BCAC, gov’t chat better business climate

The Business Coalition Against Corruption, BCAC, launched in Cameroon in 2011 by members of the Business Council for Africa, BCA Cameroon, is to partner with the Government to create a better business climate in the country.

This was revealed in a presentation in Douala on October 29, by the Chairman of the Business Coalition Against Corruption, Raph Arrey Manyi, who is also the current Chairman of the Cameroon Branch of Business Council for Africa, that created the Coalition.

The presentation was made at the Business Networking Event which was sponsored by the British High Commission in Cameroon. One of two themes of the event was: “Fighting Corruption – What can we really do in Cameroon?” The event, which was coordinated by the British High Commissioner, Brain Olley, was attended by General Managers and representatives of multinational and local companies.

Arrey Manyi stated that the BCA, which was created in 2005, is a branch of the London-based Business Council for Africa, which is an association of big and small investors. The founding members of BCA are BAT, MTN Cameroon, Guinness Cameroon, Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon and Shell.

Support By GIZ Arrey Manyi disclosed that the founding members of BCA-Cameroon created the Coalition for the fight against corruption, after securing the support of the German Development Agency, GIZ, as principal partner to fund the BCA ambition of “improving the business climate in partnership with Government.”

The British High Commissioner, the Country Director of GIZ, the Chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, CONAC, and the President of Transparency International–Cameroon, are some of the members of the Steering Committee of the Coalition.

Arrey Manyi stated that other major objectives of the coalition include: build a critical mass of companies active in improving standards of governance; help members to create a healthy internal anti-corruption culture in their businesses; facilitate reporting of complaints from victims of corruption; help companies to comply with Cameroonian and international anti-corruption legislation (Cameroon Penal Code, US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, UK Anti-bribery and Corruption Act, among others); improve the reputation of member companies, thereby reducing their risk profile. Manyi said CONAC and the Coalition will sign a memorandum of understanding in November 2014.

Growing Interest In the Coalition Manyi stressed the strong commitment of the Business Coalition for the fight Against Corruption to support the Cameroon Government’s national strategy for the fight against corruption, by “sensibly reducing the intensity of corrupt practices and similar acts in the private sector.”

He said he was happy to note that there was growing interest among both big and small businesses in Cameroon to join the Coalition. He disclosed that the current membership of the Coalition is 48 companies and there are 27 outstanding letters of engagement. Some other members of the Coalition include: GLENCORE Exploration Cameroon, ADDAX Petroleum, Hilton, Citibank, Societe General Cameroun, Dana Petroleum, COTCO, Ecobank, EurOil, Alucam, UBA.

Meanwhile, Manyi also explained that member companies of the Coalition, as well as interested companies that are not yet members of the Coalition, send in selected personnel that are meant to be the focal points in their companies, for training at seminars on techniques in the fight against corruption, organised by the Coalition. He disclosed that as many as 126 companies have taken part in the training courses which are free of charge.

Victimization By Corrupt Officials Meanwhile, General Managers of some small companies that are members of the Coalition disclosed that, unlike the multinational or big companies that can dare to bluntly reject the demand for bribes and go free, small companies which dare to reject the demand for bribe or attempts to extort money from them, are flagrantly victimised by corrupt tax officials, policemen, customs officers and so on.

They recounted some of the bitter experiences their enterprises have had in the past in the hands of corrupt officials. The representative of a small company even disclosed that one of the reasons that the company has decided to join the Coalition, is to have protection from the big companies whenever the company is victimised by a corrupt official.

Arrey Manyi Seasoned Senior Manager Arrey Manyi was, in July 2014 in Yaounde, elected for a two-year mandate as Chairman of the Cameroon Branch of the Business Council for Africa and Chairman of the Business Coalition Against Corruption. The Vice Chairman is the CEO of MTN Cameron.

Arrey Manyi, who is a seasoned Senior Manager, is presently the Senior Country Director of Dana Petroleum Cameroon Ltd. A former Deputy Director of Production with Guinness Cameroon SA where he worked for 20 years, the versatile Arrey Manyi also served as Managing Director of Yenon Oil Marketing and Distribution, as well as Managing Director of Soft Rock Energy Ltd, and also as Managing Director of Raman Engineering Consultants and Allied Services.

Arrey Manyi who hails from Nchang Village in Manyu Division, Southwest Region, is an Electrical Engineer by training and holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

He heads a number of associations, namely: President of the Manyu Elements Cultural and Development Association (MECA) Douala, National President of Ombe Technical High School Ex-Students Association, National President of Bayang Association for Self Help (BASH), President of the Littoral Chapter of the Cameroon Society of Engineers and Archdiocesan President of the Catholic Men Association - Douala Archdiocese. Manyi is married, and is a father of four.