PAD signs financing conventions with NEGRI to modernise container terminal.

NEGRI DG, Stephane Delaplace & PAD DG, Cyrus Ngo’o, exchanging agreement booklets

The Port Authority of Douala, PAD, has signed financing conventions with French construction company, NEGRI, for the modernisation of its container terminal.

The conventions were signed in Douala on Friday January 17. The ceremony saw the signing of four agreements detailing the terms and conditions for the infrastructural transformation and modernization of the Container Terminal of the Douala Port in Bonaberi.

The Director General of the Port Authority of Douala, Cyrus Ngo'o, and the Director General of NEGRI, Stephane Delaplace, as well as Directors of banking institutions and the financial markets signed the deals.

Officials said the singing of the financing conventions is a milestone in advancing work at the container terminal of PAD.

Officials said the project will involve adding 250 linear metres of quay, developing 7.9 hectares of quayside and a RORO or Roll-on/Roll-off station, and extending the Tyre Gantry CraneRTG Tyre by 1,200 metres.

This, they said, is in addition to automatic gantry crane on tyres. It is expected to cost a total of 47, 277, 592 ,936 FCFA. NEGRI is expected to provide all the finances needed for the project.

The container terminal of PAD, it was also said, serve as a strategic component in the standardisation, modernisation and development processes of the corporation. 

They added that it is an important aspect of the nation’s economic resilience given its role in facilitating international trade.

Officials said it is the importance of the facility that caused the Head of State, President Paul Biya, to declare in 2011 his determination to renovate the it to become a reference in the Gulf of Guinea.

The 2019 decree of the Head of State, reorganising PAD, the management of the company said was part of the transformation agenda which is still ongoing.

Cyrus Ngo'o said PAD management has in line with Presidential directives been able to carry out litany of operations necessitating development of the Douala port. 

The PAD Director General said "it was major step in their corporate strategy to radically renovate, modernise and transform the entire Port Complex of Douala-Bonaberi, so that it remains the main platform for foreign trade operations in Cameroon and the sub-region" 

He commended NEGRI for its continuous support to the transformation drive of PAD. 

"Following significant accomplishments such as the Dolphin, the berthing fenders, and the multi-purpose quay at Wood Terminal, NEGRI is once again demonstrating its commitment to supporting the Port Authority as it works to write a new chapter in the port's history," Ngo’o noted.

He said the deal is comes five years after PAD took over the management of the Container Terminal. The DG underscored that since January 2, 2020, the Port Authority of Douala has successfully taken up the challenge of managing the Container Terminal.

Ngo’o reiterated that PAD has since then been proving its ability to reconcile economic and operational performance requirements with those relating to the satisfaction of partners and operators.

Stakeholders pose for posterity after singing financing conventions

Deal first phase of the Douala-Bonaberi Port Dev’t Master Plan 

According to Ngo'o, the signing of the convention is the first phase of the Douala-Bonaberi Port Development Master Plan for the 2020-2025. 

The plan, he said, sets out programme of priority investments designed to improve existing infrastructure. 

This, he added, would be through renovation and optimisation, in order to respond effectively to the sustained growth in cargo flows.

"This project is part of the investment plan of the Container Terminal Management, RTC for the 2021-2030 period. All the stages of maturation, award and tender were scrupulously respected, in compliance with the applicable regulations,” the DG restated.

He added that in respect of the regulations: “The Port Community, through the Advisory Steering Committee of the Port Authority of Douala, expressed its support by issuing its favourable Notice No. 100 on 14 February 2022".

The PAD boss added that at the end of the stages of maturation an agreement was signed covering financing, studies, construction, operation and maintenance on 9 December 2022.

He added that the deal also covered the handover to the Port Authority of Douala of 250 linear metres of quay and a 7.9-hectare platform located at the Container Terminal of the Port of Douala-Bonaberi. 

The said agreement was signed between PAD and the project company Société d'Exploitation et de Construction du Port de Douala-Bonabéri, SCEPDB. SCEPDB is a subsidiary of NEGRI. He maintained that it is a Public-Private Partnership deal.

With the PPP, the State of Cameroon is enhancing the container terminal by increasing its handling capacity while alleviating any financial burden on public resources. 

This new capacity, it was said, will help reduce logistics costs for operators, generate both direct and indirect employment.

 

Details of the project 

The Director Delegate of the Container Terminal, Lin Onana Ndoh, said NEGRI will construct the facility for two years and exploit it for 12 years before handing back to PAD.

PAD Director General noted that as per the convention, the project will be funded with loans of up to 70,000,000,000 billion FCFA.

It will be granted by a pool of Cameroonian banks and the money will be repaid over eight years with a two-year deferral. It has been partitioned as follows, 46, 350,581 310FCFA for construction and 952,611,627 FCFA for expertise.

The reimbursement of the loan, he said, will be assured by the SCEPDB in accordance with the relative conditions provided for by the credit agreement and in liaison with the project team.

In consideration for its infrastructure operation, the RTC, he detailed, will pay at the SCEPDB an amount strictly corresponding to the debt service. The payment, it was also said, will cover costs necessary for the operation of the structure.

Technically, the PAD DG said the project will be done in three phases with the first phase involving the construction of 250 meters of wharf and 7.9 hectares of rear grounds. 

The second phase, will involve the construction of the RORO post and the third phase will be the extension of 1200 meters of RTG channels

The RTC, he went on, will ensure the exploitation of the docks and grounds. Ngo’o explained that after receipt by the PAD, an operating agreement will be signed between the RTC and the SCEPDB to frame its role as logistical operator and define the modalities for use and billing to users and payback in dedicated accounts.

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3344 of Monday January 20, 2025

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