"The Government will continue to accord special attention to the coordinated implementation of the import-substitution policy and to the optimal harnessing of opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)", said H.E. President Paul Biya on 31 December 2022, during his traditional end-of-year address to the Nation.

This key message in the Head of state's address is vivified by the activities of the Cameroon National Shippers' Council (CNSC), which is charged with promoting Cameroon’s foreign trade and providing assistance to business persons. 

These and other actions carried out on the field were reviewed yesterday by Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda, CNSC General Manager and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee in charge of facilitating the implementation of the AfCFTA guided trade initiative. This was during a live broadcast on the national TV channel, CRTV, where he was invited to give his remarks on the President's end-of-year speech. 

Within the framework of its programme of activities and many other initiatives such as CNSC's participation at the Commonwealth Business Forum in June 2022 in Kigali, the Sub-Committee has organised two training seminars at the Douala Maritime Museum, both chaired by CNSC’s General Manager, Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda. 

The first was an AfCFTA capacity building seminar organised on 16 November 2022 for members of the AfCFTA secretariat. Another training seminar recently held on 28 and 29 December 2022 on the implementation of the AfCFTA. It was attended by several business persons and promoters of products Made in Cameroon. The seminar aimed at schooling Cameroonian entrepreneurs on relevant provisions of the AfCFTA with a view to encouraging them to trade under this agreement.

It should also be recalled that in June 2022, Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda led a delegation of Cameroonian women to the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in Kigali, Rwanda, with the support of the CNSC. These women took part in the Women's Forum chaired by the First Lady Mrs. Jeannette Kagame. 

CNSC's stand at the forum showcased the know-how of these Cameroonian business women and caught the attention of many visitors, the first of whom was H.E. Paul KAGAME, President of the Republic of Rwanda.