On June 1^st in Yaoundé, the Centre Regional Council and the Portuguese company Technoedif Engenharia Portugal signed an MoU for the construction of a dry port in Ngoumou.

Last Wednesday, the Centre Regional Council and the Portuguese company, Technoedif Engenharia Portugal signed an MoU for the construction of a dry port in the town of Ngoumou, chief town of the Mefou and Akono division. The president of the Centre Regional Council, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna, was there to represent his institution, while Rui Antas Fernandes officiated on behalf of the Portuguese Consortium. This MoU initialled by the parties constitutes the first phase of a long process and will enable the private partner to start technical and financial assessments for the realisation of the project.

This ambitious project will offer all services inherent to the autonomous ports of Kribi and Douala. Thus, as an inland terminal serving as a point of departure, transit or arrival of goods, it shall have commercial, industrial and logistics zones. Besides these, service and technological activities, as well as agropoles and technopoles are equally envisaged. Details provided by the president of Technoedif Engenharia Portugal group reveal that the Ngoumou dry port will also include a warehouse and a customs clearance area; a supermarket, a logistics base, cold stores, a marketing centre for basic necessities and a single window for foreign trade operations.

The construction of this infrastructure comes with economic implications, both for the locality where it is situated, the Centre Region, and for Cameroon. It is expected to be a driving force to boost trade between the ports of Kribi and Douala, the Centre Region, and especially the Douala-Yaoundé-Ndjamena or Kribi-Douala-Ndjamena corridor. To this end, the President of the Centre Regional Council hopes that the technical and financial feasibility studies would begin as soon as possible.

Source: Cameroon Tribune