The Diary Of African Football

The Diary Of African Football

The feats of African footballers are among the most positive images that Africa has to offer to the world in this era of globalization. But football has also been an important asset in African history since the beginning of the colonial era.

Icons Of African Football

Icons Of African Football

The presence of Africans in the transfer market of football players in the European richest clubs has become a very common fact. African Football has listed 647 African players in first league European clubs.

Cameroonian Music Scene

Cameroonian Music Scene

Cameroon is located in Central Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea. It has several large cities including Yaounde, the country s political capital and Douala, the economic capital. Its cultural and ethnic diversity (over 240 ethnic groups, with 240 different languages) made Cameroon a nest of talent, not only in sports but also in music.

Cameroon Economic Situation

Cameroon's Economic Situation

Cameroonian people experience great frustration with their economic and social difficulties. With an unemployment rate that continues to grow, a private sector that is almost non-existent and some states that try somehow to limit the damage by recruiting fresh graduates in the public sector, in short there are very few offers for a huge number of job seekers.

Entrepreneurship in Africa (Problems / Solutions)

Entrepreneurship in Africa (Problems / Solutions)

As you know, set up a business in Africa, large or small, is sometimes a long and difficult road to walk into. It takes knowledge, resources, tools, and ideally a mentor or a sponsor to support you and give you that helping hand to progress into this administrative and financial jungle.

Why Be An Entrepreneur In Africa

Why Be An Entrepreneur In Africa

Africa is not going well, its entire economy is at risk, plus, Africa appears to be abandoned by the international community who s looking at Africa dying. It is time for us Africans to fight against this scourge.

How To Start A Successful Business In Africa

How To Start A Successful Business In Africa

Africa offers vast potential markets, and significant natural and human resources for business. In this article, I will highlight some fundamental principles and best practices for business creation in Africa.

Why Marketing Is So Important For Your Business

Why Marketing Is So Important For Your Business

In this article, I am going to walk you through the basics of marketing that all entrepreneurs and business owners should master to hopefully reach the goals and growth needed for their business.

Investing In Africa's Emerging Market

Investing In Africa's Emerging Market

Now that energy prices and commodity prices are up all over the world, Africa is becoming a strategic location for all parts of the world. With the demographic explosion of middle class, with lots of resources and commodities that are attractive to the world, with lots of investment commitment in the infrastructure sector, we believe that these opportunities can translate to investment opportunities and that Africa will rise and contribute to the rest of the world.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Entrepreneurship in Africa (Problems / Solutions)

Business creation is not a new thing in Africa. Indeed, history teaches us that Africans were big traders. Time has passed and entrepreneurship has not really changed. But as you know, set up a business in Africa, large or small, is sometimes a long and difficult road to walk into. It takes knowledge, resources, tools, and ideally a mentor or a sponsor to support you and give you that helping hand to progress into this administrative and financial jungle. Often times in Africa, the lack of financial solution prevents young business and management students to follow through their ideas and create profitable businesses.

There is no doubt that the creation of small businesses would allow economic recovery of certain villages, cities, and would offer to youngsters the opportunity to stop the exodus in search of an imaginary Occidental paradise and work for the development of our continent. But, for this to happen we must first, create an environment conducive to entrepreneurship.

