2.5 Cameroon Waterways Assessment

Except for the Benué River, waterways navigation is not developed in Cameroon.  But in recent years, with the roads in such poor condition, waterways have become increasingly popular in the northern regions.

Map showing the Benue River drainage basin.

Except for the Benué River, waterways navigation is not developed in Cameroon.

BENUE RIVER

The port of Garoua is only open during the wet season which lasts ¾ months per year (May to August). The traffic is mostly with the neighboring Nigeria. Outside the rainy season, when the river is dry, there is limited traffic (September to April). Traffic at the port has decreased significantly due to a range of factors, including insecurity in the surrounding region, the construction of a hydro-power dam at Lagdo near Garoua which has contributed to the decrease of the volume of the drained water River Benue which supplies Garoua port, and the build-up of sand over recent years. The town council is responsible for the management of the Port of Garoua. The passage commences at the Niger mouth and is made by general cargo vessels and small tankers. Exports include cotton cakes, hides, peanuts, and skins. Imports are petroleum and cement. No container handling equipment available. Port is mostly for break bulk cargo, especially bags.

Traffic figures: Approx. 7,450t of cargo and 10 ships are handled annually.

Load line zone: Tropical.  Distance port Garoua-Nigeria = 80 km

 

Storage facilities

With the decrease of the activities At Garoua, there are many empty warehouses at the Garoua port managed by the city council.

Several rivers cross the Far North region. These rivers form the natural frontier linking the state of Cameroon to its neighboring countries.

Rivers:

Chad and Cameroon, with its tributary at the tributary of the Logone River in the Goulfey locality at Kousseri and runs along the entire north coast of Kousseri and empties into Lake Chad. It accounts for 80% of Lake Chad’s water supply. The town of Kousseri is at the confluence of the Logone and Chari rivers. Hence its name Logone et Chari department

• Chari, which flows through the Central African Republic
• Logone, a river that drains part of the large Lake Chad basin. Along with the Bahr Sara, the Logone is the main tributary of the Chari. It flows along the entire eastern coast of the Far North region and provides part of the inflow to the Lac Maga artificial lake from Pouss.
• l Beid, whose main stations are Tilde and Fotokol is in the west and crosses into Nigeria.
• Serbewel: This is a branch of the Chari River that flows through Makary and is a seasonal river.

During the rainy season, there is often flooding due to the sudden rise in the waters of the Logone River, aggravated by the failure of several community dikes during the rainy season. This causes extensive damage to public infrastructure and housing, generally forcing people to abandon their homes, but also and above all making road access difficult in certain localities.

NORTHERN Waterways

Several waterways are often used by transporters when road access is completely cut off in certain localities. These are the Guirvidig – Maga – Pouss – Zina and Yagoua – Vélé – Pouss – Zina waterways. The main waterway is the one that crosses the Mayo Danay from Guirvidig via Pouss to the Logone and Chari at Zina.

Guirvidig – Maga – Pouss – Zina.

This route was originally favored by the presence of Lake Maga, which covers the entire Maga district. This artificial lake was created in 1979, with a capacity of 600 million m3 and a surface area of 39,000 ha. Lac de Maga is nearly 25 km long.

Lake Maga provides irrigation for the region and enables rice to be grown. The road from Maga to Pouss runs along the dike on Lake Maga. During the rainy season, this road is totally impassable due to the discharge of lake water along the dike, which very often leads to major flooding and makes the road impassable.

STRATEGY

The strategy adopted by traders and transporters is to make the Maroua – Guirvidig journey by road, then to make a load break from Guirvidig to take outboard which will sail from Guirvidig to Pouss on Lake Maga, then join the Logone and sail as far as Logone birni.

From	To	Distance	Time	Cost / Bag/50kg
Pouss	Kousseri	200	24	2500
pouss	Logone Birni	120	18	2500
pouss	Ivie	70	12	2500
pouss	Zina	60	12	2500
pouss	Guirvidig	25	3	2500

Contact person: Haroa pyne, Tel.  699 382 751 /    Bouba Yaya tel :  695 504 200

In case of inaccessibility of POUSS in rainy season, the loading of outboard could be done in Maga after negotiating with the carrier.

 Constraint

The main constraint on this route is the presence of the Chadian coastguard and navy, as at certain points the Cameroonian outboards are sailing in Chadian waters, which poses numerous difficulties when crossing (extortion/corruption).

           

The Far-North is the region with the most navigable rivers in the rainy season.

• Logone Chari in the far north, the Logone in the Mayo Danay

 

• The Bénoué River at Garoua.

We met with river transport operators and then with the Regional Transport Director. The transport operators are very well organized at their level, but they don't make themselves officially known to their supervisory body, the Ministry of Transport. The reason is that they don't want to pay taxes, as confirmed by the director himself.  According to the Departmental director of Public Work in Kousseri, they have two outboard which will be borrowed to the agencies upon request.

In the rainy season, the roads are not open in these regions. River transport proves to be the best alternative. The operators are easy to find, as they are on the river all day long. Contacts have been made with them and they can be reached.

As for capacity, in the far north, boats can take up to 5 tons per trip. The price is set per bag of 100kg, 50kg and 25kg, which are successively 5000 CFA, 2500 CFA. 1250 CFA. This includes loading and unloading.

In Maga, in the village of Pouss, Lac de Maga provides transport to all areas in the far north (Kousseri, Zina, Evie and Zimado). The outboard's capacity is 30 tons. They are available at POUSS, 12 km from Maga. If Pouss is inaccessible due to heavy rain, we can negotiate for goods to be transported exceptionally from GUIRVIDIG.

The Cameroon-Chad (Yagoua) border via the Logone River is used by river transport operators. Transport is only carried out between countries, not within Cameroon. Depending on the carrier, barges can carry up to 40 tonnes to Bongor in Chad.

To improve the transport system in the Lake Chad Basin region, the AFDB (African Development Bank) financed a regional road network integration project in the Lake Chad basin - Construction of a bridge over the Logone between Yagoua (Cameroon) and Bongor (Chad). The project involves the construction of a bridge in the Far North region (Cameroon), in the locality of Yagoua and in the Bongor area (Chad), on the banks of the Logone River, which forms the border with the Republic of Chad. The estimated length of the bridge is 620 m between the abutment axes, with a two-way carriageway 7 m wide and two 1.5 m sidewalks.

Scheduled completion date Dec. 31, 2024

Under construction between Yagoua (Cameroon) and Bongor(Chad) completion 31dec 2024

Cameroon and Chad flags at the border CAMEROON- CHAD

 Border Yagoua-Bongor Cameroon- CHAD (Logone)

Finally, river transport can be a good alternative during the rainy season in the North and ADAMAOUA regions