The case of the operation of the container terminal at the port of Douala could expose the Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD) to more than 58 million euros in damages to be paid to the APM/Bolloré consortium.

The Autonomous Port of Douala exposes itself to the payment of a heavy fine for non-compliance with the contractual clauses. This despite the court decisions and the arbitration court which have already condemned him nine times in the trial against Douala international containers (DIT). The decision of November 10, 2020 rendered by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris had ordered the PAD to relaunch a new call for tenders and had condemned it to pay damages of the order of 3.9 million euros per year, an amount that could rise to 58 million euros over the next fifteen years if the process was not resumed. On July 6, 2021, the APM/Bolloré consortium, reference shareholder of DIT, notified the PAD of the payment of the sum of 3.9 billion CFA francs, representing 18 months (January 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021) without activity at the Terminal containers from the Port of Douala within a week, on the basis of the arbitration award as endorsed by the exequatur of the Cameroonian authorities.

Indeed, the DIT was forced to resort to the ICC arbitration tribunal, pursuant to the 2004 concession agreement, on two points, namely: sharing of parking costs between the Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD) and DIT; preventing DIT from participating in the call for tenders launched in January 2018. On November 13, 2020, the Arbitral Tribunal recognized the merits of DIT's two requests.