Experts in road transport and international trade within the Central African Sub-region (CEMAC) are devising ways and means of boosting the transportation and transit of goods as well as surmounting challenges that have held down inter-State trade. A two-day workshop on the importance of international conventions in facilitating trade and road transport within the sub-region went underway at the Yaounde Mont Febe Hotel yesterday April 11.
Organised by the International Road Transport Union (IRU), a world road transport organisation that upholds the interests of bus, coach, taxi and truck operators to ensure economic growth and prosperity through the sustainable mobility of people and goods by road, the workshop participants are sharing experiences on best practices to boost inter-State trade and by extension the economies of the respective countries. They are also working on topics like, “Benefits of effectively implementing United Nations and multilateral conventions on road transport and trade” and “Strategies of developing trade in Africa.”
Presiding at the opening ceremony yesterday, Cameroon’s Minister of Transport, Robert Nkili, said safety in road transport, its sustainability as well as vibrant trade are indispensable both for sub-regional integration and the emergence of its economies. Given Cameroon’s central position in the sub-region, Minister Nkili noted, government has been unwavering in modernising the corridor for hitch-free transit of goods and persons and exchanges between citizens, although some difficulties persist. Adopting a unique international control license, training road users on best practices so as to limit endemic corruption on the roads as well as limiting check-points in which transit vehicles are controlled, he added, are needed.
Other speakers like the Deputy Secretary General of IRU, Umberto de Pretto, said they have noticed that the problem to road transport and trade within CEMAC is human. “We need a political decision to put in place facilitation instruments so that the country can advance. There are noticeable challenges like lack of infrastructure and the profession is not structured. We hope that with the workshop, we can share the experiences we have and hope to resolve the problems.” He noted that trade and roads are inseparable. “You need sufficient roads to enhance trade. If your economy takes off, you have money for more roads. We can bring training to make your managers professional so that business that drives the economy can boom,” Umberto de Pretto added. The workshop ends today.
