CAMEROON IN A BETTER LIVING CONDITION THAN UKRAINE

The World Happiness Report 2024 has delivered its verdict. While there are no major changes in this annual report, the ranking of African countries, particularly Cameroon, is cause for concern. Paul Biya’s country has been ranked 104th in the world. In Africa, 237 is absent from the top 10.

Curiously, Cameroon is just ahead of Ukraine, ranked 105th. The inhabitants of this country, which has been facing a special Russian military operation since February 2022, are living no better than Cameroonians. It is clear that the conflict between Kiev and Moscow is having a direct effect on the daily lives of Ukrainians.

“The actions of the Russian Federation have broken the social fabric of communities and isolated individuals, with profound and lasting consequences for Ukrainian society as a whole”, said the Austrian Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Cameroon also has to contend with war. In addition to the insecurity promoted by armed terrorist groups such as Boko Haram in the far north of the country, the English-speaking regions, that is  the North-West and South-West, are in the throes of secession.

The  separatist fighters mostly referred to as “Amba Boys”, who have taken up arms against the central state, have been sowing terror in these two regions for several years now. According to the United Nations, the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon is one of the world’s most forgotten wars.

Regarding the top 10 ranked African countries in World Happiness Report for 2024, we have :

1- Libya (66th)

2- Mauritius (70th)

3- South Africa (83rd)

4- Algeria (85th)

5- Congo-Brazzaville (89th)

6- Mozambique (90th)

7- Gabon (95th)

8- Ivory Coast (96th)

9- Guinea (97th)

10- Senegal (99th)

Delia Nyadi