Problems Encountered
Indeed the issue of entrepreneurship in Africa is a problem we must address at the core. As an African proverb says, "The construction of a house, always start with the foundation"; thus develop entrepreneurship at its core and base concepts. And that can be done by addressing the factors that hinder the development of entrepreneurship in Africa. Here are a few:
  • Low entrepreneurial culture in Africa: Young Africans face a socioeconomic environment that does not promote the spirit of entrepreneurship. We must educate the public about the benefits of entrepreneurship which in principle is the key to Africa’s development. The lack of support and mentor to young entrepreneur is also a problem to solve.
  • The lack of access to adequate financial services: opportunities for business financing are very slim. It is difficult to find an appropriate financial institution for adequate and long term funding. This funding problem does not arise with the same intensity for all genres or regions of the continent, entrepreneurs need a financing for working capital, financing for advances on markets, project financing (investments). Many entrepreneurs here have to resort to the tontine system as found in Africa. It is a savings that could be called informal and is often used and invested directly in the small family business or craft and substitute bank credit to finance the informal sector; Thus Africa’s financial systems must be adjusted in order to address these deficiencies. Basically we need to multiply the institutions of venture capital, to increase tenfold guarantee funds, to improve the financial market and diversify funding.
  • Cumbersome administrative procedures and Justice: The process of business creation is complex and distributed among several agencies or institutions. With the scourge of corruption in some African countries, we must "put hand in pocket" if we want the process to be accelerated. In general we have to wait long enough and put the price in order to finally open a business. At this level the politics must allow the centralization of administrative procedure, lower legal steps and cost to reduce the time to create a business.
  • Lack of skilled workforce for business management: Business and management schools are increasing in Africa, but there are not many young people who are capable of managing large firms and assert themselves as entrepreneur. We have to reform our education system to have even in science major, courses in business management, marketing, sales and economy. Because most of our graduates are skilled but don’t have any knowledge about money and business management.

Examples of suitable financing
Despite all these difficulties, it would be incorrect to say that entrepreneurship is dead in Africa because there are hundreds of successful private companies in our soil and some whose sponsors had faith in them and were able to find good financing suited to their projects here is a partial list:
  • SITRAFER: rehabilitation of the railroad in Madagascar.
  • 3T: specialized in transit, has raised funding from IFC leasing.
  • TUNDE Group: First printing craft, became a structure involved in the printing industry, transportation and agribusiness through Cowrie Investment.
  • Ecobank: Deploying the west and center, plans to open a subsidiary that specializes in investment (IFC).
  • People Input: IT, West Africa and Central Africa.
  • Les Moulins du Burkina: privatized mills, viable structure with the support of EBID.
  • TRADEX: imports petroleum products, distributes petroleum products, made the "bunker" at sea.
  • Niger Milk: industrial manufacture of milk derivatives by BOAD and Cowrie Investment.
The development of entrepreneurship in Africa will require the creation of an African concept of entrepreneurship and not necessarily an exact copy of what exists abroad. We must combine the best practices in Western business creation with African context and concepts. The concept of African entrepreneurship is based on the value of African culture but also on the joint development by highlighting the socioeconomic environment.

Think African entrepreneurship is also up to resolve once and for all the problems of finding adequate funding and the cumbersome procedures, the development of local initiatives such cooperatives in the countryside and village groups.

What Is Entrepreneurship / Qualities Of A Good Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is the act of creating wealth and / or employment through the creation or acquisition of a company. An entrepreneur is thus a person who is engaged in an effort to transform his knowledge, ideas and innovations concepts in economic goods. This may lead to new organizations or perhaps to the revitalization of certain branch of an existing organization in response to a perceived opportunity.

In fact many definitions of entrepreneur can be found in the literature, another broader definition by the French economist JB Say (1800) says "The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of lower and into higher productivity and greater yield."

Types of entrepreneurship
The most widespread form of entrepreneurship is starting a new business, but in recent years the term has been extended to include social and political forms of entrepreneurial activities. Thus we can distinguish three types of entrepreneurs that can be differentiated by their motivations:
  • Social Entrepreneur: A social entrepreneur is motivated by a desire to help improve and transform society, environment, education system and economic conditions.
  • Serial Entrepreneur: A serial entrepreneur is one who always has new ideas and creates new businesses. He is more likely to take risks and overcome or bounce back from business failure.
  • LifeStyle Entrepreneur: These entrepreneurs put passion before profit when launching a business. Their motivation is a combination of personal interests and talents with the ability to earn a living.
Be or become an entrepreneur is not easy; indeed you must be highly motivated and fully determined, because it requires hard work, many sacrifices, dedication and perseverance. It is a profession where the risk of failure is very present; besides the vast majority of businesses (80%) fail in their first years. Apart from qualities in Business Management, a good entrepreneur must be a good leader. It must communicate its corporate vision, persuade his partners and his team members and boost their performances to ensure maximum productivity for the attainment of corporate goals.

