Find Freight, Shipping and Logistics expertise in Cameroon

Freight and shipping of goods and cargo takes place to, from and within Cameroon via air, water and land. The three main coastal ports are Douala, Limbe and Kribi. Douala, the largest, is one of central Africa’s most important trading hubs and the site of the majority of the country’s international trade. Operated by the Office National Des Ports Du Cameroun, it offers facilities for ships which includes those over 500 feet in length. It offers 11 cargo berths, nine of which are dedicated to the movement of general cargo, and offers 58,000 square meters of warehouse space. Additionally it has about 380,000  square meters of open storage and eight thousand square meters of storage space for chilled and refrigerated cargoes. The facilities provide 2,300 meters of quay, a container terminal with capacity for 5,000 full TEUs in its stacking area and space for roll-on/roll-off cargo.

The country’s infrastructure includes more than 50,000 km of roadway. Additionally, French-owned Camrail runs a freight rail service covering Ngaoundéré, Nkongsamba, Kumba, Douala and Yaoundé. Of the 34 airports, the highest level of trade passes through the publicly owned Douala International Airport, including the operations of the cargo airline Sky Gabon.

The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) gave Cameroon a score of 2.24 out of 5 in relation to infrastructure, below the average of 2.29 for a sub-Saharan African nation and placing it in 121^st place out of 155 countries.

In 2010 Cameroon’s exports and imports of goods were both valued at €3.4 billion. The export trade is dominated by the European Union, with a 53.5% share in 2010. The European Union is also the greatest import partner, with a 39.2% share in 2010, followed by China with 13.3% and Nigeria with 12.4%.

Global courier DHL has an office in Douala. UPS another leading international carrier operates in the country via a contractor. The sector has three main bodies to which authorised companies are affiliated: Syndicat National des Transitaires Transporteurs Douaniers du Cameroun; Syndicat des Commissionnaires agrées en douanes et Transitaires du Cameroun; and Syndicat National des Auxiliaires de Transports et de Transit.

In the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index (2012) Cameroon ranked 106^th overall out of 155 countries, with a score of 2.53, 48.9% of the highest performer, Singapore. Each country is scored from one to five, with one being the worst performance in terms of logistics, infrastructure and customs amongst other categories. In terms of customs (96^th) and tracking and tracing (103^rd) the country scored above the average for both its region, sub-Saharan Africa, and its income group, lower middle income. In relation to timeliness (76^th) the country was given a value of 3.19, comfortably above the sub-Saharan African average of 2.85 and the lower middle income average of 3.00. It scored below the averages of both categories in relation to international shipments (121^st) and logistics competence (114^th).