Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
This Should Serve As A Caution To Students, And Workers In Sectors That AI Can Takeover Jobs, To Start Preparing To Adapt To The Severe Effects Of AI, When It Eventually Reaches Cameroon. Sectors Like The Print Media, Photography, And Others That Were Certain Were To Be Hard Hit With The Coming Of Android Phone, Failed To Prepare, And The Consequences Were Severe.
A rather disturbing report by the international TV channel, ALJAZEERA, on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, disclosed that from 2022 to 2025, the annual recruitment of graduates in Hong Kong dropped by 61 %, due to the use of Artificial Intelligence, AI, to replace human beings in several jobs, especially in the private sector. This has thus caused a sharp increase in the number or percentage of unemployed graduates in Hong Kong.
Some of the unemployed graduates in Hong Kong that were interviewed by ALJAZEERA, expressed deep concern with their situation, and said they were struggling to see what to do, to adapt to the realities of the changing times, with the coming of AI. This is because an increasing number of companies, or enterprises, in Hong Kong, are now using AI technology do work that over the years were done by human beings.
A Bell Of Caution
This information should really sound as a bell of caution or warning to people in Cameroon, especially students and their parents, as well as workers in domains that Artificial Intelligence technology can take over jobs. Even though the world has become a global village, the tendency in Cameroon is usually for people to initially and erroneously think that what happens in a faraway country, will never get to Cameroon, or that what happens in a developed country, will never get to an underdeveloped or developing country like Cameroon.
On the social media in Cameroon today, the general tendency has been for people to celebrate or admire Artificial Intelligence. The Mentor News is not saying that AI is bad. No! AI is a great scientific innovation. But what we saying is that AI has both positive and negative impacts or effects on the society, and that Cameroonians are unfortunately not being sensitized on the possible negative effects of AI. Such a sensitization will help Cameroonian workers, especially those in sectors that can be severely affected by AI, or better still, those in sectors that AI can take over jobs, to begin preparing themselves on the possible adjustments, or on what to do, to be able to adapt to the situation, when the severe effects of AI eventually reach Cameroon , with jobs being taken over by AI.
Sensitization will also help students and their parents, especially students aiming for professions that AI can severely affect or take over several job opportunities, to orientate themselves on what to study, or better prepare themselves to adapt to the world of AI.
The Case Of Android Phone
It was the same thing with the coming of the Adroit Phone. Even though Android Phones reached Cameroon on a massive scale much later than the Western countries, everything that was being said about it was so positive, without people being sensitized, on the fact that the coming of the Android Phone would also negatively impact some economic sectors. And when the Android Phone effects finally stormed Cameroon, many people in sectors that were seriously affected, gnashed their teeth.
Android Phone Created The Social Media
The newspaper or print media in Cameroon was one of the sectors that it was certain, would be hard hit by the negative impact or effects of Android Phone on the society. That was seen in many Western countries a couple of years earlier. Hundreds of local newspapers in several European countries like Britain and France were hard hit, with the coming of the Android Phone, with several of them crashing or even disappearing. Across the United States of America, over a thousand local newspapers reportedly crashed, and many disappeared from the scene.
The reason was simple. With the coming of the Android Phone, many people who used to buy and read newspapers, turned to reading news online, which was even faster to come, and comparatively cheaper and convenient to readers. The situation led to a big drop in readership of newspapers, which also meant a big drop in sales. That of course automatically led to big drops in publicities in newspapers by companies, which also meant a big drop in the revenues of print media houses, with all the negative effects, impacts or consequences. Worthy of note that normally, 80 % of the revenue of a newspaper house, is supposed to come from adverts, with sales making 20 %. That is what is supposed to happen in a country, where there is no ‘gombo’ in the media.
The Situation In Cameroon
In Cameroon, newspaper houses or publishers, in general failed to prepare for the coming of the Android Phone, with severe negative effects on newspapers. They failed to learn any lesson from what happened to the print media in several Western countries, with the coming of the Android Phone. Perhaps their thinking was that what happened to local newspapers in Western countries, would never reach Cameroon or Africa.
When the effects or impact of the Android Phone finally reached Cameroon, it hit the newspaper sector like a powerful storm, with a big drop in the sale of newspapers, as many people that used to buy and read newspapers, turned to the social media or to read online, with the coming of the Android Phone. Suffice to say that the Android Phone caused a lot of damages to the print media sector in Cameroon. A French company, MESSAPRESSE, which was the lone enterprise in Cameroon distributing newspapers nationwide, in 2016 stopped operation in the newspaper sector, because the business was no longer profitable. The enterprise complained that it was operating at a loss.
But the biggest blow to the newspaper sector, with the coming of the Android Phone, came from major advertisers, precisely companies that used to allocate hundreds of millions of francs CFA each year, to pay for adverts and announcements in newspapers, especially the major newspapers in the country. These companies included Orange Cameroon, MTN Cameroon, Les Brasseries du Cameroon, PMUC, and a few others. After having been informed by their consultancies that carryout market surveys for them, that there was a big drop in the sale of newspapers, these companies all stopped placing their adverts in newspapers. MTN Cameroon was the first of these major advertisers, to take the decision.
In early 2019, the US Embassy in Cameroon, that was much concerned with t situation or plight of newspapers in the country with the coming of the Android Phone, organized and funded a visit to the United States by a group of publishers of major newspapers in the country. The journey to the United States was to enable the publishers to learn from the management of some of the local newspapers in the US, that survived the Android storm in that country, on what they did, and how they did it, to survive. But nothing changed on return.
Printing Houses, Newspaper Vendors, Others
Of course the devastating effects on the newspaper sector with the coming of Android Phone, extended to related sectors like printing houses t involved in the printing of newspapers. Probably the hardest hit was MACACOS, the printing house owned by the Douala Archdiocese, or better still, the Catholic Church, which was indisputably the main printing press for private newspapers in Cameroon. Even some major Gabonese newspapers used to print at MACACOS in Douala. Meanwhile the big drop in the sale of newspapers, followed by the withdrawal of major advertisers, logically led to a big drop in the print-run of newspapers, or better still, a big drop in the quantities of newspapers printed. Many newspapers even stopped printing. All these meant a big drop in business for the printing presses, with effects like irregular payment of the salaries of workers, layoffs, and so on.
Of course with the big drop in the sale of newspapers, vendors were also in big trouble, with a drop in their profits. 20 years ago in the nation’s economic capital, Douala, for example, there were hundreds of mobile newspaper vendors on the streets from Mondays to Fridays. Today, there is not a single mobile vendor in Douala, while many newspaper kiosks have also disappeared. This is the impact or effects of Android Phone.
Cyber Cafes, Photographers, Watch Repairers, Etc
It was not only the newspaper and related sectors that were seriously affected, with the coming of the Android Phone. Some years back, the cyber café business was booming. In each town across Cameroon, there were cyber cafes (internet services) all over the place. But with the coming of the Android Phone, which also has internet, the cyber café business crumbled. Today, there are very few cyber cafes in our towns.
Professional photographers too were hard hit with the coming of the Android Phone, since the phone has a camera. Many people today, take their pictures with their Android Phones. The photography business has since fallen. Today is it difficult to find a photo studio in a town. Most of them had since shutdown, following the big drop in business. Very few photo studios exist today across the country.
A similar story goes for the sale of watches. With the coming of the Android Phone, many people stopped buying or wearing watches, since the phone has a clock which is even more reliable. And so also was the watch repairing business severely affected with the coming of the Android Phone. Many watch repairers have been forced to abandon the job. Today, there are very few watch repairers around.
