Cameroon-Info.Net: What can you tell us about yourself and the Bamoun kingdom?

Prince Njoya Seidou: My name is Prince Njoya Seidou, the grand son of King Njoya. I am 41 years old, married with two loving children, Abiba Njoya and Adija Njoya. I am the younger brother of King Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya of the Bamoum Kingdom. I attended “Ecole Annex” in Foumban. At age eleven, I left to continue my education in Douala where I lived with my older brother, Alhadji Mama Atangana. At the age of fourteen, after graduating my Primary education, I started working at Monoprix in Douala as a concierge for two years. During this time, I saved enough money and relocated to Paris France to continue my education, passing through Abidjan where I was lucky to meet Mr. Carlos Nsangou and his loving wife Mary who adopted me, giving me food, all accommodations etc. Today I owe every thing I became to them.

A year later, my adopted parents relocated to Paris France taking me along. While in France, I worked and attended school at the same time. No one ever helped me in my life except my Godparents. I owe them so much that I am loss of words to explain. After obtaining a bachelors degree in Paris, I left for London with their blessing where I stayed for a couple of years driving a Cab and working in several hotels to survive. The conditions were very hard. I finally left for Belgium because my financial condition was not improving. In Belgium, the conditions were just as bad due to discrimination so I left for the United States where I worked with a company in Dallas called Pro. Line as a Director of department of Europe and Africa. I traveled a lot during this period for my job. After a few years, I was tired of living paycheck to pay check without achieving my ambition and watching my life go by without any improvement. I therefore decided to resign my position with this company. With the contacts I had created during my tenure with this company, I was able to return to Belgium as a businessperson. The rest of my life history and my family tree can be found at my web site on the internet: www.groupenjoya.com.

CIN: What’s the purpose of the Njoya Group?

Prince: I had returned to Belgium and became and import / exporter. However, after a few years, the American government made it easier for Europeans to travel to the U.S. and therefore my business dwindled away. I had to become creative and therefore I created the Njoya group. I created Internet cafes for our youths to try to educate themselves, a rental car company for visitors, Photo lab business for pictures, Home construction etc. I also sell cars and computers, mobile phones, graphics design, Networking equipment and satellite.

CIN: What are the factors that motivated you to create your own business?

Prince: In Cameroon, the government is unable to provide employment for everyone. I had realized this at an earlier age so I knew the only way out was to own my own business. This way, I can help other fellow Cameroonians and improve their living standards as well as mine.

CIN: How was the venture financed and what type of difficulties did you encounter at the beginning of your enterprise?

Prince: With the connections I had created from Belgium and United states, I was able to secure a loan from the bank with the help of some Congressmen and Senate friends from the US. It took awhile to get this loan but I was able to secure this loan eventually

CIN: How do you resolve the problems such as customs inspections and freight carriers business people face in the world of International Commerce?

Prince: The problem of custom in Cameroon is the worst that I have ever seen in my entire life. From the beginning, I was surprised that I was asked to pay a duty equivalent to the total cost of the vehicle I bought and shipped to Cameroon from the US. I was asked to pay $55000.00 in duty equivalent to the cost of the original SUV in US. I tried to explain that this car is to be used for business and that I will be paying taxes that will improve the financial situation of the government, they did not want to hear this. I was bringing in industrial machines that were to be placed in several provinces. I will be able to hire several people, creating jobs and improving the economy of the country. However, they were asking 100,000,000.00 CFA from me for each container of the machine. Although I was able to pay this amount, I still had to bribe each office that I had to pass through and sometime when you come in at 8am today, the person receiving the money does not come to his office until noon. If he does not show up, that is the end of your day. This is bad for business. It will be nice if power could be delegated so that when the person in charge is not available, someone else should be available to take care of the business at hand so that business should run smoothly. All the necessary documentation should be listed and given to you at the start so that when you return with all your finished documents; there will be nothing missing. However, they never give you a list. They make you come back several times meanwhile you are loosing time and money. The people are very rude and do not show any form of customer service. Any Cameroonian living abroad can identify with me when it comes to this, even if it is sending one car. This kind of situation is not good for business for Cameroon. The government is running away good business to other countries but because I love my country, I stay in Cameroon. I hope this situation will improve and the government will force other important improvements in commerce and taxation. I have no problem with taxes but just with the customs. Some customs officials do not know that certain items are duty free, but are asking people to go and pay duty on these items. I have spoken with government officials who promised to look in to the situation but the situation has not changed. I am still waiting for the customs to begin offering good customer service because they are not doing me a favor but doing their job. I do not want to run to government officials each time to complain about the problem so I will hope that the customs officials will learn to do their job with customers in mind, realizing that we are all trying to improve our Country. Ten years ago, things were worse. However, things are now getting better and could use some improvement to even get better. I have a lot of American friends that will like to invest in Cameroon but they do not want to because of these problems. The government is losing due to this unnecessary motivation (bribery). I am not a politician and do not want politics, I just want for our country to prosper. My advise to people is that they have to be patience. The law is there but the law is not being respected. When they learn the system, they will enjoy it. I have a few containers that I have had to return back to the manufacturer at my expense because the duty they were asking was double the original price of the equipments in the container.

