Cameroon, “Guest of Honor” At 9th Ema Invest Forum In Geneva Organized under the main theme, “Geneva and Africa: the new win-win”, from 3rd to 4th October, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland, the 9th edition of the Ema Invest Forum will bring together stakeholders in Africa’s economy, businesspersons and Swiss investors. Cameroon will be on the spotlight at the Four Seasons hotel (Les Bergues), site of the event, as guest of honor for this ninth edition, a statement on the website of the organizers said. Besides, members of Cameroon’s cartel of enterprises (GICAM), a partner of the forum, Cameroon’s Minister of Energy and Water, Basile Atangana Kouna would participate in debates about the development of the energy sector in Africa, we learned. Cameroon’s hydropower potential is the third largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, estimated at over 12,000 megawatts, according to the World Bank. But production has remained low and failed to meet household and industry demand. “Energy shortages and the high cost of electricity have slowed growth in Cameroon for the past 15 years, with an estimated loss in GDP growth of 1 to 2% each year” according to World Bank documents. It is an ideal opening for Cameroon that is engaged in an ongoing extensive plan to develop its energy potential, to meet Swiss businesspersons among the most capped of this sector, like Jean-Claude Gandur, founder of AOG (Addax and Oryx Group) group, and Rolf Kehlhofer, founder and CEO of The Energy Consulting Group, all announced as stakeholders at the 9th Ema Invest Forum. Cameroon currently produces about 1,266 megawatts of electricity per year through AES Sonel, far below the national need. The government plans to raise the national output to 3,000 megawatts per annum by 2020. Several new hydropower plants are already underway in the eastern and northern parts of the country. A 216-megawatts gas-fired plant has just been completed in Kribi, in the south of the country, and is operational. Also on the opening day, October 3rd, there will be a conference on “Responsible Investment” exploring ways and means to finance the microfinance sector, which is currently financing 10% of the Cameroonian economy with 1.5 million of the 2.5 million people affiliated to financial institutions, according to the Ministry of Finance. Conferences on the resurgence of the mining sector and the agro-industry are also on the menu. And, the last day is devoted to business meetings. businessincameroon/investment/2908-4247-cameroon-guest-of-honor-at-9th-ema-invest-forum-in-geneva
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 22:21:06 +0000
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