Mbalmayo
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Mbalmayo is a town in
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
's Centre Region. The town had 60,091 inhabitants in 2012. It is the capital of the Nyong-et-So'o Division It is located at the banks of the Nyong river between
Ebolowa Ebolowa is a city in Cameroon. It is the capital of the South Region (Cameroon), South Region and the Mvila department. Its economy is primarily agricultural, with cocoa bean being its main crop. Economy Agriculture Agriculture is the primar ...
and
Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...
. It is an agricultural centre.


History

Mbalmayo was founded in 1910, under the German rule of the then Kamerun, by Mbala Meyo, an early ruler of the town. As was the custom before colonialism, the town was named after the chief. The Germans ruled the town and used the Nyong river to transport timber which was a major source of income. It is in the part of Cameroon that the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
made a French protectorate.


Economy

Mbalmayo is an industrial town that is about 41 km from
Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the Capital city, capital city of Cameroon. It has a population of more than 2.8 million which makes it the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region (Cameroon), Centre Region o ...
the Capital of
Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
. Mbalmayo is located in the Central Region of Cameroon. It is situated along the
Nyong River The Nyong (formerly ) is a river in Cameroon. The river flows approximately to empty into the Gulf of Guinea. Course The Nyong originates east of the town of Abong-Mbang, where the northern rain forest feeds it. The river's length is almost ...
, south of Yaoundé. Since it is deeply entrenched in the dense equatorial forest zone that stretched to the South, its natural physical environmental features makes it strategically economical located. The main economic activities are forestry and agriculture. There is a plywood factory powered by electricity from the
Edea Hydroelectric Power Station The Edea Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant of the Sanaga River near Edéa in Cameroon. It has a power generating capacity of , enough to power over 136,600 homes. Nearly 60% of the power goes to the aluminum smelter. See also * Li ...
. It is a big commercial center. It is also a commercial centre due to its position at the junction of three transportation routes: it lies on the main road south from Yaoundé; it is the terminus of the
Camrail Camrail is a company operating passenger and freight traffic between the two largest cities in Cameroon and several smaller cities. The company was formed in 1999 and granted a 20-year concession to operate the Cameroon National Railway. The comp ...
railway from
Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...
; and serves as a river port on the
Nyong River The Nyong (formerly ) is a river in Cameroon. The river flows approximately to empty into the Gulf of Guinea. Course The Nyong originates east of the town of Abong-Mbang, where the northern rain forest feeds it. The river's length is almost ...
, which is seasonally navigable for from Mbalmayo east to Abong Mbang. In order to improve and to increase its economic activities, the Government of Cameroon in 1989, through partnership with the
African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...
was able to construct a 101 km road that links Mbalmayo with
Ebolowa Ebolowa is a city in Cameroon. It is the capital of the South Region (Cameroon), South Region and the Mvila department. Its economy is primarily agricultural, with cocoa bean being its main crop. Economy Agriculture Agriculture is the primar ...
, the capital of the South Province. Amongst its economic activities, Timber exploration is a major source of revenue for Mbalmayo and Cameroon in general. There is the Mbalmayo's forest reserve which is one of Cameroon's oldest forest reserve. Other cash crops include palm oil,
palm kernel oil Palm kernel oil is an edible plant oil derived from the kernel of the oil palm tree ''Elaeis guineensis''. It is related to two other edible oils: ''palm oil'', extracted from the fruit pulp of the oil palm, and ''coconut oil'', extracted from ...
, coffee and cocoa.


Politics

Cameroon was formerly divided administratively into ten provinces now referred to today as regions. Administration of these Regions is based on the administrative set up of Cameroon which is a decentralized state. Mbalmayo is politically and administratively managed under the Central region and a local collectivity called Mbalmayo municipal council. It is a sub-division of the Nyong-et-So'o Division.People Managing Forests: The Links Between Human Well-Being and Sustainability The administration of the division and the subdivisions is directly under the Ministry of Territorial Administration. Mbalmayo is the administrative headquarters of the Nyong et So'o division. Since independence, this division has been dominated by two political parties but other political parties do exist in the town such as SDF, UNDP, MRC, UPC etc.- The CNU and the CPDM. However, ironically, these two parties were just the same party that underwent a name change. In 1985, CNU was changed to CPDM-Cameroon People Democratic Movement under the leadership of
Paul Biya Paul Biya (born Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo, 13 February 1933) is a Cameroonian politician who has been serving as the second president of Cameroon since 1982. He was previously the fifth Prime Minister of Cameroon, prime minister under Pre ...
. Since 1968, there have been 6 Mayors elected in Mbalmayo. The longest-serving mayor was AMOUGOU MBIDA Samue but his record has been beaten by the incombent, he served as Mayor of the Municipality for 17 years. He was also the Mayor in place during the political transition from Amadou Ahidjo to Paul Biya, and from the CNU to the CPDM. Mayors of the Mbalmayo Municipal Council # Abbé MBARGA Maurice 1958 CNU 8 Months # MBALLA FOE Martin 1959–1970 CNU 11 years # AMOUGOU MBIDA Samuel 1970–1987 CNU-CPDM 17 years # ABAH Stanisla 1987–1996 CPDM 9 years # NNOMEDOUE MENDOUGA Thomas 1996–2002 CPDM 6 Years # ZANG MBA OBELE Dieudonné 2002 CPDM current. The first four are of late.


Transport

A good transport network is very critical for any real development to take place. Generally, most towns and villages in Cameroon are not easily accessible due to the poor road and transport network. Mbalmayo is, however, accessible by asphalt roads from Yaounde. By train it is the southern terminus of the railroad from Douala. The river Nyong is also commonly used as a mean of transport by locals and fishermen. The river runs for 250 km from Mbalmayo to the east of Abong-Mbang. Understanding the role of transport in economic development, the Government of Cameroon in 1987, secured a loan worth UA 47.15 million from the African Development Bank to finance the construction of a dual carriage way between Mbalmayo and Ebolowa in the south. The project was completed in 1991 by the firms COGEFAR Cameroon and Razel-Bec and works were supervised by BCEOM Cameroon and LABOGENIE. The project covered over 100 km of paved road. The project has contributed significantly to opening up of the southern province and made possible the development of agriculture and forest production in the project area. Since timber harvesting is the biggest contributor to the economy of the southern province, transportation of both humans and goods have been made easy. "Thanks to the improvement of travelling conditions and the lowering of transport costs, women play a more important role in production and in the associative life of the region. Trade, particularly in food commodities between Cameroon and her neighbours has intensified since the commissioning of the road. Nevertheless, the road’s contribution to increased regional integration will be significant only when the entire Yaoundé-Libreville route, which has several sections in poor condition, has been developed."African Development Bank Group 1997


Notable people

*
Jérôme Onguéné Jérôme Junior Onguéné (born 22 December 1997) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays for the Cameroon national team. Club career On 31 January 2017, Onguéné moved to VfB Stuttgart. He was loaned to Red Bull Salzburg on 31 A ...
(born 1997),
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
player


References

*Owana Ndongo Pierre et al., (2008).Mapping Mbalmayo Forest. *Robert John Raison, Alan Gordon Brown, David W. Flinn(2001)Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management {{Communes of Centre Region, Cameroon. Populated places in Centre Region (Cameroon)