Find Home in Cameroon

Douala, western Cameroon - Amidst major economic changes implemented by President Paul Biya's administration, the first foreign companies to invest in Cameroon officially began business today. The setting couldn't have been more beautiful, either.

"Wonderful weather, wonderful people, wonderful country," stated one of the Austrian workers who had come over to work at the Gizatte Company factory outside of the city. Reknowned the world over, the company produces automobiles and also helps in the production of military vehicles. The latter, however, won't be done in Cameroon.

"In the discussions we had, we decided that it would be best to leave production of any military associated vehicles outside of the borders of Cameroon. These are tense times, and we don't want to step on anyone's toes," stated a spokesperson for the Ministry of Trade and Finance.

The Gizatte Company factory outside of Douala will primarily produce to export, but a fair share of the production will be guaranteed a "place in Cameroon", stated a factory official. The facility, which covers a total of nearly 80,000 sq. meters, providing nearly 3,500 jobs. Another Austrian company which specializes in raw materials also has opened up an office in the country, and it currently doing feasibility studies.

Problems on the Border

Yaounde, central Cameroon - While the government continues to deny any reported fighting between Army Forces and militiamen spilling in from wartorn Nigeria, the public in western Cameroon has become increasingly worried and anxious.

"War spills over very quickly in this part of the world. We have nowhere to go, and nowhere to hide. We've heard what's been happening in Nigeria and Ghana, and we're very worried it might come to us," stated farmer Jean Dulaga.

In increasingly dangerous and unpredictable times, the government recently issued an order to all its border checkpoints to search every car coming and make are papers were in complete order before crossing, and patrols were tripled across the Nigerian-Cameroonian border in order to avoid the same situation that is rumored to be happening. Upon contacting the Ministry of Defense, they issued this statement:

"The Cameroonian government's main priority is to serving its people, and it would not be doing so if we would allow crazed armed rebels from Nigeria to come into the country. There has been no incidents, and the reports that have been issued are completely false. Furthermore, our patrols and our security at the checkpoints at the border have been doing their job to their full capacity, ensuring that no war, or traces of it, will take our country by seige."

OOC: Sorry for the huge delay in doign this

IC:
The Strathdonian Foreign Office had a bit of reputation for being, to put it bluntly incompetant in matters outside watching and condeming the Holy League and as such it was perhaps to be expected that it took them a while to come up with anything approaching an attempt at forging diplomatic links with the newly enlarged Cameroon.

When such a mission is finally dispatched it carries with it a generally pleasant and upbeat message that talks up the similarities between Strathdonia and Cameroon, mainly about being african and more or less neutral (well appart from the whole HL thing).

Official mesages and envoys from the Strathdonian Government are of course accompanied by enquiries and advertising from Strathdonian industry, ranging from Villiers Wine and Pump enquiring about the oil indsutry and the possibility of expanding its core pipeline business into the region, to Goliath Heron Industries offering a selection of affordable aircraft and the possibility of the involvement of Cameroonian industry involvment in manufacturing parts and carrying refurbishment work at a proposed regional service centre. Various defence contractors woudla lso make a numebr of offers to fufil any outstnading requirements for the Cameroonian defence forces.

Perhaps buried deep within messages and well wishing is the possibility of Strathdonian forces possibly being deployed to Cameroon, primarily to help beef up national defences but the fact that Strathdonia has been desperatly tryign to find air bases which would allow them to strike at HL forces in ECOWAS would make an alternative motive very clear.

The Combine delegation quickly realized that the Cameroonians weren't going to play to their tune. The Cameroonian President's quick dismissal of policies as "labels" and the deals with the notoriously capitalist Austrians indicated that Cameroon was going on a mostly free market path. Ambitious plans of turning the small African nation into Armand's regional satellite, as a toehold in a soon to be Soviet dominated West Africa are wrapped up and filed away. A significantly demoralized delegation looks to Western Sahara instead, although proposals for increasing trade between both nations, mainly on the area of exporting Armandian oil, are still floated.