Qualities of a Good Entrepreneur
It is clear that anyone can become an entrepreneur, but only the good entrepreneurs are successful and manage to get the fruits of their investment. There are some distinctive qualities that are required to be a successful entrepreneur. A number of these qualities are probably already built into your personality, while others may need to be worked and developed. Here is a list of some of these qualities:
  • Passion: It almost goes without saying that to become a successful entrepreneur, you must be passionate about your business. This does not necessarily mean you have to build a business around something you love. You can (and should) identify a profitable market and grow your business from there. The fact that you love your company will also help you to persevere in your efforts in difficult times like the development stage (quite painful), and other obstacles ahead.
  • Leadership: Although the definition of a leader is not easy, we recognize one when we see him in action. Basically, it's the ability to be in charge of people and guide them to achieve their objectives. A leader must be able to plan, motivate, coach and evaluate his staff. A leader must also have both managerial and interpersonal skills.
  • Interpersonal skills: Business management is about managing people, you will therefore need to be good at communication if you want to succeed. Whether with customers, suppliers or employees, it is important that you learn to effectively communicate your entire message to ensure your business is run as smoothly as possible.
  • Organization and time management: Time management will help you organize and make sure you do all your work as efficiently as possible. It is very easy to give in to procrastination when working alone, so you need to find ways to solve this problem. Maybe you can create a task list or use time management software to help you manage your workload and increase your productivity.
  • Risk-Taking: A good entrepreneur must be willing to take calculated risks if he wants to succeed. Sometimes in business you will need to trust your instincts and walk on water, when you do not have enough information or time to make a rational decision. However, you will need to distinguish between craziness and calculated risk. Make sure you do your research and ensure that your business plan is feasible before starting the project. This may prevent you from having an unpleasant surprise in the future.
  • Competitiveness: Competition is everywhere. Business is strictly based on out compete your competition. If you can establish your presence in the market, differentiate yourself from your competitors and surpass them by providing a product with better quality and affordable price, your chances of being a successful entrepreneur will be much larger. It’s a struggling game that you play to win, but never sacrifice your integrity for the sake of a few bank bills.
  • Confidence: Confidence is a key competence for entrepreneurial success. It is easy to be demoralized or frustrated if you do not have confidence in yourself. Confidence concerning your capacity and performance. A successful entrepreneur believes in his abilities. He is not afraid to explore new areas or opportunities, take risks and make difficult decisions in very little time.

Ultimately, there is no substitute for hard work when it comes to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Most people choose the most simple and fast way when it comes to work. If you want to be successful, you must devote to persistent and productive work, leadership and rational time management.

Why Be An Entrepreneur In Africa

Africa is not going well, its entire economy is at risk, plus, Africa appears to be abandoned by the international community who’s looking at Africa dying. It is time for us Africans to fight against this scourge by providing an environment or a platform that’s conducive for the creation and development of small and medium businesses and attractive for foreign capital. We must not only train and educate continuously our workforce but also create markets by engaging in various business sectors.

Problems and challenges of Africa.
Africa is a continent full of resources, both material and human. With a population of over 1 billion inhabitants (2010), Africans account for 16.14% of the world population. But unlike the economies of other continents, the African economy continues to plummet. The share of Africa in world exports fell from 4.5% in 1990 to 1.1% in 2008 and foreign direct investments fell from 5.8% in 1990 to 1% in 2008, according to a statement from the FAO. The contribution of Africa in world trade is very low, and in permanent decline from 8% in 1990 to 2% today, and its exports are 80% oil, minerals and agricultural products. This is what makes Africa a continent totally abandoned in globalization.

In other words, Africa is going bad and it's all alone with his destiny. There are fewer foreign investors in the continent, thus exports are less and less possible. We must therefore start to take these problems more seriously and find ways to solve them by ourselves, ways that will enhance the image and status of African economy to attract new foreign investors. These are difficult and complex tasks; and to have any chance to succeed we must take action in a distributed manner, in fact each one has a role to play in this battle: politicians, governments, large, small and medium enterprises and each African.
Given that I am not a politician, I'll just talk about the private sector. How to change organizations, create jobs, impact the economic growth, have a solid and steady income by being an entrepreneur or business owner in Africa.

