Using data to uncover Cameroon's corruption

Hey there,

Cameroon is one of the most dangerous countries in Africa for journalists. Anne Bocandé, the editorial director at Reporters Without Borders, put it succinctly: the more than four decades President Paul Biya has been in power have seen “five journalists killed, one arbitrarily detained for nine years and sentenced to 32 years in prison, a national media regulator subservient to the government, [and] press offences still punishable by throwing journalists behind bars”. But that hasn’t stopped good reporting.

For this issue, I spoke to Paul-Joël Kamtchang, founder and CEO of Data Cameroon, a newsroom dedicated to both data and investigative journalism. He is leading the charge to create a culture of accountability in Cameroon.

Beyond safety, Data Cameroon faces other challenges. First, it’s hard to get training on the latest investigative tools. Second, access to information is restricted – Cameroon, like many African countries, lacks a Freedom of Information Act. Funding is the third major challenge (and one which we at the Bureau understand only too well).

Data Cameroon “refuses to take money from economic, governmental or political actors, which limits our options,” Paul-Joël told me. The newsroom often relies on fundraising efforts with international partners to sustain the work.

Cameroon is notorious for corruption, coming 140th of 180 countries on a ranking by Transparency International. Paul-Joël is dedicated to fighting this and is set to publish his second book on kleptocracy in central Africa in December.

The book argues that journalists should develop their expertise in investigating and uncovering corruption. “It’s crucial because the systems around kleptocracy are very opaque. People often don’t know how natural resources are managed or how public funds are used. We believe journalists need to specialise in covering kleptocracy, money laundering, corruption, governance and the management of natural resources. Natural resources, in particular, are central to how kleptocratic regimes sustain themselves.”

Following the money can lead investigators to unexpected places. Last year, Data Cameroon revealed that Central African officials had invested more than £43m in the United Arab Emirates. Digging through the data, they found more than 70 people, including ministers, mayors, MPs and businesspeople from Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Congo and the Central African Republic, had significant property investments in Dubai.

Eight flats in Dubai belonged to just one family, the Cameroonian MP and businesswoman Moufta Halia Moussa and her children. Data Cameroon approached her for comment – journalists do this to ensure that their reporting is fair and to give whomever they are writing about the opportunity to put forward their side of the story. However, they received no reply.

I asked Paul-Joël how the other people in the story reacted when he approached them for comment. He told me: “Sometimes they threaten us – promising to take us to court or even jail. But we always follow proper journalistic practices: we contact them to verify our documents and information. Some refuse to respond and continue to threaten us, saying that if we publish, they’ll take legal action … But as long as we are confident our documents are authentic and our information is accurate, we conduct our investigations without fear.”

Another recent investigation by Data Cameroon exposed the systems that enable illegal fishing. Foreign companies, they found, forge partnerships with local operators, disguising their identity and real profits even though Cameroonian law prohibits foreign ownership of fishing boats. Paul-Joël’s team found numerous Spanish vessels in Cameroonian waters, as well as French and Chinese boats.

After they published, Paul-Joël told me, the government acknowledged their reporting and, while nothing is certain yet, it may look into the issue. More importantly, perhaps, the public were finally aware of what was going on in Cameroon’s waters.

In the meantime, the work continues. Paul-Joël told me: “There are so many areas that need investigation, but not enough journalists are working in this field. That’s why we believe it’s essential to support and engage as many journalists as possible, both within our country and across the wider region.”

Hearing about Data Cameroon was fascinating, and it shows why journalism is so important. Protecting it is vital – we are lucky to live in a democracy here in the UK, but its limits are being tested all the time. One of the most important steps we can take is to protect our independent media organisations. You can help us by joining as a Bureau Insider today, safeguarding the future of our work:

“We work across three main areas: policy and advocacy, consultancy around workplace equity, and building AI-powered tools for progressive organisations, such as newsrooms. Essentially, we help journalists, new economy organisations and political actors use advanced tech to do research that would be impossible without AI.

One of our recent projects is Corkboard. When large language models emerged, we saw their potential to handle huge amounts of unstructured data, like forum posts, PDFs, tweets, parliamentary transcripts or company filings. Traditional keyword searches just can’t capture meaning at this scale but AI lets us find relationships and patterns even when the words are different.

We’ve already put Corkboard to work on several projects. With the International Trade Union Confederation, for example, we ran the best part of 100,000 searches across multiple languages to map connections between corporations and far-right actors.

Another test looked at the book Hayek’s Bastards by Quinn Slobodian and all the House of Lords members mentioned in it, revealing networks that included key figures like Lord Michael Gove and organisations such as the Cato Institute.

Right now, we’re focusing on what we call the “authoritarian stack,” mapping the US military-industrial complex, its funding and how it influences European politics.

Corkboard isn’t about automating investigations entirely, it’s about surfacing leads so journalists can dig deeper. We’re at an early stage and keen to collaborate with investigative reporters. If any journalists have a story you think Corkboard could help with, we’d love to hear from you.”

I’ve seen some people call data the new oil: an incredible resource, but one we need to use carefully and democratically. It can’t be the preserve of just a few megacorporations. That’s why it’s great to hear of all the innovative ways journalists and people working alongside them are using new technologies to harness data in their research. 

See you next week,