ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDMUSICDaphne NjieWork
hard and play hardThe 27-year-old singer’s latest hit
‘Calée’, a song about falling in love, has
recorded more than 2.5m hits on YouTube
since it was first released in March.
It became the number one video on music
channel Trace Urban in June. Daphne
(the name she performs under) says
she was driven to write the song
because women often find
it difficult to express their
feelings to men. Daphné
launched a first mini
album calledReflection
in 2015 and is part
ofabiggerwaveof
Anglophone Cameroonian
artists hitting the big time
on the pop music scene.
Born in Cameroon’s South
West Province, Daphne
is a student of psychology
at the University of Buea.
She told local media
that her strategy is “work
h a r d a n d p l a y h a r d ”.FOOTBALLChristian BassogogA rising star
The 21-year-old attacking
midfielder was named best player
in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations
(ACN) won by Cameroon in
February. Until then, he had been
playing for Danish club AaB
Fodbold. He parlayed his ACN
success into a move to the Chinese
Super League team Henan Jianye
and plans to up his skill levels
amidst higher competition. He
began his career in the US in 2015.SAMI HEISKANENTECHOlivier Madiba
Sharing the wealth
of knowledgeThe founder of Kiro’o
Games wants to share his
start-up success with
other entrepreneurs. With
money transfer company
Express Union he launched
Kiro’o Rebuntu in June
to train start-ups in how
to raise money – with the
goal of helping 100,000.POLITICSSerge Espoir
MatombaEarly
outofthegateAs a municipal councillor
in Douala, Matomba is critical
of the regime’s governance.
The young leader is one
of the first politicians to make
his intentions clear for the
presidential race of 2018.
His chances of winning are
slim, as the dominant RDPC
is gearing up for 84-year-old
President Paul Biya to run
again, but Matomba is making
a bigger name for himself
in local and national politics
through thePeuple Uni
pour la Rénovation Sociale.PEOPLETOWATCHYoungCamerooniansmaketheirmark
A veteran president doesn’t stop the youthful energy of Cameroon’s new faces
in the worlds of music, tech, sport and even politics MarshallVanValenPA IMAGES/ICON SPORT54 COUNTRYFOCUS| CAMEROON