By Bakah Derick
Leading Telecommunications Company, Cameroon Telecommunications, CAMTEL, has launched celebrations to mark its 25th anniversary. The launching of the silver jubilee celebrations took place yesterday Thursday September 7. This was at a press briefing the General Manager of CAMTEL granted to the press.
The event took place at the CAMTEL head office building in Yaounde. It was attended by senior officials of the company, as well as musical icons like Stanley Enow and gospel singer Indira among other dignitaries.
During the presser, the General Manager of CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi, said that CAMTEL was celebrating an epic story at 25.
She saluted the contributions of her predecessors, staff, and all those who made CAMTEL’s history since the company’s inception.
"(....)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 organisation 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," CAMTEL GM said.
Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi who was appointed to the top job since December 14 2018, also mentioned that despite the spate of challenges encountered, they have been able to brave the odds and meet up with the increasing demands of Cameroonians who like Oliver Twist are always asking for more.
"People tend to forget too often that it is CAMTEL that manages the 12,000-kilometre national optical fibre backbone, which will soon be extended by 4,000 more kilometres. 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 fibre infrastructure to all operators and to a wide range of organisations. Finally, it is too often forgotten that CAMTEL now holds three operating licences for: fixed-line telephony, mobile telephony, and transport over optical fibre," Judith Yah revealed.
The CAMTEL GM however pointed out that the milestone also presented an opportunity for the company to redouble efforts and ensure the telecom company continues to thrive.
"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" she said.
"We understand the concerns, the expectations, the frustration and, sometimes, the anger of users. All of this is legitimate, and it is to CAMTEL’s credit that we are seeking solutions to address them. We are well aware of the fact that CAMTEL does not succeed in everything, that it often stumbles, that it faces doubts at times. But we are also aware that difficulties are not a death sentence, and that even if the slope gets steeper, we must have the will to keep moving forward,"she added.
According to the official program released by CAMTEL, the celebration of its 25th anniversary shall run from September 2023-September 2024.
Sales campaign around the theme of the anniversary, organisation of a major musical concert in Douala as part of “CAMTEL Show”, will set the pace between now and December. During these activities, CAMTEL’s new product lines will be presented.
In January 2024, there shall be the distribution of commemorative coffee table book.
In February, the organization of “CAMTEL Tech Event” shall take place. The event is aimed at the student community on the campuses of the universities of Yaounde 1, Douala, Buea, Dschang and Ngaoundere.
Also, round table conferences on the role of women in telecommunications over the past 25 years have been planned for March 2024.
This shall be followed by the organisation of “CAMTEL care”. The “CAMTEL care, is a corporate social responsibility initiative targeting local communities, and award of medals to staff.
CAMTEL also envisages holding a major advertising campaign and special anniversary sales promotion from August to September.
The celebration of CAMTEL’s 25th anniversary shall wrap up with the organisation of a gala night dubbed “CAMTEL Gala” in September.
It should be recalled that CAMTEL was set up by Presidential degree No. 98/1998 of September 8, 1998. It resulted from the merging of two entities: the former Department of Telecommunications of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the former International Telecommunications Corporation of Cameroon, INTELCAM.
Over the years, the country’s telecom company which is poised to become the reference digital hub in sub-Saharan has recorded significant success.
Spurred on by the current General Manager of CAMTEL, Judith Yah Sunday epse Achidi, CAMTEL is carrying out reforms built around Customer Centricity and change management, which are the areas of focus of its strategy.
Within four years, the no-nonsense, level headed and astute GM has driven the company’s turnover upward from 108 billion FCFA to 178 billion FCFA.
CAMTEL remains committed to its vision; “be an innovative corporate citizen and leader in digital transformation in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030”.