Activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the national telecommunications company, CAMTEL were officially launched on September 7, 2023, in Yaounde.
Cameroon telecommunications company, CAMTEL, is 25 years old. The public leading telecommunications company created on the 8th of September 1998 celebrates its quarter-century with several achievements registered.
These achievements were outlined in a press briefing granted by the General Manager of CAMTEL on Thursday, 7th September 2023 at the Head office of the company in Yaounde.
Media practitioners, senior officials, and staff of CAMTEL as well as renowned artist musicians such as Stanley Enow, and Indira Baboke took part in this launch of activities.
25 years of epic story
In her introductory statement, Mrs. Yah Sunday Judith Epse Achidi said the history of the Cameroon telecommunications centers on its missions, activities, and performance. She saluted the work accomplished by her predecessors who inscribed their names in the history of the company, today known for its quality of services nationwide.
“…But CAMTEL’s history, like that of any other organization, is first and foremost a history of people. That is why, as we celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary, I would like to spare warm and grateful thoughts for all those who made CAMTEL’s history since the company’s inception. I would like to spare a thought for the many employees who are no longer with us, either because they have retired or because they have left this world. Special thoughts go to those who, before me, stood at the helm of this company. Who can forget the leadership of Mr Emmanuel NGUIAMBA NLOUTSIRI? Who can forget the tenacity of Mr David NKOTO EMANE? Of course; no one has forgotten the individual contributions of all those who have gone before us, and who contributed enormously to the development of our company: NGUIMBA NLOUTSIRI, NKOTO EMANE, MAGA, TANG ENOH, Nfon MUKETE, and all the others. We have not replaced them. We have simply succeeded them and are humbly playing our part in pushing CAMTEL forward…” she said.
CAMTEL’s General Manager also seized the occasion to express appreciation for her collaborators who are devoting themselves in a bid to achieve missions assigned to the company by the President of the Republic.
“To all my collaborators, to all CAMTEL staff, I would like to say on the occasion of this our 25th anniversary, that we share the pride of belonging to an organization that, for 25 years now, has been working in line with the missions assigned to us by the President of the Republic, in the decree he signed on 8 September 1998.”
The celebration of CAMTEL’s silver jubilee as underscored by the General Manager is also an opportunity to review successes achieved though the adventure has been fraught with pitfalls and challenges that were braced up.
Judith Yah Sunday Epse Achidi said: “People tend to forget too often that it is CAMTEL that manages the 12,000-kilometre national optical fiber backbone, which will soon be extended by 4,000 more kilometers. It is too often forgotten that it is CAMTEL that manages the four landing points of the optical fibre submarine cables rolled out in the country, and which enable Cameroon to be in contact with the entire world. People forget all too often that CAMTEL provides this optical fiber infrastructure to all operators and a wide range of organizations. Finally, it is too often forgotten that CAMTEL now holds three operating licenses for fixed-line telephony, mobile telephony, and transport over optical fibre.”
She added: “You must have gathered by now that, as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, CAMTEL does not see itself as the last survivor of an old world. CAMTEL is not driven by melancholy. CAMTEL is simply living with the times and proudly celebrating its 25th anniversary.”
The General Manager equally mentioned the launch two years ago of SIM cards dubbed BLUE.
CAMTEL’s patroness however acknowledged much is still to be done in the days ahead to satisfy customers and the public at large, yet the company is driven by the desire to always provide quality services.
Since her appointment at the helm of this prestigious public company on December 14, 2018, Mrs Yah Sunday has put at the forefront two main concepts, that is: customer centricity and change management which she has been striving for five years now.
The first female General Manager of the national telecommunications company whose dynamism is visible through palpable actions carried on the field is more than ever animated by the zeal to offer quality telecom services at affordable rates.
Activities of the celebrations
Some of the major activities to mark this silver jubilee will take place according to the following calendar:
September 2023-December 2023: Sales campaigns around the theme of the 25th anniversary (audiovisual advertising campaign and roadside posters throughout the country);
December 2023: organization of a major music concert in Douala as part of “CAMTEL Show”. CAMTEL’s new product lines will be presented on this occasion;
January 2024: Distribution of the commemorative coffee table book;
February-March 2024: organization of “CAMTEL Tech Event”, aimed at the student community on the campuses of the universities of Yaounde I, Douala, Buea, Dschang, and Ngaoundere;
March 2024: Roundtable conference on the role of women in telecommunications over the past 25 years; April-May 2024: organization of “CAMTEL Care”, a corporate social responsibility initiative targeting local communities, and award of medals to staff;
August-September 2024: Major advertising campaign and special 25th-anniversary sales promotion; September 2024: organization of a gala night, dubbed “CAMTEL Gala”.
About CAMTEL
CAMTEL is under the technical supervisory authority of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MINPOSTEL), and the financial supervisory authority of the Ministry of Finance.
On 28 May 2019, the Head of State signed Decree No. 2019/263 to reorganize CAMTEL. This decree restates the missions of CAMTEL, which are to: own, operate, and provide electronic communications infrastructure and services within the framework of licenses granted to it for this purpose by the competent authorities. CAMTEL is therefore empowered to study, install, operate, and maintain all infrastructure needed to deliver electronic communications services throughout the country and to connect local or national networks to foreign networks. The company is meant to carry out commercial, industrial, securities, real estate, and financial operations directly or indirectly related to the services mentioned above or likely to favour the development thereof. Furthermore, in the light of Decree No. 2019/263, CAMTEL is now managed by three bodies: a General Assembly, a Board of Directors, and a Management, as opposed to two management bodies previously, that is the Board of Directors and Management. CAMTEL has branches in all of Cameroon’s 10 regions.
Elise Kenimbeni
