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Prior to 92-year-old Paul Biya’s confirmation of his candidacy for an eighth term as Cameroon’s president, his social media activity already signaled his intentions to experts.
By the time Biya officially announced his bid for re-election last week, he had already significantly increased his online presence over several months.
Daily posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) mark a notable shift from his previous occasional presence.
Analysts, however, question the effectiveness of Biya’s strategy to engage younger voters ahead of October’s election.
“With over 5.4 million social media users in Cameroon, 95% of whom are young people reliant on WhatsApp where presidential communication is absent,” says Rostant Tane, Director of Media Intelligence Sarl, “there’s a lack of regional targeting, interactivity, and little to no effort to converse in the digital vernacular of the young.
Additionally, authenticity remains a challenge,” states Hervé Tiwa, a communication sciences lecturer, “Many people are aware that it’s not Paul Biya himself crafting these posts, which creates distance and undermines trust.”
This raises issues as the population of Cameroon is predominantly young, with over 60% under 25 and more than half the electorate under 30, a demographic that could potentially decide the election’s outcome.
Courtesy of Falone Ngu
