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Cameroon & Congo Republic

The Congo Republic is vastly different than Cameroon in terms of politics and culture because it is stricken with heavy corruption and intense political unrest. Cameroon and Congo are similar in that they both have French colonial heritage and gained independence in the 1960’s. The Congo deals with 46,341 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and 6,564 from Rwanda. There are approximately 48,000 internally displaced persons because of constant civil war since 1992. In terms of life expectancy rates, Cameroon and the Congo are similar both falling between 50 and 54. Interestingly the infant mortality rate in Cameroon is 87 and in the Republic of Congo it is 79 and literacy rates in Cameroon (67.9%) are lower than the Congo (86.8%). Given that Cameroon has experienced relative political and social peace since its independence it seems odd that the Congo would have a higher literacy rate and lower infant mortality rate given the civil wars and prevalence of refugees and internally displaced persons in the Congo. Cameroon ranks 150 on the Human Development Index and the Congo Republic 130. It would not come as a surprise that the level of media access in Cameroon is higher than in the Republic of Congo. In terms of telephones in the Congo Republic there are approximately 13,000 as compared to 130,000 in Cameroon. Both countries have higher rates of mobile cell phones than telephones; Cameroon with 3,135,000 and the Congo with 1,334,000. There are higher degrees of computer access, internet use and broadband subscribers in Cameroon. In the Republic of Congo approximately 36,000 people have internet access compared with 370,000 in Cameroon.

In light of the population of these countries (18,898,000 Cameroon) and (3,615,000 Congo) the level of internet access is not high but it is much higher in Cameroon than the Republic of Congo. There are approximately 160,000 computers and 200,000 broadband subscribers in Cameroon and 17,000 computers and no credible estimation of broadband subscribers in the Congo. The telephone system in the Republic of Congo is mainly used for government purposes and the infrastructure tends to be inadequate only provided one connection per 100 people. Due to lack of a developed telephone system, mobile cellular subscribership has surged and is approaching 50 per 100 people. (CIA World Fact) This echoes a trend in a lot of African countries with telephone communication where cell phones are being developed and used on a much greater level than landline telephones ever were. Whereas industrialized nations had landline telephones for decades before cell phones were even a possibility, African countries such as Cameroon and the Republic of Congo have essentially skipped over landline telephones as a medium for mass communication.