Africa in miniature: rainforest, mountains, savannah, desert and endless coastlines – Cameroon offers maximum diversity to Africa travellers on an area of 475,442 km². Only very few people come here voluntarily. In the north the Boko Haram is raging. Douala, Yaounde and the South are stable, but just as poor and corrupt. Cameroon – developing country? Not all the way through.

Unlike in Germany, digital payment by mobile phone has long been standard

Also, unlike in Germany, almost all age and income groups throughout the country use the standard, including areas where illiteracy is prevalent. Payment is made without a bank account via telephone number and transaction code. The largest telephone providers MTN and Orange also serve as banks. Services and products are paid for by entering a code to the respective recipient. The money changes hands within seconds. People under 30 hardly ever pay cash anymore. Even more: credit processing, payment by instalments and international transactions within the CEMEC countries also work through this. Mobile phone providers charge around 2 percent of the amount for traditional banking services. The alternative bank account with activation for international transactions, Moneygramm and WesternUnion are less reliable, time and cost intensive. In short: Long overtaken.