CNSC and trade facilitation

As part of the on-going Central African cross border trade fair (FOTRAC), a seminar themed "Trade facilitation and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), held in Kye on Thursday, 26 August 2021. In line with the selected theme, the Cameroon National Shippers’ Council delivered a paper on the importance of these concepts for the CNSC.

CNSC’s paper was delivered by its representative Mr. Theodore Roger Dippah Kayesse, Head of the Public Relations Unit, in the presence of about a hundred business persons mainly made up of women from Angola, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Rwanda and Sao Tome.

In his paper, CNSC’s representative briefed attendees on CNSC's missions and its field activities. Furthermore, he presented the overall objective of the AfCFTA national strategy in Cameroon, namely, to boost Cameroon's exports to African countries and to ensure economic diversification with a view to shifting Cameroon’s economy away from a limited income. Since the launch of AfCFTA in January 2021, the CNSC has continued to increase shippers’ awareness with a view to enabling them to better take ownership of the concept. A good example of such endeavour is the successful organisation of a webinar on 29 and 30 June 2021 themed "Foreign trade procedures for SMEs under AfCFTA." Many more sensitisation events will be organised in the days ahead.

As an arm of the State, the CNSC is a major trade facilitation player in Cameroon. It plays a pivotal role in the carriage of goods between Cameroon and neighbouring countries.

Using a map, CNSC’s representative pinpointed the key transport and trade facilitation infrastructure that the CNSC has built along conventional road corridors and at border areas. These include but are not limited to trucker accommodation centres, cargo warehouses and regional offices put in place in order to assist business persons in their day-to-day activities. For now, the CNSC is effectively present in 7 of the 10 regions of Cameroon.

After CNSC’s paper, participants were treated to other presentations by the Port Authority of Douala and the Cameroon Customs respectively.