(Business in Cameroon) - In Cameroon, public carrier Camair-Co is planning to layoff some of its staff. This is revealed in a correspondence sent by Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu, the carrier’s Managing Director, to the Minister of Transport, Jean Ernest Ngalle Bibehe, on 23 April 2020. This correspondence was sent to brief the minister about the consequences of Covid-19 on the operations of the national carrier.

"There are 371 employees [out of 577, or 64% of the staff] concerned by the said measure which covers a period of six months, starting from the second week of May [2020]. These are mainly staff whose activity is directly affected by the suspension of operations, namely sales staff, ground staff, and flight crew, but also administrative and support staff, who are not essential during this period of slow activities," the MD writes.

According to Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu, the total cost of the proposed measures, subject to the fluctuation of salaries in this period, is XAF1.479 billion. In detail, XAF938.79 million is calculated for the 206 staff who will remain working and XAF540.49 million is for the 371 staff who will be placed on technical unemployment.

Louis Georges Njipendi Kuotu also informs that he has already referred the matter to the Minister of Finance to request financial support to cover the related expenses.

Sylvain Andzongo