Why Entrepreneurship is a practical solution for these problems.
In general the first cornerstone for a flourishing economy is employment. But either in private or public sector, Africa is the continent where there is more unemployment in the world. Despite the proliferation of education and the increasing number of graduates, there are still not enough jobs for all fresh graduates, thus you will find graduated students doing hand labor like masonry or other jobs less lucrative, and irrelevant to their intellectual background. If Africa wants to get out of this mess, Africans we must step ahead and transform ourselves into entrepreneurs and create jobs, inspire and motivate others to do likewise, because at the end of the day, it is a work of mentoring, collaboration and sharing. Many others continents and countries have done this, and why not Africa?

Example of countries where entrepreneurship has been the solution to problems.
The current world economic prowess continually covers entrepreneurs whose successes opened new doors and contribute to finding new markets and new opportunities. The discovery of lucrative markets attracts foreign capitals that contribute to increase the brand and economy the country. Two examples of countries that were once poor just like us, but now have a rapidly growing economy: China and India. 

China: It is a country whose economy is experiencing a remarkable rise, with a system which promotes the growth of the private sector and attracts foreign investors. Globally, on average, the volume of Chinese exports rose by 14% between 1990 and 1999, and by 20.5% between 2000 and 2008. Imports grew a bit slower: 13% per annum during the 1990s, and 16% between 2000 and 2008. China generates about 9% of world exports and 7% of world imports in 2008, against 1.2 and 1.1% in 1983. The presence of foreign firms on Chinese soil is largely responsible for the sharp acceleration in export growth.
The establishment of "market socialism" has established many factories in China, which has been called the world's workshop, because of the social dumping of its manufactory. China attracted the skilled workforce in coastal areas where they are located. Only 41% of Chinese exports come from enterprises fully Chinese. Today, 39% of exports from China are made by companies whose capital is one hundred percent foreign and 20% of exports are the result of partnerships between foreign companies and Chinese companies. China maintains its attractiveness for companies with cheap, skilled and docile workforce. That’s why China is the King in outsourcing.  

India: Like other BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India, China), the Indian Union is emerging as a new major industrial country. In recent years, investment flows are increasing rapidly, up 25 billion dollars in 2005, but $ 66 billion in 2006. In 2007, India is the 12th largest economy with a GDP of $ 1,171 billion or 2.15% of world GDP (World Bank, GDP 2007). Among all sectors (agriculture, industry, service), the computer services industry is one that stands out and supports a dramatic increase in recent years.
The service environment is very important in the economy, with employment of millions of people to sustain the production of software, hardware, advanced data capture and high technology. The advantage for multinational companies like IBM, to expand and settle in Indian Territory, is again the low cost of workforce compared to other countries.

    Synthesis
    With these two examples, we can see that it is possible to move from the current status of the African economy, to a growing economy with attractive and lucrative markets for foreign companies. These markets can be in primary sectors like agriculture, fishing and mining, as well as in some secondary sectors such as banking, transportation and information technology. Private companies more than public companies are those catalyzing economic development in these countries. Hence it is great time for us as Africans to create businesses, train young people in all business sectors in Africa in order to have a skilled, not necessarily cheap, workforce for foreign investors. The capital and energy to invest depend on the type and size of the business to create.

    What is important to remember is that we can all take action and do something in our level, there are sectors that require little financial and human resources for their launches, the technology and informatics industry is one of those sectors. Indeed, India, China and Brazil are currently well ranked on the world market by offering such services.


    In my next articles, I will propose a list of the different sectors of interest in, with details and tips that can help and guide you to success as an entrepreneur in Africa.

    Doing Business In Cameroon

    Entrepreneurs wishing to do business in Cameroon must follow a number of steps before the actual opening of the doors of their company. Presently Cameroon has an economy based on oil and agricultural resources, and with the advent of globalization and modernization, Cameroon is very poorly represented in areas such as world trade, new technologies, online business etc.. To create a successful business in Cameroon, one must have sufficient knowledge of the economic and financial status of the country, as well as the various markets available locally because it is necessary to clearly identify the population's needs and pains, and then make a business plan to meet and fulfill those needs.

