On 21 March 2022, the General Manager of the Cameroon National Shippers’ Council (CNSC), Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda, received a delegation from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation for a benchmarking mission on the Electronic Cargo Tracking Note (ECTN) issuance procedure. This is in line with the recommendations of the Union of African Shippers’ Councils (UASC) which encourages collaboration between African states in training, capacity building, monitoring and evaluation and data collection, among others.

The two-day working visit was an opportunity for NSC and Nigerian Federal Ministry of Transportation officials to draw inspiration from Cameroon’s experience and journey in the issuance of ECTNs. Discussions at the working sessions mainly dwelled on the policies that govern the establishment of ECTN rates, measures taken by the CNSC to promote Cameroon’s exports, the organisational set up of CNSC's digital communication and the infrastructural configuration and properties of its IT systems. The cherry on the pie was a tour of CNSC’s facilities and the Douala Maritime Museum where the guests had a peek of Cameroon's colonial and maritime history.

The Nigerian delegation, led by Mr. D.B Bonat (Director of Administration and Finance of the NSC) and Mr. C. C. AGU (Director, Consumer Affairs Department), appreciated and commended the efforts made by the CNSC GM and his staff to have the ECTN system running, and did not fail to acknowledge the true African hospitality that was accorded them during their stay in Cameroon.