If only the Soviets could have heard that. Their observers had reached the same conclusion, holding up the same terms and acts as evidence. Cameroon had made the fatal mistake, it seemed, and would go one of two ways. Either the premier would be corrupt, live the life of a fat chief until heart disease or revolt got the better of him, or he would turn out to be an honest man who would appear on some little-seen documentary, emploring other African leaders to learn from his mistake, and to dare to say no.

For now, the Commonwealth continued to ignore the Cameroonian nation, leaving it to the African socialists to embrace the government, and dispatched just a few citizen diplomats to engage the civilian population and to warn against the dangers of the absentee owenership -why work for rich white men on another continent, who have no reason to listen to you and no knowledge of your home, when you can work for yourself without their patronising help?- and the scant mercy of the world market. Like so many other nations around the world, Cameroon would just have to put up with a few Indians or Celts on soap boxes, protected by association with one of the world's largest armies, and posters on walls and trees.

The Soviets would continue to struggle with the Combine question: should the Commonwealth's potentially smothering embrace of the isolated Armandian east be a hug or a choke?

Painfully obvious to Biya's administration, and perhaps slightly upsetting, was the interest in Cameroon as a potential pawn in a greater struggle by the more powerful nations. Most obvious was the case of the Combine; after a quick meeting with the Combine delegation, they simply packed up and left, disappointed by President Biya's policy of "What's Good for My People." It was their right, ofcourse, but it left a bit of a bitter taste in Biya's mouth.

The meetings with the Strathdonians held more promise, however. A small nation in south-central Africa, they had done well for themselves despite great hardships. The policies that they had set was reaping benefits, evidenced by their large working/middle class which contributed so much economically to the country. They were also both primarily agricultural nations; more people chose to be farmers than any other type of employment. Urban dwellings were a luxury in this part of the world, as was the case in Strathdonia.

Talk had gotten underway about Strathdonian investment in Cameroon, which was encouraging. With the opening of 2 new factories around the industrial capital of the nation, Douala, jobs were being created, and pay was also slightly higher than the average GDP Per Capita of the nation. The economic reforms which had stated that manufacturing and industrial companies were to pay 10% of their profits to the government would also bring money into the system.

The Strathdonians had brought up the idea of extending its pipe network throughout the region into Cameroon, a thought whichw as welcomed by the Cameroonian trade delegation which was negotiating with them. They were interested in knowing exactly where the pipes were (OOC: basically, where they were laid, and how would Cameroon be connected to them), but ofcourse, with that would come have to come the terms of Strathdonia beginning to buy "sweet oil" from Cameroon.

The idea of military presence in the Cameroon, however, was quickly shot down, with the notion that the country remains neutral on all fronts and wants nothing more than to see itself isolated from any wars that might come its way.

OOC:
I'm sorry that my post was confusing but when i emntioned the pipeline business i was really reffering to the business of making pipes and pumps and things, with a small degree of installation work and as such Villiers were hopign to perhaps open a production facility within Cameroon to produce parts for your expanding oil indsutry as the one thing any oil industry really needs is to quote the BP grangemouth PR film "Pipes lots of Pipes".

As atractive as the idea of a trans African pipeline is i really don't see it being feasible under current political conditions.

Oh and of course Strathdona would be very interested in West African Oil, which woudl still find a market despite the now readily available gulf oil from the Combine and the Elians.

The Commonwealth of Mozambique, locked as it is on the verge of conflict with the Mozambique Free State and hardly the most imposing of the African nations, does manage to dispatch a Communique to the other side of the continent. Maputo's greeting, penned by Foreign Minister Joao Fernandes, is generally upbeat and friendly in nature, and compliments Cameroon on its fairly recent reunification and continued stability under Paul Biya. It is, however, highly critical of the Austrians, and cautions Biya not to let too large a quantity of his country's resources be put under foreign ownership. Of course, one should take into account that the Commonwealth's ally, Yugoslavia, recently went to war with the Austrians, and the very friendly United African Republic of Lusaka is currently fixing to liberate Austrian Mauritius. Maputo's judgement is, therefore, not exactly objective.

