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Your Excellency Minister for Commonwealth, your excellencies ministers here present, senior members of government, traditional leaders, members of the diplomatic corps, esteemed members of the private sector, ladies and gentlemen - a very warm welcome to the Queen鈥檚 91st Birthday Party. My thanks to the children of the Arbre a Music music school whose singing and playing we have just heard and will hear more of this evening. I also wish to acknowledge the staff of the British High Commission who have worked so hard in difficult circumstances to organize this evening鈥檚 event.

Yes Her Majesty the Queen is now 91 years old and is looking forward in particular to the next Commonwealth Summit which will be in London next year on 16 April.
You may not know that Her Majesty is now the longest reigning monarch in British History. The Queen has received some extraordinary gifts from around the world including, in 1972 a seven-year-old bull elephant called Jumbo presented by, yes you have guessed it, the then President of Cameroon, to mark her Silver Wedding Anniversary.

Vous avez de la chance, ce soir, parce que notre Premier ministre, Theresa May, a annonc茅 une 茅lection g茅n茅rale au Royaume-Uni pour le 8 juin et en vertu de notre loi electorale britannique, car il ne reste que moins de 6 semaines, je ne suis pas autoris茅 脿 commenter sur la politique du gouvernement britannique ou prononcer sur ce que le Royaume-Uni va faire, ou pas, au cours de l鈥檃nn茅e prochaine. Ca c鈥檈st pour notre nouveau gouvernement, quel qu鈥檌l soit, de d茅cider apr猫s l鈥櫭﹍ection.

So - I can see you smiling - there are two consequences for my speech this evening:

• It will be short
• You will be spared any self-righteous descriptions of policy, or how much money the United Kingdom is spending on humanitarian support, or in helping Cameroon and other countries in the region fight terrorism, to stand up for human rights, to offer scholarships to help Cameroonians and others to study both in Cameroon and in the United Kingdom

I can however suggest you read the helpful booklet that has been produced with the help of our sponsors that describes all of this and more. Please take a copy on leaving this evening.

Alors, qu鈥檈st-ce que cela me laisse 脿 dire ? Je voudrais foculiser sur l鈥檃venir du Cameroun. Je suis tout 脿 fait d鈥檃ccord avec le Premier minister de Cameroon lorsqu鈥檌l a annonc茅 脿 Londres lors de la derni猫re mission commerciale Anglo 鈥� Camerounaise, que la prosp茅rit茅 du Cameroun d茅pend en grande partie, du secteur priv茅. Ce soir, notre sponsor Platinum est Diageo, connu de beaucoup d鈥檈ntre vous en tant que brasseurs de 鈥楪uinness鈥�. Nos remerciements 脿 Diageo, pour l鈥檈xcellente selection de whisky 茅cossais et de la bi猫re servis ce soir.
Le jardin est 茅clair茅 ce soir gr芒ce 脿 l鈥櫭﹍ectricit茅 fournie par Eneo dont l鈥檃ctionnaire majoritaire est le groupe d鈥檌nvestissement britannique Actis.

And I have a special announcement regarding English wine, yes really it does exist and it is here tonight. The wine is a fresh, sparkling wine from the Denbies vineyard in Surrey which is available for tasting. The wine tasting has been provided by the British Water company Biwater who are in the final stages of agreeing the construction of new water supplies in 13 towns around Cameroon. I could make a terrible joke about 鈥榳ater to wine鈥� but it is probably better to pass on this.

And in case you would like to connect your mobile phone to the internet you can do so thanks to Vodaphone who are providing a free 4G wifi zone in the garden for all guests this evening. Vodaphone arrived in Cameroon last year and we wish them well as one of the world鈥檚 most advanced telecommunications companies.

Nous sommes 茅galement reconnaissants aux autres entreprises britanniques qui ont parrain茅 cette soiree:
Joule Afrique (les barrages hydro茅lectrique et energie solaire); De La Rue qui fournit d茅j脿 des passeports camerounais et des timbres fiscaux pour les vins et autres boissons, New Age qui a deja investis plusieurs milliards de livres dans le d茅veloppement de forages de gaz natural et qui souhaite construire une usine de gaz naturel liquide au Cameroun, 鈥� Aggreko qui fournit des solutions de production d鈥櫭﹍ectricit茅 et Standard Chartered Bank qui joue un r么le essentiel dans le financement d鈥檜n large 茅ventail de projets et d鈥檈ntreprises au Cameroun.

I underline the strength of British engagement in the private sector in Cameroon because the future strength of the economy of Cameroon depends on a successful private sector. Profit and taxes are not dirty words. They are essential for creating jobs, generating wealth, providing hope and inspiration for milllions of young people. That is why I am pleased this evening to focus on the private sector and to thank the Chief Executives present this evening for their support, and to wish them, and Cameroon a very successful coming year. Finally I look forward to the bilateral relationship between Cameroon and the United Kingdom going from strength to strength in the coming year. We are already partners - we look to redoubling our efforts to make the partnership even more productive in the coming months.

But we must not forget whose birthday party this is. I ask you now to raise your glasses to toast - the Queen.