(Business in Cameroon) - It would appear that the telecom sector in Cameroon is unaffected, or only moderately so, by the falling commodities prices, which is currently undermining the six economies of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). Inded, while the economic activity has globally slowed down in this part of the continent, investments in the telecoms sector are rather doing well for themselves.

This is at least what revealed the Managing Director (MD) of the Cameroonian subsidiary of Swedish equipment manufacturer Ericsson. “In the CEMAC zone, we are indeed feeling these economic difficulties. But, I can tell you that Cameroon is not severely affected. It is coming out of this much better than neighbouring countries... In the telecommunication sector, in spite of these economic difficulties, investments in Cameroon are rather increasing”, reveals Olivier Vandermoten.

According to the MD of Ericsson Cameroun, this uptake in the telecoms investments, despite a weak economic environment, “can be explained by the fact that companies operating in this sector are supported by their parent companies, who are not exposed to the local environment”. In the same vein, he continues, telecom operators “mainly continue to invest because they are convinced that there are opportunities to grab”.

During the past three months, for example, the telecoms sector in Cameroon was particularly active. It welcomed two new internet service providers (ISP), whose rate of penetration in the country peaked at 18% in 2016, according to Internet Live Stats. These new operators, Bloosat and GoSat, entered the satellite internet supply market, through partnerships with Konnect Africa, subsidiary of French operator Eutelsat.

Still with regards to internet, Vodafone Cameroun, who entered the 4G LTE market in 2016, and who until now had restricted its activities to the cities of Douala and Yaoundé only; recently expanded to eight other Cameroonian cities, through a network sharing agreement signed in July 2017 with Camtel, the national telecommunication operator.

In the mobile telephony sector the main operators, MTN and Orange Cameroun, continue to roll out the 3G and 4G technologies throughout the country, by investing. Same for Nexttel, 3^rd mobile operator, who announced its entry into the 4G market before the end of this current year.

On 25 August in Douala, the Cameroonian capital, YooMe, a former ISP, morphed into a mobile operator, by becoming a MNVO (mobile network virtual operator) partnering with Camtel. To achieve it, the new shareholders of this company now fully owned by Cameroonian investors, had to invest FCfa 10 billion, reveals Emmanuel Forson, MD of YooMe mobile.  

Brice R. Mbodiam