(Business in Cameroon) - During the 2017 fiscal year, Douala autonomous port realized a net benefit of CFA455.5 million. This was announced in a statement published after a meeting of the administrative board on May 24, 2018.

Compared to the CFA940.5 million realized in the previous fiscal year, this represents a drop by about 50%. According to the port’s director Cyrus Ngo’o, this is due to the economic environment and to the lack of fluidity inside the port.

Indeed, on May 28, 2018, the director revealed that the port was initially built to handle about 7 million tons of goods but nowadays, it handles more than 11 million tons annualy. Meanwhile since it was built, in 1980, there has not been any major investment to increase its capacity.

To boost the port’s performance, Cyrus Ngo’o announces an ambitious investment program this year, to fluidify the traffic. In the framework of that programme, the port authorities will remove shipwrecks from the dock of the fishing port, acquire a new 3,000 cubic meters dredge and renovate the dredge Chantal Biya. They will also increase the port capacity by building a 750 meter dock at Bonaberi and a dolphin for oil ships.

BRM