CAR delegation to 'convince' Cameroonian truckers to resume work

An envoys sent by the Central African Republic government is expected in Cameroon this week to "convince" the truckers to resume "regular" activities on the Douala-Bangui corridor following their decision to no longer serve the Central African Republic because of insecurity.

This information was confirmed by the Freight Management Bureau of Central Africa (BGFC) based in Douala, which acknowledges "the situation is difficult in Central Africa Republic since the truckers decided not to travel to the country until security is assured."

Following the upsurge of violence in CAR since the end of September leading to the looting of dozens of Cameroonian trucks in Central African Republic territory and the death of six people," the drivers have decided themselves not to go to CAR since October 7, 2015".

Consequently, more than 300 trucks are stationed in the city of Garoua-Boulai in the eastern Cameroon border of the Central African Republic causing inflation in the country where basic commodities are scarce.

According to eyewitness accounts, consumer staples like rice, flour, sugar, vegetable oil, salt etc have experienced a 50 percent price increase on average, with an 18kg bag of salt increased from 5,000 to 7,500 CFA francs in Bangui.

The same insecurity issue caused Cameroonian truckers to observed a strike between July and August, following the plundering of their cargo and the killing of four of their colleagues in the Central African Republic.

A landlocked country, the CAR is reliant on the port of Douala which handles over 80 percent of the volume of exports and imports of the neighboring country to the east of Cameroon.