Late 2016 saw Cameroon witnessing political tension rising from the Anglophone Problem. From the Anglophone Lawyers strike, to the molestation of University of Buea students to the killing of rioting youths in Bamenda, the country was rocked. As a solution, a consortium was created to handle the problems.
Immediately after the BREXIT, British Prime Minister David Cameroon resigned. His resignation ended his six-year premiership, after the British public took the momentous decision to reject his entreaties and turn their back on the European Union.
On November 8th 2016, Donald Trump was elected 45th president of the United States of America. His “Make America Great Again� speech resonated with Americans who were fed up with the sytem. Trump will be inaugurated on Friday, January 20th 2017.
In 2016, Buea witnessed an influx of tech entrepreneurs who came in for the Silicon Mountain Conference 2016. Held at Chariot Complex, this event saw a multitude of tech companies showcase their projects to the community. Keynote speakers also addressed problems facing startups as well as remedies.
In June 2016, Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote lost 35% of his company revenue due to a commodities slump and a devaluation of the Nigerian currency. The 35% loss is equivalent to $5.4 billion as Nigeria’s economy officially slid into a state of recession for the first time in over two decades. His current net worth is $9.9 billion, a 62 percent drop since January 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Oil companies have always beaten Tech companies in the money race. However, this came to an end in 2016 as Tech companies outran oil based businesses. Tech companies like Apple ($571.4b), Alphabet ($530.6b), Microsoft ($445.5b), Amazon ($362.4b) overtook Exxon Mobil, which used to be first worldwide.
Cameron hosted the 12th edition of the Women Africa Cup of Nations from November 19th through December 3rd 2016. The initial dates were 8–22 October 2016, but were changed due to weather considerations. The finals was played between Cameroon and Nigeria, with the latter winning the tournament for the 10th time. A total of eight teams played in the tournament.
Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s marriage was rocked following divorce plans in September 2016. The pair have been together for 12 years but married for only two years. Their children range in age from 8 to 15. According to court documents, Jolie she is seeking sole physical custody of the couple’s children.
2016 saw agriculture rise up among other sectors. The Cameroon Agricultural Production and Marketing Agency “Agro-hub” won the 2016 Prize of Nestlé’s “Creating Shared Value (CSV) ” competition in the June 21st Nestlé’s Global Forum in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire. Winning the sum of CHF 300, 000 (approx. 180, 778, 000 FCFA) at the 7th edition of the forum this year convened for the first time in Africa was a huge achievement. The event was organized under the theme “Investing in Sustainable development in Africa”.
The Facebook founder visited Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in 2016, touching down in Lagos, Nigeria. He met with local businesses and developers in an effort to understand how Facebook could “better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa,� the company said in a statement. After a surprise Nigeria visit to meet with techies in Lagos, Mark Zuckerberg took his Africa tour to Kenya.
In the summer of 2016, the Senegalese-American singer launched the Akon Lighting Africa initiative’s “Solar Academy” to provide an affordable source of electricity to 600 million Africans. Since its launch in Mali’s capital, Bamako, Akon says the institution has made significant progress by installing solar street lights for public lighting and home service systems for household use.
The NEXTTEL START UP CHALLENGE is a competition for startups organized by neXttel. The competition will run from December 20, 2016 to February 19, 2017, with a financial allocation of one million FCFA for the winner and 500,000 FCFA each for 2nd and 3rd place. In addition, winners will present their projects during the “PROMOTE 2017� expo, which will be attended by influencers, businessmen, key industry decision makers and thousands of visitors.
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Apply now for the Intercontinental Youth Forum 2017. The objective of the trans-continental dialogue programme on Preventing/countering violent extremism through the soft power of religion is to create a transcontinental platform. This platform will bring together stakeholders from Africa and Europe to deliberate on these issues and produce contemporary recommendations and activities on how to prevent/counter violent extremism.
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