The Port Authority of Douala, (PAD), has recognized some 104 loyal customers for their significant contribution to the growth of port traffic in the Port of Douala-Bonaberi in 2023.
The ship owners, importers and exporters were awarded a total of FCFA 2 billion (excluding taxes), in commercial rebates for the 2023 financial year during a ceremony in Douala on Friday, June 28, 2024.
The total amount was distributed to the various actors in proportion to the volume of traffic measured in units of twenty-foot long containers (TEUs).
Among ship owners, Maersk Line Agency Cameroon SA, stood out, receiving the largest reward amounting to FCFA 273.9 million while Congelés du Cameroun, (CONGELCAM), which is specialized in the distribution and sale of seafood products topped the chart of importers, receiving a rebate of FCFA 149.4 million.
The Cameroon Cotton Production Company, (SODECOTON), for its part, capped the list of exporters and was awarded the sum of FCFA 63.9 million.
handing over symbolic cheque to one of the recipients
Establishing strong partnerships with clients
PAD officials say the decision to grant commercial rebates to partners, which is in line with a November 30, 2023 resolution of the Board, underlines the state-owned maritime company’s commitment to establishing strong partnerships with its clients and supporting them in their expansion.
The maritime company said in a statement that the initiative aims to encourage performance and promote the development of maritime traffic within the Port of Douala-Bonaberi, which is a key economic platform for Cameroon and some neighboring countries.
“It’s not the Port that causes the traffic,” said Cyrus Ngo’o, General Manager of PAD and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Container Terminal Management (RTC). He explained that traffic at the Port depends on the economy.
“We live in the Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Chad and Cameroon where people are in contact with the outside world. There are transactions taking place. They have to go through a Port, and the Port of Douala happens to be the largest in the Central African sub-region now. So, it is normal that we produce the results,” Ngo’o explained to the media.
Congolese clients also rewarded
Companies from the Republic of Congo [Brazzaville] that contributed to traffic growth at the Port of Douala-Bonaberi also received their allowances at the ceremony in Douala. Among them are the Ouesso Forestry Industry that benefited from an envelope of FCFA 6.1 million, the Thanry Congo wood company that went home with FCFA 6.7 million and the Congo Industrial Wood company (La Congolaise Industrielle des Bois) that was rewarded with FCFA 6.9 million.
The Managing Director of the RTC, Dieudonne Lin Onana Doh used the ceremony in Douala, which was in its second edition to highlight some of the achievements of the PAD subsidiary he heads.
“…These specific actions are part of an overall policy of enlargement and development of the Port of Douala of which we have already recorded the reconstruction of stores, the deployment of a surveillance network, the opening up of the southern zone with the construction of a road network, the construction of a bypass road and a parking lot, the reconstruction of the wood terminal quay…,” he explained.
It should be noted that loyal clients from landlocked neighboring countries; CAR and Chad did not receive their symbolic cheques during the Friday June 28 ceremony in Douala. They have rather undertaken to organize similar ceremonies in their respective countries.