    Entrepreneurship
    It is obvious that the process for opening a business in Cameroon depends largely on the type of company we want to open, because the process for someone who wants to open a clothing shop, will not be the same as someone who wants to open a bank for example. But in general, the process of starting a business in Cameroon is long, tedious, and time consuming. It is also one of the reasons why the private sector is very underdeveloped. People wants to go out and start businesses, but the complicated legislation around business creation and those long processes are not encouraging. Although there are formal and published deadlines, the execution part of those deadlines are never respected.
    The procedure can take 45 days and beyond, and this is simply too long. To better understand the extent of this delay, let compare it with the one in another African country like the Seychelles. There it takes 24 hours, no more, to create a business. The complexity of this procedure in Cameroon is that it is distributed. In fact it affects several jurisdictions that have different guardianships and contribute to prolong the delay.

    Regarding the procedure itself, it depends on the legal structure adopted. The Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA) adopted in April 1997, a series of texts constituting the foundation for a modernized economic and common law to the countries of the Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). Among the documents signed, we have the Uniform Act on the right of Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Grouping, which enables the liberalization of economic activity, with strong legal guarantees.
    In addition to acts of OHADA, the companies in Cameroon are also governed by the Civil Code and Law No. 90/031 of 10 August 1990 governing commercial activity in Cameroon. These texts thus permit the entrepreneurs to choose from various types of companies the one that suits the best the activity they want to start.
    It was thus:
    • The General Partnership (SNC: Société en Nom Collectif)
    • Limited Partnership (SCS: Société en Commandite Simple)
    • The Limited Liability Company (LLC)
    • Société Anonyme (SA)
    • The Economic Interest Group (EIG)
    For more information about each of these types of companies, visit the OHADA tests or read this very interesting article on setting up a business in Cameroon.

    Discussions
    The difficulties here may be encountered at several levels:
    •     Procedure
    As we said above, it is expensive, and very dispersed. Thus you really need to know where you are going and what you really want to do because it requires a lot of eagerness, desire and patience. Organizations such as the CFE (Centre Camerounais de Formalités des Entreprises) may also be a great help; Established in 1994, CFE is a private organization supporting the creation and development of companies in Cameroon. It assists project sponsors and sponsors and mentors young companies in all phases of their corporate life.
    •     Implementation, Business Culture
    Many people remain skeptical about the future of business in Cameroon and are reluctant to invest. It is clear that as in any market, there are always risks of failure, but this should not take precedence over your desire to contribute to the enhancement of the image of Cameroon's economy and your need to create a company that will change the lives of many people. Of course we need to deepen our market study and pick some promising sectors of the market. Then we need to associate global business best practices with the business culture "Made in Cameroon."

    Like the whole Africa, there are many opportunities in Cameroon, because they needs are unresolved or resolved in half. And to compete with the world, we need to take more action. It is time for us to wake up as an African, and strive for a sustainable development of our dear and beautiful continent.

    Friday, June 3, 2011

    Cameroon's Economic Situation

    Cameroon is a "rich" country, since it has many natural resources, namely in agriculture, forestry, mining and many oil companies. According to Wikipedia, its GDP is half of the one of the whole Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), which gives it an important place at the regional level. But the Cameroonian people experience great frustration with their economic and social difficulties. With an unemployment rate that continues to grow, a private sector that is almost non-existent and some states that try somehow to limit the damage by recruiting fresh graduates in the public sector, in short there are very few offers for a huge number of job seekers.

    This should in fact be seen as a challenge, and as an open door, that motivates Cameroonians and the whole African community to continue to fight for a better exploitation of our resources and a call for investors and entrepreneurs, nationals or foreigners, to boost and reshape the way business is done in Cameroon. In this article, we present the business climate in Cameroon, and ends with a discussion on prolific sectors.

