Keynote Speaker

Biography

Jacques Fame Ndongo, born November 15, 1950 in Nkolandom in the South region (Cameroon), is a Cameroonian politician. He is currently Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders. After obtaining a baccalaureate (literary section) in 1969, he continued his studies at the Graduate School of Journalism in Lille in June 1972. Then in 1973 he acquired a degree in letters and a DES in black African literature at the University of Yaoundé I. In 1978 he defended a doctoral thesis at the third cycle. He became a doctor of letters in semiology from the University of Lille in 1984. Since 1992, he has been a professor of letters and semiology.

Jacques began his career in 1972 in the written press as head of the national section at the Cameroon Press Agency. From 1974 to 1978, he became coordinator of the French editorial staff at the Cameroon Tribune. Then he took a university course and from 1978 to 1980 he was a lecturer at the University of Yaoundé before being a lecturer for the next eight years. Finally in 1998, after ten years as a lecturer, he became a full professor. At the beginning of his professorship he was rector of the University of Yaoundé I from October 30, 1998 to March 2000.

At the beginning of his university career, from 1981 to 1993, Jacques was deputy director of the Graduate School of Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies. He also has a political career and from July 31, 1984 to October 30, 1998 he was in charge of the civil cabinet of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon. Then he returned to the government as Minister of Communication from March 18, 2000 to December 8, 2004. He then became Minister of Higher Education in December 2004. He was confirmed in this position during the cabinet reshuffle of October 2, 2015.

He is also the communication secretary of the central committee of the CPDM (the ruling political party). In 2011, he was promoted to member of the political bureau of the CPDM which allowed him to assist President Paul Biya in the management of party affairs. During the cabinet reshuffle of January 4, 2019, he was elevated to the rank of Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education.

Jacques Fame Ndongo is also known as an essayist, novelist, poet and playwright, and is a member of the association of French-speaking African writers (Adelf).

DECORATIONS: *Knight of the Order of Merit (1977) *Knight of the Order of Valor (1996) *Officer of the Order of Valor (2009) *Officer of the Academic Palms (CAMES) *Officer of the Academic Palms (International Organization of La Francophonie)

PUBLICATIONS:

1. The romantic aesthetic of Mongo Beti. African Presence, Paris, 1985.
2. The Prince and the Scribe. Aesthetic and political reading of the post-colonial Negro-African novel. Berger Levrault, Paris, 1988. Epi d'Or for the best test in Cameroon. Yaounde, 1988.
3. Nnanga Kon (French translation of the novel by Jean Louis Ndjemba Medou). Edition Sopecam, Yaoundé, 1989.
4. Communication by signals in rural areas. The case of Cameroon. Editions Sopecam, Yaoundé, 1991.
5. An African perspective on communication. Discovering circular geometry. Editions Saint Paul, Yaoundé, 1996.
6. Spaces of light (Collection of poems). Yaoundé University Press, Yaoundé, 2000.
7. The time of the titans (collection of poems). Yaoundé University Press, Yaoundé, 2002.
8. Media and power issues. Essay on the will-to-do, the know-how and the power-to-do. Yaoundé University Press, Yaoundé, 2006
9. The marvelous song of phonons and photons. Essay on the scientific foundations of African communication. Editions Sopecam, Yaoundé, 2007.
10. They ate my son (theater). Yaoundé University Press, Yaoundé, 2007.
11. A-FRIC (novel). University Press. 3rd trimester. 2008.