The government of Cameroon garnered the support of investors for the BOT construction of a port in deep water. Objective: to facilitate the loading out of mining and industrial products and support the growing flow of trade with the interior.

By François Bambou, Yaoundé

The Cameroon government has set 2015 as the date for the completion of construction of a port in the deep waters in the Kribi area. An old project that dates back 30 years that has recently been dusted off by the Minister Cameroonian minister of of Economy, Planning and Development, Louis Paul Motaze, through the first round table of investors.

Committed Investors

The goal of the 9th May round table which met to discuss the administration of potential operators and investors, was to seek initial financing sources, to contribute to the creation of the first collaboration between operators and investors and set the first implementation timeline for the building of a port in the deep waters of Kribi. The goal was clearly achieved since operators and lenders of various spheres of Banque Africaine de développement, Banque de développement des Etats de l’Afrique centrale, Camship, Douala Stock Exchange, China Harbor Engineering Company Limited, China National Electric Equipment Corporation, Swiss businesses and an Anglo-Canadian among others stated that they would be interested in this project of which the cost is estimated to be 282 billion FCFA. There is even the possibility that Cameroonian state, which planned to bear the infra-structural costs estimated at 41% of the global amount, will payout nothing at all as the operators intend to work on a BOT or built, operate and transfer scheme.

The Country’s Industrialisation

Minister Paul Motaze’s push to launch the project is linked to the Cameroonian economic context by the launching of industrial and mining projects (aluminium, bauxite, iron and so on) which would need a port in deep water for their loading out. It is this need to strengthen the loading capabilities for mining and industrial products that led to the conception of port presenting six specialised terminals (iron, aluminium, oil, wood, containers, and cereals). The port’s design which its creators hoped to have surpass that of Douala is even more important as, according to the engineers of the Ministry of Economy, the port of Douala is reaching its limit and will be unable to sustain the increasing levels of trade between Cameroon and the exterior market: “the Douala port, Cameroon’s main trading port (more than 95% of the national volume and a transit port for the sub-region) is situated at approximately 30km from the mouth of the Wouri River and is accessible by an artificial 50 metre channel, and is permanently “dredged at –6.50 at its lower end enabling at best, 8.5 metre ships to enter the open ocean. This limited depth,” added the experts hired by Minepat, “limits the size of ships able to reach Douala port, as well as the periods of accessibility which carry a surcharge for the conveyance of merchandise, particularly those in containers, relative to using larger vessels.”

Due to the wide span that the Minister of Economy wishes for it to have, the port of Kribi is going to enable an improved urban development of the city as well as the realisation of other road and rail infrastructure to connect production and evacuation points not to mention the additional benefit of providing enclosed countries of the sub-region with an alternative gateway to the sea. These projections led the project’s designers to estimate its profitability at more than 15% in the best case scenario, an amount which would be double the maximum required rate. “While optimising Cameroon’s maritime accessibility, this project will facilitate the country’s expeditious industrialisation by marketing a number of natural resources such as iron, bauxite, nickel and cobalt for which exploration licences have been granted,” expressed Mr. Motaze who had already brought Cameroonian businessmen from Gicam, in early March, to make them more acquainted with the project.