    Cameroon's Economic Situation

    As a relatively rich country, Cameroon recorded since 1987, major drops in his economic activities and a serious financial crisis that forced the authorities to heavily cut jobs in public services, to compress investment in the country and to suspend the payment of the debt. Despite government efforts with the intervention of World Bank Group, with the resumption of recruitment programs, workshops and discussion forums consistent with the initiatives undertaken by the Government to promote and encourage business environment, but the results do not follow yet. With a growing population and an increasing number of unemployed graduates with, it is therefore essential to find solutions to:
    • Strengthening the institutional framework for improved economic management and service delivery. 
    • Support for private sector development to diversify the economy and accelerate growth.
    • Improving the investment’s climate, in addition to building support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the continuation of direct investment transactions with the local private sector.
    • The investment not only in the exploitation of natural resources, but also in sectors such as ICT where countries like China and India managed to dominate the world and boost their economies.
    These are just a few examples of things that can be done, and changed in the way business is done in our dear country. And to continue this momentum, the culture of entrepreneurial spirit is also very important. Because in big countries like the United States and Germany, economic growth and unemployment reduction are driven by small and medium businesses. So as young generation, we must not only look for work, but also learn to make a difference by creating a business and change people lives by giving them jobs and financial security. That's how it works and has always worked.

    Some prolific sectors
    For those who want to start a business but are short of ideas; many possibilities are opened for you. They depend heavily on your industry or market or niche and your individual aspirations and determination. Then one can either:
    •     Exploit an existing market
         It is clear that the majority of jobs created in Cameroon are in farming, oil, food, manufacture; and so by choosing one of these areas, you take less risk because many others are already there and they have laid the foundation so that you can easily master all the process of creating monitoring a project in these sectors. An example here is the food sector: opening a restaurant, a McDonald's, a supermarket ect. A disadvantage here is that competition is great and to keep your customers, you should compete in prices or in service.

    • Doing in innovation
    Here there is more risk but less competition. In fact, innovation is more difficult and requires more critical analysis. Here you must create your own market by educating the public about the benefits of the service you are offering. A good example here is the new technologies, although the population and business are giving increasingly more important to computers and new technology, it is always difficult to convince a CEO to shift from the old school papered business management to an computerize the management system, or creating a website and take advantage of internet marketing to boost sales and popularity. But once past this lock and if you have managed to acquire a certain reputation for the quality of your services or products, and with the fact that there is less competition you will lead the market and make much more profit.
    Many companies are investing in computer maintenance and selling computer and other hardware equipments. For the moment, they have enough success against companies developing software products (Software).

    But since I am a computer engineer and advocates for innovation, and education of African about the goods and benefits of new technologies, my advice for you is to start an IT business, so that in future we may be like India or China.

    Thursday, June 2, 2011

    Cameroonian Music Scene



    Cameroon is located in Central Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea. It has several large cities including Yaounde, the country's political capital and Douala, the economic capital. Its cultural and ethnic diversity (over 240 ethnic groups, with 240 different languages) made Cameroon a nest of talent, not only in sports but also in music. In this article we will take a near look at the Cameroonian music in the country and in diaspora.



    Cameroonian Music
    The Best known music of Cameroon is Makossa, for the most part, it is popularized in France by some major musical figures like Manu Dibango, Richard Bona and Etienne Mbappe. But our beautiful country has many other natural rhythms, some of which still belong to the traditional single register. Rhythms such as the "bikoutsi", the "Bend skin", the "Manga Mbeu", the “Essewe", "Ku Nga" and other like the "Assiko” rhythms are all joining gradually playlist in night clubs and wedding parties! In Cameroon, we do not learn to sing or dance, it’s a gift, something that we are born with and it is simply in our bones and blood. Sometimes we do not even need a guitar or a piano or any other modern music instrument; we make music with whatever we have on hand, and the result is simply extraordinary. That's the originality of Cameroonian music, made of those strange musical instruments that are only found in Africa, and Cameroon.

