Bollore Consortium Misses out on Cameroon's Kribi Port Shortlist

A consortium led by France's Bollore failed to make the final shortlist of firms vying to manage a new container terminal in Cameroon's southern port of Kribi, according to a commission report seen by Reuters on Monday.

The government commission, charged with recommending a container terminal manager, shortlisted Philippines-based ICTSI and port operator APM Terminals, a unit of shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk.

The commission said in its report it had reservations over the sustainability of the proposal from Bollore's consortium and found the offers from ICTSI and APMT to be the most plausible.

"The Commission accepted the offers of ICTSI and APMT as being the most advantageous for Cameroon and the central African sub-region," it said.

Cameroon's government is likely to base its final decision on the commission's recommendation but it remains unclear when the decision will be made.

The Bollore-led consortium included France's CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipper, and China's CHEC, which built the Kribi deep-sea port.

Bollore, through its logistics subsidiary Bollore Africa Logistics, manages Cameroon's main container terminal in Douala. Douala's port is the main gateway for trade with central Africa.

The government is rushing to get Kribi port operational to ease congestion on Douala.