French-speaking Cameroonians scramble to play US DV Lottery for 2024
By Hans Ngala
There is a mad rush in the nation’s capital Yaounde by Francophones to play the US Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery for the year 2024.
The DV Lottery allows foreigners to live and work in the US legally on a long term basis.
Most internet cafes in Yaounde have been flooded by Francophone Cameroonians who don’t speak any English at all who want to play the Lottery.
“I will pay CFA 800,000 and learn English and be issued with a certificate to that effect,” said Jean-Pierre.
“If it means paying someone to study and write for me, then I will do it” the 28 year-old said.
“I find it funny that they often treat English like something that is useless until when they realize that they need it because they need to use it in the US” said Emmanuel, a Yaounde resident who’s originally from the North West.
“They should be going to their France and leave this one for us. We are already IDPs in this country as a result of a crisis of their own making.
The crisis has led to mass exodus of Anglophones to French-speaking parts of the country and others have risked their lives on the high seas to Europe while others have made the treacherous journey to the US via the deadly Darien Gap.
In April this year, the Biden administration under the Temporary Protected Status program granted some 39,000 Cameroonians already in the US, an 18-month work visa.
