Port of Antwerp delegation pays working visit to the CNSC

On 22 April 2021, the General Manager of the Cameroon National Shippers' Council (CNSC), Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda granted audience to a joint delegation from the Belgian Cooperation Agency and the Port of Antwerp International led by Mr. Jean-Christophe Charlier, Head of the Governance Unit within the Belgian Cooperation Agency. He was accompanied by Mrs. Voorspoe Nele, Consultant and Project Manager at Port of Antwerp International, technical partner of the Belgian Cooperation Agency.

The working session, which brought together officials from both institutions, held as part of the Belgian Cooperation Agency's prospecting mission in Cameroon aimed at identifying service needs and promoting Belgian expertise. Concretely, the delegation was in Cameroon to share experiences with stakeholders, notably on the activities and projects that they are carrying out along the Douala / Kribi-Bangui and Douala/Kribi N’djamena corridors and related difficulties and constraints so as to see how Belgian expertise can help in developing the two trans-Cameroon corridors.

Discussions mainly focused on the difficulties that the CNSC encounters in carrying out its missions. Talking the floor, Mr. Nkondje Ekengolo Alex, CNSC Director for Trade Facilitation and Transport Observatory briefed the delegation on CNSC missions and facilitation infrastructures. He also outlined the difficulties that shippers face along the Douala– N’djamena, Douala-Bangui corridors, particularly multiple checkpoints. Furthermore, he told the visiting Belgian delegation that the CNSC collects data on the corridors, analyses and publishes same in its publication entitled “The CNSC Statistic of Book”, which is used to inform policy making in Cameroon. On this issue, the CNSC General Manager noted that despite the difficulties encountered in collecting data and information, the CNSC produces the most reliable statistics and is constantly being praised for that by embassies and administrations in Cameroon.

Mr. Elvis Tsaguim, CNSC Operations Manager told the visiting delegation that the dematerialisation of the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (BESC), the holding of webinars, and the setting up of the transport observatory (a tool for monitoring and investigating abnormal practices in the transport chain) are facilities put in place to effectively assist shippers and other business persons.

At the end of this meeting, the CNSC General Manager expressed his satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the meeting and called for a speedy materialisation of cooperation between both parties. “After this visit, we would be glad to see your support materialise taking into account the sub-regional scope of CNSC activities. I wish you well with your work so that our respective institutions get the best out of it,” he concluded.