21, June 2023
Port of Douala says its partnership with Port of Antwerp is the most beneficial 0
The partnership with the Dutch port of Antwerp is the most beneficial that the port of Douala has. This was stated by the Douala Autonomous Port (PAD), the State company that manages the eponymous port.
The PAD made the statement in a technical note issued on the sidelines of a mission of Antwerp port officials to Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. The mission began on June 19, 2023.
“To date, the collaboration has yielded 14 capacity-strengthening grants for PAD employees and a project supporting the establishment of a port-related professions training center,” the note reads.
The visit aims to renew the partnership between the two ports with an enhanced focus on accelerating the modernization of the port of Douala. Throughout the mission, “the PAD will outline its requirements for the development of specific economic zones at the Douala port, towards implementing the principles of an industrial-port complex”.
Besides the Douala port, the Port of Antwerp works in partnership with the deep-water port of Kribi, southern Cameroon. “The Autonomous Port of Kribi (PAK) and the Port of Antwerp have been diligently formulating a new, more ambitious agreement that covers a broader range of activities and better aligns with the Port of Kribi’s challenges,” said Patrice Melom, Director General of PAK, on July 1, 2021.
According to Melom, the PAK’s challenges include “increasing its reception capabilities and operational performances, making its industrial zone more appealing to foster value and traffic generating logistical and transformational activities; improving accessibility and connectivity with the hinterland; and ensuring harmonious integration into its environment through sustainable and inclusive development of its zone of influence.”
Source: Business in Cameroon
27, June 2023
Myth or Reality: BEAC speaks of consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war on Cemac countries 0
The Bank of Central African States (Beac) has presented its view on how the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has impacted the Cemac economies in 2022. In a recent economic and statistical bulletin, the institution observed a V-shaped impact resulting from the conflict.
On a good note, “the economic growth went from 1.8% in 2021 to 2.9% in 2022 thanks to a good impetus in the oil and gas sector in the region, despite a slight decline in the non-oil sector”. However, before the war started, Beac was expecting a 3.2% growth, meaning the war caused a loss of 0.3pts.
Although there has been an improvement in the prices of crude oil and natural gas on the international market, with positive financial repercussions for Cemac countries, demand was less vigorous. Beac points out that gross domestic demand has made a smaller contribution to Cemac growth in 2022, even though it remains the main driver of real growth in the region (2.1 points in 2022, against 7.4 points in 2021), with a slight decline in the contribution of private consumption (3.5pts in 2022, against 4.0pts in 2021) and that of public consumption and gross investment (- 1.1 points and – 0.4 points respectively).
The Russia-Ukraine war has also triggered strong inflationary pressures in the Cemac, as many countries in the region depend on Russian wheat and construction raw materials from Ukraine. In 2022, due to higher food prices, inflation rose to an annual average of 5.6% and 6.7% year-on-year, compared with 1.7% and 2.6% respectively a year earlier. Before the outbreak of the war, Beac forecasted inflation to be 2.1%.
A good point of the conflict, Beac found, is an improvement in the public finances of Cemac countries as a result of “the upward trend in the prices of exported products (…), particularly crude oil”. Overall, the budget balance, including grants, reached 2.5% of GDP in 2022, compared with -1.2% of GDP in 2021. Before the start of the crisis, it was forecast at 0.5% of GDP, an increase of 2.0 percentage points.
About money supply and its counterparts, the Beac noted “a surge in the monetary system’s net foreign assets, which doubled to CFA2,863.8 billion; a 4.7% deceleration in the monetary system’s net claims on CEMAC countries, to CFA8,585.1 billion; a 7.7% rise in loans to the economy, to CFA9,912.3 billion; and a currency coverage ratio of 73.1% (against 64.0% in 2021), up 6 basis points on the level projected before the war”.
Source: Business in Cameroon