TIPTOPSTARS

Little did this writer know that what he thought was just a mere joke would turn out to be a fact. He had told a Cameroonian resident in Germany that he believed every compatriot in that country spent the entire year only planning for the next Challenge Camerounaise (CC). He had added that Cameroonians in Germany go to bed each day with Challenge Camerounaise (CC) in their minds. “You are perfectly right…in fact, what you’re saying is not a joke, it is reality,” the peer had confidently attested.

Challenge Camerounaise is the annual socio-cultural and economic forum the Cameroonians community organizes in Germany, pulling thousands of Africans together. This year, the event which kicks off today will be taking place in the city of Dortmund.

For three days, visitors to the CC village will be treated to attractive sporting and cultural events including Football, Basketball, Handball, Table Tennis, Beach Volleyball, Athletics and music concerts. Prominent amongst the sports event will be a FIFA football tournament for youths.

 Just like in a previous Edition, the famous Cameroonian band of three talented singers, X-Maleya will be thrilling guests to this year’s CC. They will be accompanied by Bikutis giant Lady Ponce and Adonise.

Meanwhile, a business and social forum will be top on the agenda of celebrations this year. Placed under the theme Together for the Transformation, the forum is expected to breed socio-economic and development ideas that could help in transforming Cameroon into a modern state. Experts are expected to enrich participants, most of whom will be students with knowledge that could be vital in their business and development goals.

Perhaps the Miss Challenge beauty contest and the Challenge Idol song competition are innovations that will make this year’s version peculiar.

Initiated some 22 years ago, Challenge Camerounais began as a football competition between Cameroonian teams in three German cities. It has grown significantly to a crowd-pulling socio-cultural and business fair with over six thousand guests taking part in the event every year. It brings together Cameroonian students and graduates in Germany in a bid to seek avenues of giving back to their country from the diaspora

The event will be held under the guardianship of Cameroon’s ambassador to Germany H.E. Jean-Marc Mpay and Dr. Angelica Schwall-Düren, European Federal Affairs Minister