Joao Fernandes also calls upon Cameroon to support the besieged ECOWAS nations, although he understands that Biya's unfavorable position on the border with Russo-Roycelandian occupied Nigeria makes much action very risky. He would like the authorities in Yaounde to at least recognize the nations of ECOWAS, currently under French attack, as independent now and forever, and to condemn Versailles' brutality towards the resident population, as a sign of Cameroon's independence from unhealthy European influence.

[OOC: Well, we didn't just pack up and leave, per se. I assume the Combine has established an embassy of some sort, and I already mentioned that we've proposed to increase our trade.]

OOC: Well then, the Combine have an embassy in Yaounde then :)

Talks with the Strathdonians continued to take a straight, paved path to agreement, with the talks primarily centered around their interest to begin importing pure African oil in addition to those available in the Gulf areas. There was also talk about construction on oil pipelines in the nation of Cameroon, provided by the Strathdonian company Villiers Wine and Pump, and extending the current capabilities of the pipelines already in place.

Official word had also reached President Paul Biya's Office from the Commonwealth of Mozambique, a friendly letter of congratulations which also underlined their interest in seeing Cameroon condemn of what was the colonization of Africa by imperialist powers. While Biya was known to be something of a Pan-Africanist, his administration, currently, could not afford enemies, especially ones that were just across the border from his nation.

He did inform the Commonwealth of Mozambique, however, that Cameroon did not recognize the French occupation of the ECOWAS countries as legitimate and wishes for negotiations between the warring sides in order to halt the violence that has beseiged West Africa. President Biya expressed concern that the campaign might be wider than the suffering ECOWAS countries and signalled that Cameroon's recognition of the ECOWAS countries as independent was not under question.

Cameroon Air Force to Upgrade and Grow

Yaounde, central Cameroon - With war sweeping across the ECOWAS countries to the west, and tension beseiging southern Africa, the Cameroonian military announced today that it was making plans to bolster up its ranks, starting with the Cameroon Air Force (CAF).

"We have no Grade-A air force base to speak of," commented General Alieu Ossaya, serving as spokesperson for the CAF. "In this time and age, to fall back and let the military make due with what it currently has, its asking for trouble. The government has the right train of thought, affording the military a chance to expand and modernize itself."

The Cameroonian military has apparently dispatched statements to all nations, asking for quotes and specifications on fighter jets they manufacture. The number they are interested in acquiring ranges between 8-12, depending on affordability and quality.

The planned air force base's site has already been decided; it will be situated just to the north of the city of Bafoussam in the region of Ouest, just south of Resevoir de Ouest, the 3rd largest lake in the country. It will be situated just about 100 miles east from the increasingly tense Nigerian-Cameroonian border.

There has been no word about the cost of the air force base, or how much the Cameroonian government will set aside to acquire the aerial fighters, but statements have suggested that the military will be looking at what serves their needs best, and not only price. When asked if they will be looking for outside contracters to help develop the air force base, General Ossaya stated that the job will be given to local construction companies in order to aid the economy.

OOC: Basically, I want to buy 8-12 jets but I dont know who's developing and selling what. For any interested party, a price with some specs would be good :)

IC: At the faintest whiff of interest in new fighters the combined forces of the Strathdonian government and Goliath Heron Industries (GHI) are quickly in to action.

Thier principle offer is that If Cameroon should like to invest in the new "Joint Light Fighter" program then Lilongwe could use its contacts to supply the required number of cheap yet still very effective second hand Chinese aircraft at a seriously reduced rate until as an interim solution until the JLF is ready (currently projected at about 2015).

OOC: the JLF is currently looking like the bastard love child of a jaguar, mako and eurofighter love triangle, it is intended to be a more "practical" alternative to the F-35 Lightning II.

Bumpagation.