Business
Bolloré & APM Terminals out of Douala
By World Cargo News, 10 Jan 2019
Jan 11, 2019 - 5:55:08 PM

With their existing concession due to expire Bolloré and APM Terminals have not been named in the list of five companies pre qualified for the next round of the Douala concession bid.

The five companies listed in the official communique from the Port Authority of Douala as pre-qualified to participate in the next round of the concession are: CMA Terminals, Dubai Ports World, Hutchison Port Investments (registered in the Cayman Islands), Red Sea Gateway Terminal Saudi Arabia, and Terminal Investment Limited.

The qualified candidates are now required to submit to the Director General of the Port Authority Board a letter of expression of interest within thirty days from the date of publication of the official communiqué (8 January 2018).

Not being named means Bolloré and APM Terminals will have to hand over operations at Douala when their concession expires at the end of 2019. This has caused quite a stir in Cameroon, where Bolloré has operations in ports, rail and logistics and handles most of the country’s international cargo.

The move is likely a response to Bolloré developing another container terminal in Cameroon, at Kribi just 60km from Douala. Kribi Conteneurs Terminal welcomed its first ship in March last year. The terminal was opened with two STS cranes and 5 RTGs, and Bolloré plans to develop its capacity to 1M TEU annually.