    Cameroonian Rhythm’s originality
    Far from the global trends of pop, rock and disco, it is in cultural diversity that the Cameroonian music finds its originality. In fact, each region and each ethnic group in the country has its own rhythms that are inspired by its life experience, tradition and ancestral practices. But only some manage to attract record labels and to be promoted in radio stations and nightclubs. Among the most popular rhythms we have:
    • Makossa: Being the most liked Cameroon music style; it is popularized by various diaspora Cameroonian artists in France, Switzerland and United States. It is based on the traditional dances of the people of Douala, namely the “Esewe” and the “Kossa”, with significant influences from jazz, zouk, “ambass bay”, Latino music, and rumba. Artists such as Eboa Lotin, Misse Ngoh, Richard Bona and especially Manu Dibango are major figures in the history of makossa. With the new generations, we see artists like Petit Pays, Samy Diko, Longue Longue, Sergeo Polo, Narcisse Prize and many others be on top of the charts. 
    • Bitkussi: This dance and music is from the Center and South provinces of Cameroon. It is a traditional dance of the Beti ethnic group. The word bikutsi means in Ewondo “beat of the ground” which is materialized by beating the ground with the soles of the feet. One of the emblematic figures of bikutsi in the country and abroad is indeed K-Tino. We also have monuments like Anne Marie Nzie, the band “Les têtes brulées”, Chantal Ayissi, Ai-Jo Mamadou, Lady Ponce, Bisso Solo and many others. 
    • Assiko: Originally a traditional dance performed in healing sessions, the Assiko has evolved over time into a party dance in itself. Less famous than the first two, this dance is mostly found, in Bassas and Betis regions. The dancers move in small steps swaying sensually. The music is played using guitars and traditional drums. Jean Aladin Bikoko is one of the icons of this musical style, he managed to make a career with Assiko and to bring and perform the music in more commercial arena like discos and nightclubs. Other assiko artists are quite well known: LIMAL Joseph, Mongo Mbea Paul Balomog Samson chaud gars, Kilama Kol Mbogol and Nlella. 
    • Manga Mbeu Bend and skin: It's a musical style of the western region, especially the Bangangte people. It has been popularized by artists like Pierre Diddy Tchakounte, Andre Marie Talla and the group Kouchouam Mbada.

    Diaspora Artists
    4million. This is the official number published by the Cameroonian authorities to estimate the number of Cameroonians distributed around the world including talent and Cameroonian music ambassadors. We will present here a few that have enhanced the International image of Cameroon through music.
    • Manu Dibango: With over 22 albums to his credit, numerous compilations and unreleased Duo, Manu Dibango is now considered the greatest African saxophonist in business, and the godfather of all African musicians. His latest album titled “Joue Sidney Bechet” (2007) honors the work of the saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet from New Orleans. 




    • Etienne Mbappe: Born in Douala, Cameroon, he enrolled at the conservatory-Chevilly Larue to study classical guitar and then classical bass. Since 2000 Étienne Mbappé plays with Joe Zawinul and is a full member of the "Zawinul Syndicate. He also performed in many concerts with Louis Winsberg. In 2001, he recorded on the latest album of Ray Charles. With two solo albums under his belt, he still well represents his country Cameroon.  saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet from New Orleans.
      • Yannick Noah: Yannick Noah was born in Sedan in France May 18, 1960, from a Cameroonian father, Zacharie, and a French mother, Marie-Claire. He discovered Cameroon in 1963 when his father, professional footballer, was seriously wounded and decided to return to his country. Famous tennis player, man with a big heart, Yannick Noah is the only athlete ever to successfully make a conversion to a musical career. First doubted and finger pointed he was able to make the right choice and gradually conquer a place in French music. With 9 albums to his credit, he is regularly in Cameroon and multiplies shows and concerts.
       
    • Richard Bona: First recognized on the international music scene as a fantastic bass player, he also leads since 1999 his career as a solo artist with six albums under his belt. Richard Bona was born in 1967 in Minta, Cameroon, in a family of musicians. He emigrated to Germany at age 22, then moved to France to pursue music studies. He played regularly in jazz clubs and performed alongside Jacques Higelin, Didier Lockwood, Manu Dibango, Salif Keita, Francis Lassus etc..
    • Wess Madiko: Better known as Wes, is a singer and musician from Cameroon, born January 15, 1964 at Motaba. In 1992, he went to the U.S. for the release of his album Roots. He gave many concerts in Atlanta on this tour. Shortly after, he found success with the album Welenga (en), composed by Michel Sanchez, founder of Deep Forest. In 1997, his title Alane (in), resulting from Welenga, became a summer hit. The following year, his song In Youpendi is used in the movie The King Lion 2: The Honor of the Tribe