The Government Action Fair, commonly known by the French acronym SAGO marked its 13th edition this year from the 20th to to the 27th of July 2024 and took place at the Yaounde Multipurpose Sport Complex where Cameroon Telecommunications (CAMTEL) showcased its digital strength which has proportionately eased the economic and social life of Cameroonians.
Mrs. Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi who is the CAMTEL General Director was present together with her collaborators and partners to exhibit CAMTEL’s contributions to structural change. CAMTEL took part in SAGO with the theme “Governance and Improvement of Citizens Living Conditions: Contributions from CAMTEL”
Speaking at the conference, the Director General said the company has assisted the state in planting 3,000 surveillance cameras across towns and cities in Cameroon. CAMTEL has gone ahead to create IT centers in state universities aimed to foster digital learning.To exhibit its works in promoting the social and economic rights of citizen, CAMTEL organized a conference within the ten day fair, bringing together experts to discuss the extent to which governance has improved citizens’ living conditions. With the moderator as Alain Belibi, Speaker after speaker explored different thematics to show CAMTEL’S roadmap in the lives of citizens. CAMTEL plays a central role in the digital transformation of the administration and the daily lives of Cameroonians. The experts were Christian Etoundi Ngaba who is the Director of the Fix Business Unit, Bih Tabot, Director of the Transport Business Unit, Francis Outto and Technical Adviser at CAMTEL.
CAMTEL operates with four submarine cables with a 12,800 km optic fiber transport network. It has a certified autodata center with 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks. These resources enable CAMTEL to play a key role in reducing the digital divide and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This digitalization has not only improved the efficiency of services, but has also promoted transparency and reduced corruption. To ameliorate living conditions, CAMTEL has made footprints across various sectors in Cameroon which is noticeable in e-commerce, e-medicine, e-health, e-government, e-security, e-agriculture, e-banking and e-visa. As a matter of fact, the promotion of e-agriculture improves the productivity, yields and economic growth. E- funding facilitates the collection of funds, secure local revenues and reduce processing times meanwhile parking management improves with digital payment systems. Community teleconferences provide Internet access to local populations and serve as hubs for online learning. Waste management is also envisaged to optimize thanks to technologies CAMTEL upholds that digital technologies have the capacity to transform markets and economic opportunities. Hinged on this the telecom company in the last fifteen years, has enabled the creation of nearly 6,000 direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs. It is recorded that in 2021, mobile technologies and services generated economic added value of $4.5 trillion indicating or 5% of global GDP in Cameroon.
The contributions of the telecom in digital transformation and the life of citizens is outstanding. CAMTEL has increased the online presence of Cameroonians. CAMTEL looks forward in paving ways for a corporate citizenry which is innovative in digital transformation in Africa south of the Sahara by 2030. CAMTEL plans to expand its services to include Smart City and financial inclusion projects, thereby contributing to balanced socio-economic development.
