A group of mechanical engineering students from the Maroua National Polytechnic (Ecole Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique de Maroua) in the Far North region of Cameroon, recently presented to the Minister of Youth, Mounouna Foutsou, the first environmentally friendly vehicle "made in Cameroon" designed and constructed by them.

Made from recycled materials and an imported engine, this vehicle, which is without a car body, is powered by a battery device which provides a 90 Km  distance of operation, at an average speed of 80 Km/h.

A five-seater, of which one place was occupied by the Minister of Youth during a largely conclusive trial run, this non polluting vehicle can, according to its designers, carry loads going up to 250 kilograms.

The design of this vehicle lasted 5 years, while the actual construction itself only took five months for the project initiators, who now hope to obtain financial support from the State as well as banks for economic operators, in order to improve their invention and thus contribute to the fight against pollution.

Brice R. Mbodiam

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15-04-2016 - Arthur Zang, le père du Cardiopad, lancera une unité de montage d’équipements médicaux

17-08-2015 - Le chercheur camerounais Théodore Lejuste Abobda a créé un cœur artificiel  

According to the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) sectoral report, for the period from 1st to 15th July 2017, imports of timber to Canada have increased by 5% between April and May 2017, mainly due to the expansion of Cameroonian exports of Sapelli to this North American country.

"The growth in these imports has been entirely due to sawn Sapelli. While American imports of Sapelli were lower, those of Canada have more than doubled from April to May 2017. Cameroon has been the principal source of supply to Canada of Sapelli. The rest of the Sapelli came to Canada through the United States", explained the ITTO in its report of 15 July 2017.

North America, and mainly Canada, thus becomes a new destination for Cameroonian timber, after the European Union and China, who according to NGOs, has become one of the main destinations of Cameroonian timber these last years, as a result of more flexible legislation in the matter of sustainable and illegal logging.

As a reminder, timber, mostly exported  in the form of logs, is the 2nd export product of Cameroon, after crude oil; and ahead of crops such as cocoa or also dessert bananas.

Brice R. Mbodiam

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23-02-2017 - Pour échapper aux contraintes de l’Apv-Flegt de l’UE, les forestiers camerounais redirigent les exportations de bois vers la Chine

06-06-2017 - Augmentation des expéditions du bois camerounais vers la Chine, selon l’OIBT

11-07-2017 - La justice néerlandaise condamne la société Fibois BV pour exportation illégale de bois au Cameroun

Following a complaint lodged by Greenpeace against Dutch wood importer, Fibois BV, for its involvement in the illegal trade of wood from Cameroon, a Dutch administrative court confirmed, on 24 June, an injunction issued by the Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), in 2016.

Fibois is found guilty of two offenses. The first is related to not respecting the European regulation in terms of timber (EUTR). Secondly, Fibois BV was also declared negligent and pointed out for not complying with the European Union regulation in its transactions with the Cameroonian company, Compagnie de Commerce et de Transport (CCT). As a result, the Dutch company is now on a European Union watch list. If the company does not comply with the regulation, the wood importer could pay a fine of € 1,800 (close to FCfa 1.17 million) per cubic metre of timber and/or wood products with a maximum of € 90,000 (close to FCfa 59 million).

“The decision from the Dutch court against Fibois highlights the credibility and control in supply chains that the Cameroonian government can no longer ignore. We hope that those in charge at the Ministry of Forest and Fauna in Cameroon will implement laws to clean up the logging sector”, welcomed Eric Ini, Forest Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa. He recalls that the Cameroonian company CCT was supplying Fibois BV with a species called “azombé” from questionable sources.

S.A