Cameroon should co-host Nations Cup

(An open letter by Marafa Hamidou Yaya)

In a difficult economic context marked by a fall in the price of crude oil and exceptional military expenditures linked to the fight against Boko Haram, Cameroon, in its 2016 draft finance law, looks forward to allocating 550 billion FCFA, that is, 13% of its budget to “the construction of infrastructure necessary for the hosting of the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations (for women) and that of 2019 (for men).”

                Specifically, there are plans to build new stadiums of 60 000 and 50 000 places in Yaounde and Douala respectively at a cost of 150 billion FCFA each; to rehabilitate the Omnisports stadiums in Yaounde, Douala, Bafoussam and Garoua (158 billion FCFA); to refurbish the outer parts of the Limbe and Bafoussam stadiums (20 billion FCFA); as well as to rehabilitate road and hotel infrastructure around the towns concerned.

                Do we, could we make this expenditure, this investment which has no future, which will greatly benefit foreign companies and which – since we are seeking China’s aid to realize it – will only increase our debt? No.

                It is more than 1 billion dollars that we will spend for the organization of these prestigious events. This will mean a deficit of 4.5% of the state budget. In addition, given the delay in the advancement of the projects, it is very likely that the final bill will be made heavier by the recurrent failures to keep within the budget in projects of this nature. Just for this reason, the expenditure would be unbearable.

                But it is even more so if we consider that it is depriving government resources, which is already dwindling, of our vital and interdependent priorities which are education and security in the face of repeated Boko Haram attacks which cause a climate of unbearable insecurity in our country and the sub-region.

                It is not only about the means to put at the disposal of our courageous gendarmes and soldiers engaged in battle for quite some time now. The 550 billion FCFA allocated to the two AFCONs is more than the budget for education (basic education, secondary education and higher education put together) in 2016, which comes up to 499 billion FCFA.

                Why this comparison? Education is one of the most efficient and important vectors in the fight against extremism. These Cameroonians, and particularly these young Cameroonians who kill other Cameroonians…in Maroua, Mora, Waza, Dabanga, Fotocol and elsewhere, who no longer hesitate to die to do so, also act because of despair. In order for them to make personal achievements and have dignity and a mastery of their destiny, they should go to school as early as possible and get the best training possible. Our soldiers can defeat Boko Haram, but only education and employment will permit a lasting defeat of extremism.

                Of course, the vocation of education is not reduced to security stakes, even if it is a central element in it. It is instrumental to the future of our country at all levels. It is for this reason that I am proposing that education be made compulsory for children of up to 16 years.

                Yet primary education, secondary education, and higher education are today void of means in dramatic fashion. The demand for education is high, 1 out of 2 Cameroonians being less than 18 years of age; and this situation will grow rapidly under the effect of population growth. Our infrastructure are very far from being able to respond to these needs. At the primary level, the education system offers about 50 sitting spaces for an average of 60 pupils, and 40 for 60 in the North. In the rural areas, 90% of schools neither have access to electricity nor to running water. As UNESCO emphasizes, in some regions, like the North, difficulties to access schools are translated by the initial registration of many children at the age of 8, that is, 2 years late according to official directives.

                What answer does the 2016 draft state budget give to this situation? It makes it worse by reducing resources which are already dramatically limited. In the draft 2016 finance law, the budget for education is fixed at 499 billion FCFA , that is, an increase of 1.4% which, taking into consideration the inflation of 2.5% inscribed in the budget, corresponds to an effective reduction of 1% compared to 2015.

                So should we renounce the AFCON and ask for its postponement as Morocco did recently? In case it is cancelled, Cameroon which has not hosted the AFCON since 1972 may not host it in the next 20 years. For this reason, and also because it would be a victory for Boko Haram, the response, here too, is no.

                What then is my proposal? Co-host the AFCON with our neighbours and friends with whom we are fighting against Boko Haram: Nigeria and Chad. These two countries have befitting stadiums as well as adapted hotel infrastructure. This kind of co-hosting of the AFCON would not cost any or would cost little of supplementary investment.

                Cameroon could organize the women’s AFCON with the stadiums which are already in the process of refurbishment. As for the men’s AFCON, the conditions imposing the availability of 4 stadiums would be respected by counting on the stadiums of our neighbours, and Cameroon would formally abandon the construction of big stadiums in Yaounde and Douala. With respect to hotels, the solution would be to encourage private investment, the calling of the state not being in any way to build hotels.

                What would we gain from this co-hosting? Everything: an economy equivalent to the budget for education, which could be used to prepare the future of youths and to equip our troops and our security services; a retightening of our links with our Nigerian and Chadian friends whom Boko Haram wants to disunite. Our national pride can also be expressed by this choice of reason and fraternity.