CAMAIRCO BACK TO SQUARE ONE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000430

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C AND EEB
COMMERCE FOR ITA BURRESS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2019
TAGS: CM EAIR ECON PGOV KCOR
SUBJECT: CAMAIRCO BACK TO SQUARE ONE

REF: LIBREVILLE 47

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Scott Ticknor for reasons 1.4 (d) and (e)


1. (C) Summary: In a recent meeting with then Charge
d'Affaires, Deputy Secretary General of the Presidency and
Chairman of the Board of CAMAIRCO Philemon Yang provided an
update of the government's plans to start up a new national
airline after the liquidation in 2006 of CAMAIR. Yang noted
that recently-nominated CAMAIRCO General Manager Gilbert
Mitonneau had left the company without officially resigning
and that U.S. firm Lion Aviation did not have an agreement to
manage the company, despite their negotiation efforts. Yang
welcomed information about potential new partners to help run
the would-be airline. End summary.

Management Up in the Air
--------------


2. (C) Yang said he had read in the newspapers that French
national Gilbert Mitonneau -- nominated as General Manager of
CAMAIRCO in December 30 -- had resigned from the post and had
resumed his duties as a test pilot for Airbus in France,
although it was not official since Yang had not received a
letter of resignation. Yang said he liked
government-appointed Mitonneau personally but conceded that
he was a pilot with no background in aviation management.
Yang explained that Mitonneau claimed he had no reason to be
here if the Government of Cameroon (GRC) did not sign a
contract with Lion Aviation group to manage CAMAIRCO.

Lion Aviation
--------------


3. (C) Lion Aviation, a U.S. company not known to Post, had
been seeking a contract to manage the government-owned
CAMAIRCO, which was formed in 2006 after the failed
privatization and subsequent liquidation of its predecessor,
CAMAIR. Yang considered Lion Aviation "unprofessional,"
noting that while the company had some experienced people, it
had no planes or mechanics and had never worked in Africa
before. It would have been difficult to sell this deal to
the Cameroonian public given these factors and what he
considered an overpriced contract, Yang added. The firm
worked through its local negotiator, Cameroonian-American
Beatrice Mensah Tayui. Minister of Economy and Planning
Louis Paul Motaze, who had significant aviation experience
because of his leading role in the now defunct CAMAIR, had
become a strong advocate for Lion. However, according to
Yang, the Ministers of Finance and Transportation (two of the
four Board members of CAMAIRCO) refused to sign an agreement
with Lion and therefore "we cannot work with the company."

CAMAIRCO
--------------


4. (C) CAMAIRCO is "an airline in creation - it doesn't
exist," clarified Yang, noting that Mitonneau had been its
only employee. Paul Alain Mendouga, a Board member
(representing the Minister of Transport) and an aeronautical
engineer, will be the interim General Manager of CAMAIRCO
until President Biya appoints someone new. (Note: as far as
we know, this Mendouga is unrelated to former Cameroonian
Ambassador to the U.S. Jerome Mendouga, now in jail for
alleged corruption related to an aircraft purchase. End
note.) Yang said he is working with the Minister of Finance
to transfer the sole plane left from CAMAIR, the
government-owned Dja (a Boeing 767-300) to CAMAIRCO. He
claimed the Dja would need 1-2 months of maintenance work
before it became operational and that there was no legal
connection between the two aviation companies. He hoped
CAMAIRCO would eventually serve domestic routes as well as
have flights to Europe and the Central African region.
CAMAIRCO had not decided whether to purchase or lease
additional planes and had turned down one Chinese offer to
provide and finance an aircraft because the Chinese company
making the offer was unknown to the GRC and the insurance
implications were uncertain. CDA suggested we could provide
a list of potential U.S. technical partners for CAMAIRCO if
we had more details about what was needed. Yang said this
"would be helpful".

Air CEMAC - Not If We Can Help It
--------------


5. (C) We asked about linkages between Cameroon's plans to
re-launch its own national airline and the recent discussion

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about the Central African Economic and Monetary Community
(CEMAC) - the regional authority that controls the currency
for Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Central African Republic,
Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe - launching a
regional multi-flagged carrier, with South African Airways as
a technical partner (reftel). Yang was notably
unenthusiastic in his response, denying any linkage between
the two and noting that Cameroon did not plan to support such
an operation. Note: Cameroonians have in the past viewed
CAMAIR as the most likely regional airline. End note.
Comment
--------------


6. (C) Yang is a pleasant, frequent Embassy contact at the
top levels of the Presidency, with years of experience as
Cameroon's Ambassador to Canada and as a former Minister of
Mines. However, he is a newcomer to aviation and admitted
that he had no idea how much responsibility would be on his
shoulders with CAMAIRCO. He seems sincere in wanting to
ensure that CAMAIRCO gets off on the right foot, affirming
that "we may not be rich but we're honest," "we want our
planes to work well," and that the kind of deal Lion Aviation
wanted would not fly "in today's Cameroon."


7. (C) It took two years after CAMAIRCO's creation for Biya
to nominate Mitonneau, who then resigned some months later,
leaving the high-profile project (a "priority" according to
President Biya) no further along that it was at the end of

2006. The intense jockeying within the government for
control of CAMAIRCO (Embassy contacts close to Prime Minister
Inoni confirm he has been lobbying hard on behalf of Lion
Aviation) and the GRC's customary difficulty in taking swift
action will likely delay CAMAIRCO's departure even further.
Ironically, a set-back of this type actually passes as good
news in Cameroon; a shadowy and uncompetitive multimillion
dollar deal pushed by some of the regime's heavyweights has
been stalled apparently by concerns about transparency and
public's perception of the merits of the deal. We will
follow up with Yang about other possible U.S. partners that
might fit into CAMAIRCO's plans.


8. (C) CAMAIR was a source of national pride, referred to
by some as Cameroon's eleventh province. It was badly
mismanaged and was often used by the President for his
personal travel. We have seen no discussion of whether
Cameroon actually needs or can support an intercontinental
flag carrier nor have we seen a change of mentality in how
the government will approach CAMAIRCO. There is a crying
need - and probably sufficient demand - for a domestic
carrier, using smaller aircraft, particularly to link the
capitals of the three northern regions to Yaounde and Douala.
The difficulty of air travel in Africa would certainly
suggest there is room for an innovative regional carrier with
routes in central and western Africa. Neither of these,
however, would carry the prestige or demand the size of
aircraft that could carry a Head of State in proper fashion
on frequent trips to Geneva with appropriate dignity.
GARVEY