CIN: How long has the group been in business and how successful are its various segments?

Prince: The group has been in business approximately 10 years and all our ventures are pretty successful. We are hoping for things to even get better as the problem with the customs and taxation is resolved.

CIN: Do you interact with other entrepreneurs doing business in Cameroon? If so who has had the biggest influence on the way you run the Njoya Group?

Prince : Yes, I do interact with other business entrepreneurs in Cameroon, including Delta and American Airlines. We are trying to start a shuttle between the U.S. and Cameroon. However, we are having difficulties with the licensing in Cameroon. Some people who are supposed to sign the documents are stalling because they want motivation (bribery) in order to sign this documents. If we do not motivate them, they will stall this deal and even kill it. This is becoming a second nature in our Country. I am also presently in negotiation with several businesses in Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Mali to do some joint ventures. Group Fotso is a company I admire and hope to do business with them someday.

CIN: Are you involved in any social causes, which ones and why?

Prince : Yes I am involved in several. I provide some financial assistance to some schools and Hospital clinics in my hometown, Noun (Foumban). The groupe Njoya built a $300,000.00 stand for traditional events in 2004, seating at least 10000 persons. I am sick and tired of Bamum leaders talking and doing very little to help their people because of divisions in politics. People are dying because of the bad conditions and therefore the Group Njoya has provided assistance to help the conditions of the suffering people. This is even not enough because more needs to be done. If the leaders do not continue to be divisive due to politics, then they can help improve the lives of people. I have no respect for them because they are not doing much for their people. I know some people are going to be unhappy to hear this but it is the truth. I am not looking for political office just to let them know that we need to get together and help our people. Example: the light or water in Foumban comes on once or twice a month. You have to bribe the caretaker of the lights in order to have light during an event. The people do not know their rights and I will continue to point out these problems until I see improvements in my village. The people are becoming beggars in the village. The last open letter I wrote to Bamum leaders asking why they have not made several improvements have not been replied to, because they know everything I am saying is the truth. The leaders are talking secretly in bars and other places but I will like for them to come and speak openly so that we can work out a way to help our people. The representative in Yaounde is talking on behalf of the Bamum population meanwhile 98 percent of the people are living in poverty with no roads. Foumban is the dirtiest place in all Cameroon. Some leaders are blaming the poverty to my family and this all a lie. I will be sending another letter to the president, Paul Biya to let him know that the people that are supposed to be representing our people in Yaounde are not representative of the people wishes but their own personal motives. I am ready to put a forum about our situation to discuss this whole problem. I am calling all our friends and all the people to help us with anything they can to try and make the situation in the village better. I am trying to draw attention to the City minister to try and make accommodations better by building roads and infrastructure so that people can be able to return home and feel good.

CIN: Would you like to share a message with our readers?

Prince : The Groupe Njoya will like to let all Cameroonians know that we need to be accountable for our Country. We cannot sit and wait for the government to do every thing for us. We need to be creative and hardworking. We are not criticizing because we are complaining but to help make things better so that other people can have a chance to make it in business. When a few more people become successful in business, the economy will improve and the living conditions will improve. We are therefore asking for all your help in making Cameroon a great Country. I hope that you can understand how I feel. Thank you for giving me a chance to talk with you. If I could be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me again.