(Business in Cameroon) - The customs services of the Central African Republic will be connected to the IT system Nexus, set up in the Cameroonian customs, to ensure the geo-tracking of goods in transit in Cameroon. This is the main information to come out of a meeting organised by the customs administrations of both countries in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon
This interconnection, according to the Central African and Cameroon customs services, will lead to more security for Central African goods transit operations on the Douala-Bangui corridor.
The decision taken by the Central African Customs Administration to get connected to this system implemented by the Cameroonian customs, with the support of local IT experts, we learned, comes from the gradual decrease in the departure of Central African goods from the port of Douala.
According to figures revealed during the above-mentioned meeting, from 10,000 departures on average per year during the last decade, only about 4,900 departures of goods going to Bangui were registered at the Port of Douala during the first six months of 2016. And the insecurity at the border between Cameroon and CAR does not call for optimism, with regards to curbing this trend in the departures by the end of the year.
As a reminder, according to statistics from the Cameroonian customs, approximately FCfa 55 billion in Central African goods transit through Cameroon every year. These cargoes are an important sources of revenues for the Central African customs, provided that the goods thus transported be well monitored throughout the Douala-Bangui corridor.
Brice R. Mbodiam