Tech entrepreneur. Founder CEO @AppsTech, Fellow @RAEngGlobal, Chair of @Activspaces, Vice-Chair @WHOFoundation. Boards: @ABANangels, @iccwbo, @literacy_now1
Nov 20, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Entrepreneurs should be very careful before taking other people's money. Whether as equity or as loans, especially from non-professional investors. The likelihood that it will backfire is very high.
Startups and small businesses have a very high failure rate. 9 out of 10 don't make it past three years.
When you fail as an entrepreneur, losing your own invested resources, time, energy, it's bad enough. But when someone else's hard earned money is lost as well, it creates new issues, especially when they didn't understand the risk.
Jul 21, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I used my Cameroon Ecobank card a few months ago to make a small purchase in West Africa CFA at the Lome Airport duty-free shop while in transit. I tried to use card again today in Cameroon. I am told it's blocked because I failed to justify my trip to Lome 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
List of documents required to justify trip:
- Passport
- airline tickets
- visa
- passport pages with stamps leaving Cameroon and arriving abroad.
Jan 28, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Francophone Africans complain about French influence but hardly question the remaining constructs of French colonial governance like gouverneurs (commandants)", prefets (chef de terre), ENAM, cachets, Napoleonic Civil Code, gendarmes, etc. not to mention our currency the Franc!
We are "anti-France" but our whole societal model of accomplishment revolves around being more French than the others. More champagne, more French wine, trips to Paris are all elevated as proof that we reached a certain level in society.
Oct 11, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Most non francophone Africans don't really understand all the criticism against those who attended the #AfricaFranceRemix summit. Let me try to explain:
The relationship between Francophone Africans and France is complex.
Like a woman forcibly married as a child who suffered through an abusive marriage and officially got out of it but the husband kept the bank account so the woman constantly has to interact with her abuser. #AfricaFranceRemix
Mar 12, 2021 • 28 tweets • 5 min read
Une histoire à la camerounaise. la BEAC, NFC Bank, un avocat sénateur et des sommes faramineuses:
Go get your popcorn. It's a long thread
En 2007, une société est créée en vue d’être une banque. Un milliard est déposé dans un compte à NFC pour constituer son capital. En 2008, le promoteur décède. Des individus profitent de son décès pour vider le compte de son capital.
Nov 1, 2020 • 45 tweets • 7 min read
1/ L’une des sources du conflit #EndAnglophoneCrisis est que deux territoires distincts, la République du Cameroun, "indépendant," et Southern Cameroons, encore sous tutelle mais avec institutions démocratiques, décident de s’unir pour créer la République Fédérale du Cameroun.
2/ C’est ce clash de vision de ce qu’est un état, une nation, et quel est le rôle de ces citoyens qui revient à la charge aujourd’hui.
Nov 1, 2020 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
This is not about tribes or even about language.
It’s about two completely different perceptions of governance which arose from near 50 years of different pre-reunification experiences.
A territory used to democracy united with one used to repression.
Imagine Ghana reuniting with Côte d’Ivoire, or Benin reuniting with Nigeria. If that reunification isn’t handled well, you can end up with the war we have now in Cameroon.
Moderator says full unionists declined. #EndAnglophoneCrisis
"The root cause is the failure to fully decolonise a people."
"The union was based on lies, ruse."
"Very different perspective on what State is. One side thinks State is common resources good of all. The other believes State is created through fear and violence."
now Amazonian Governing Council President Cho Ayaba is on.
"It was a difficult invitation to ignore. It was also a difficult invitation to accept." ... "with genocide deniers,.."
Oct 10, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Ça concerne tous les téléphones. Ils n'ont aucun moyen de savoir où le téléphone a été acheté. Ils se basent sur l'IMEI et demandent aux importateurs d'enregistrer l'IMEI de CHAQUE téléphone importé! 9r, les tels chinois ont tous le même IMEI. 1/..
2/ Les opérateurs telcos vont envoyer un fichier avec des dizaines de millions de données à une société inconnue avec un mode de sécurité inconnu. Cette société va traiter les données et voir si ce téléphone a déjà été déclaré comme étant dédouané. Pour les téléphones sans...
Whenever I see official info coming from China, I pause. They have the best propaganda machine on the planet. So even during this #COVID2019 crisis, I find myself questioning everything.
Let me share a short story of why.
A few years ago, went to China for a business trip to a resort town. Everything was perfect. Most beautiful airport I had ever seen, roads, cleanliness, infrastructure but few people. We had a ‘minder’ accompany us everywhere. She knew our entire bios. Super friendly and helpful.
Dec 18, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
A sad day in our community when a shady startup founder uses law enforcement to intimidate and threaten former team members more than a year and a half after they left.
Don’t worry. I will give you all the details.... flying algorithms won’t keep me from tweeting.
Petit, là où tu viens de mettre les pieds, j'espère que tu seras capable d'assumer. Comme tu dis qu'ils t'ont fait perdre 25 millions de chiffre d'affaires, tu vas nous montrer ce CA là. Ils ont volé ton d. Tu vas nous montrer l'usine de fabrication où tu as fabriqué le d là.
Nov 18, 2019 • 17 tweets • 4 min read
Jumia shut down its Cameroon operations this morning, firing its entire staff, no public announcement, no special word from the group or its CEO. The brutality of the news to the staff echoes their management style and is, I believe, one of the reasons for its demise.
I watched this company from inception. When a young lady, newly arrived from France, was sent to start the Cameroon ops for Africa Internet Holdings, a @RocketBerlin subsidiary. I was introduced to her and of course knew Rocket. I was excited that they chose to come to Cameroon.
Oct 4, 2019 • 20 tweets • 13 min read
1/ I want to share the tragic story of one of Africa’s most brilliant minds in tech.
A thread.
2/ By the time he was 25, he had already obtained a doctorate in Electronic Engineering from City University in London. He was then recruited by a top tech firm in California. So many people, Americans, Europeans, asked me if I knew this Cameroonian genius. I was so intrigued.
Sep 14, 2019 • 37 tweets • 6 min read
On me demande tout le temps quelle est la différence entre un business angel et un VC (venture capitalist). J’ai répondu informellement ici mais je vais élaborer un peu dans ce thread.
Un VC lève de l’argent de gros investisseurs institutionnels comme les fonds de retraite, les assureurs, fondations, corporate, etc.
Sep 27, 2017 • 65 tweets • 6 min read
For non Cameroonians: when we refer to Southern Cameroons or Northern Cameroons these are territory names both located in West Cameroon.
S. Cameroons and N. Cameroons administered by British w/ Nigeria. S. Cameroons now in Cameroon as SW and NW regions. N.Cameroons in Nigeria
