The heads of the African Shippers’ Councils are working on the challenges affecting continental trade. Port costs, rising freight rates, and harmonization of procedures are at the heart of discussions aimed at improving the competitiveness of African economies.
Douala has been hosting, since July 8, 2026, the ordinary session of the Steering Committee of the Union of African Shippers’ Councils (UCCA). Organized by the organization’s General Secretariat in collaboration with the National Shippers’ Council of Cameroon (CNCC S.A), this meeting brings together representatives from fifteen Shippers’ Councils, including eight general directors and about sixty delegates.
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At the opening of the work, the general director of CNCC S.A and statutory treasurer of the UCCA, Auguste Mbappe Penda, welcomed the mobilization of the African delegations, emphasizing the importance of this meeting organized in Cameroon. The current president of the UCCA and general director of the Congolese Shippers’ Council, Dr. Dominique Candide Fabrice Koumou Boulas, for his part, recalled that the discussions take place in an international context marked by persistent tensions in maritime transport.
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The discussions mainly focus on reducing costs and delays in the port passage of goods, the impact of freight rate changes, surcharges applied to African international trade, as well as the harmonization of the Cargo Tracking Note. Participants will also review the implementation of previous resolutions and reforms likely to strengthen coordination between the Shippers’ Councils, with the aim of sustainably improving the conditions of international goods transport and the competitiveness of trade on the continent.
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