Media Environment

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Cameroon & Nigeria

Cameroon and Nigeria have a history of cultural clashes and fighting over resources. While the countries are geographically close to each other they differ in many ways. The surface area of Nigeria is significantly bigger than Cameroon and the population is also larger. Statistical estimates suggest that as of 2008 Cameroon has just under 19 million people and Nigeria just over 150 million. The life expectancy rates for these countries are similar but the health expenditure is quite different. Health expenditure per head as of 2006 for Cameroon is 80 and for Nigeria is 50. This suggests that Cameroonians are spending more money on health care than Nigerians. There is a greater infant mortality rate in Nigeria (97) than Cameroon (87) and more access to clean water sources in Cameroon (70) compared to Nigeria (47). Contrarily, the literacy rate in Nigeria (72%) is higher than Cameroon (67.9%). In terms of media consumption and usage it appears that Nigeria due to its greater size and population has more telephones, mobile cellular devices, personal computers and internet users. Nigeria does not have the same kind of colonial history that has left Cameroon to struggle with adapting to a modernized culture and system of mass communication. (Europa) These two countries are similar in that the way most African countries are presented in the international media is really a facade and most stories reported on put countries such as Nigeria and Cameroon in a bad light as compared to the industrialized nations in other parts of the world.

Chile is an interesting comparative location because it has a similar population size (16,763,470) but is vastly different than Cameroon largely because of its location. For example, life expectancy rates in Chile are 78.4 as compared to Cameroon where they are 50.4 for both men and women. Chile is ranked 40 on the human development index and Cameroon is 150. The literacy rate in Chile is 96.5% compared to just under 70% in Cameroon. In terms of media usage there appears to be much greater access to devices and media in Chile than Cameroon. For example there are 3,135,000 mobile cellular devices in Cameroon but 13,955,000 in Chile. There are 4,510,000 internet users in Chile and 370,000 internet users in Cameroon which reflects on the slow integration of media after Cameroonian independence and the challenge of communication in such an ethnically divided country. Chile has a history of an accurate and active press that is linked with the country’s political parties. There are over ten active and popular newspapers in Chile that reflect the views of different political parties. In Cameroon any kind of government criticism is not tolerated and most of the press reflects the policies of President Biya and his government. There appears to be more freedom of the press and access to media in Chile as compared to Cameroon which reflects in part the nature of communications in Africa and the challenges of such a multi-lingual and multi-ethnic culture.