Cameroon's 'Silicon Mountain' slows down amid separatist conflict Hi-tech promoters had big dreams for Silicon Mountain in Cameroon, where a broad plateau was seen as perfect for startup ventures, but their hopes have been shattered by a separatist struggle. Entrepreneurs in the tech village wanted to launch new technologies and make Cameroon a market player on the model of California, but the bloody insurgency in the country's English-speaking west has driven many to leave. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES