CAMEROON – The Government of Cameroon has appointed Terminal Investment Limited to renovate and manage Douala port starting next year.
TIL will be expected to carry out renovations at one of the busiest port in Central Africa and also improve the efficiency of operations at the port.
In a statement released in September this year, the port’s Director General, Cyrus Ngo’o, said that TIL had been provisionally designated the winning bidder.
He further revealed that discussions will follow to finalise a contract allowing TIL to take control of the port on Jan. 1, 2020, he said.
Douala port is located on the Atlantic coast and is the largest in Central Africa serving Cameroon as well as other land locked Central African states including Chad and Central African Republic.
Reports from CGTN Africa indicate that the port accounts for 95 percent of the Central African nation traffic and is a critical passage way for the country’s main exports which include oil, cocoa and timber.
It is also a key installation for the other countries that depend on it for their exports and imports crude oil.
Bollore Transport and Logistics company has been managing the port since 2015 . but the French company was eliminated earlier in the bidding process as it sought to renew its contract.
The port which according to a World Bank is considered as one of the most inefficient in the region has been trying to improve its efficiency and competitiveness.
In 2018, the Cameroonian government awarded an Italian Company, Bonifacio, a tender to remove old wrecks which were congesting the port and significantly affecting movement of traffic at the port.
TIL which is based in Geneva was was founded in 2000 to secure berths and terminal Capacity in the major ports used by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
It has since grown and currently has ownership stakes in 36 operating terminals across five continents, including in the West African countries of Togo and Ivory Coast.