Cameroon divided as nation poised to host Africa Cup of Nations

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Months before Cameroon is scheduled to host the African Cup of Nations (AFcon), public opinion is divided, weighing the potential benefits and costs of the continental football tournament.

Many, like hotel manager Magloire Ndedi in the popular New-bell district of Douala, the country's economic hub, welcome the nearly month-long sporting event set to kick off on Jan. 9 in the Central African nation.

"We're renovating the hotel because we already know that we'll have a lot of customers during the football competition," he told Anadolu Agency.

"This is a real business opportunity. The hotel will be full," he said, adding that contracts have been signed with some embassies months in advance for the reception of foreign spectators.

"Many people will discover Cameroon for the first time and will be able to see a new face of our country," Serges Espoir Matomba, a politician and former presidential candidate, told Anadolu Agency in an interview.

The African Cup will also be "an opportunity to make young people dream," according to Thierry Felix Bogmis, a basketball player in Cameroon's first division.

During such events, Cameroonians are better united and manage to forget what divides them, he told Anadolu Agency.

Echoing this sentiment, Matomba underlined that sports are a good opportunity to bring Cameroonians together.

"Especially for our society divided by tribalism and political impulses, this competition will put a pause on these conflicts to highlight the passion of sport, which we all share," he said.

The cup is also "an opportunity for development," according to Bogmis, who has notes that over the past few months, multiple buildings have been constructed in the country's major cities.

"It's a boon for Cameroon and the infrastructure built will be used for the next major competitions. It's a long-term project."

Bogmis believes that as a nation "internationally recognized for the achievements of its great football players, Cameroon deserves to host the competition because its legends have made the football world dream.”

- 'A folly'

Others in Cameroon, however, criticize the massive costs shouldered to host the tournament.

"We can understand those who cry scandal against the heavy sums of funding for infrastructure dedicated to AFcon. This, while we badly need it on other levels," said Matomba.

Meanwhile, economist Emmanuel Kungne expects that the boost in tourism will not offset the infrastructure investments involved in hosting the competition.

"It's an over-investment. The stadiums built cost six times more than the norm. The sources of funding are also sometimes non-concessional loans on the financial markets at exorbitant rates. Such loans are dedicated to productive and profitable projects. To do so for this football competition is a folly. The investment was ill-timed, ill-thought-out. It is wrong," he said.

Accusing authorities of being unable to carry out the tourism and employment projects undertaken a few years ago, he said the country had taken on too much debt.

"Our public debt is now more than 45%. The African cup in this context is certainly an important project, but it isn't profitable. We shouldn't be indebting ourselves so much amid an economy in difficulty for that. It's a politically explicable but economically very bad choice."

As for the infrastructure already in place, politician Matomba underlined the need for a good sports policy to maintain the stadiums during and after the competition.

- Crises and financial scandals

With several hundred billion Central African CFA francs allocated to infrastructure building, numerous reports of bribery, corruption, and overbilling have punctuated the ongoing financial and technical work to host the Africa Cup.

Yet, "no responsibility has been established," Amnesty International said in a report that cites similar scandals involving funds set aside to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The competition, initially planned for this year, was postponed because of the virus outbreak.

"Sports competitions are organized throughout the world despite the crisis. So COVID-19 cannot be an obstacle, we should be careful and responsible," advises Bogmis.

Cameroon also continues to face violence in its South West and North West regions, commonly referred to as the Anglophone crisis, with residents in English-speaking regions saying they have been marginalized for decades by the central government and the French-speaking majority. Unrest in the affected areas has continued to claim lives, while many others have fled.

"This is another big problem because matches will take place in Limbe in the Anglophone zone. The security means will be deployed but we don't know how the separatists are also preparing. The people are in a state of uncertainty in the face of this bitter point," said Kungne​​​​​​​.

For his part, Cameroon's President Paul Biya is "very committed to offering the Cameroonian people a beautiful AFcon," with the country having "offered more than what was asked," according to Ahmad Ahmad, former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Despite this, the country has built more infrastructure than planned as it approaches the competition's kick-off, according to Tunisian civil engineers working on the Bepanda Stadium in Douala.

Bepanda Stadium, for one, was not to be used in the competition, the engineers said, though work on it was "completed and delivered."

"It is a very beautiful stadium and the one in Mfandena in Yaounde is even more magnificent," said another of the engineers on condition of anonymity.

Another site, Japoma Stadium, is still under construction by a Turkish firm but will be ready on time, according to various witnesses.

It is "a very beautiful gift to the youth," Ahmad had said while on a technical visit to Cameroon in 2020. He was later suspended from sports-related activities in March following a controversial term at the head of the CAF.