BY NDUMBE BELL GASTON IN DOUALA
Business operators active in commercial activities at border posts without banking services, as it is usually the case, can now smile through an alternative method put in place during the signing ceremony of a convention between GUCE, the electronic window for the dematerailisation of external trade and CAMPOST.
At the event that took place at Guichet Unique’s Conference hall last Wednesday February 28, there was much optimism expressed in speeches by the two General Managers and their close collaborators as to the short and long-term goals of their newfound partnerships and the newly liberated business operators attached to Campost services.
The e-Guce and Campost money platform is expected to quicken revenue collection, minimize delays, and travelling expenses that was usually incurred by exporters and importers at trans-border posts like KyeOssi, Kousseri, Ekok, Dabanga, etc.
The agreement will also bring together all stakeholders involved in import and export procedures such as the ministry of Transport, Commerce, CNCC, Douala Port, SGS, Kribi Port, ONCC, where electronic procedures in the declarations of taxes, imports, bills of lading and payments, are executed.
So, there will be little or no escape route by business operators to avoid controls. It is therefore expected to assure revenue collection security which is fundamental to the growth of the economy. The agreement is also expected to create a larger Campost customer base since the economic operators will have the choice of doing transactions through their smartphones.
The General Manager of GUCE Isidore Biyiha declared “The signing of the convention between GUCE and Campost is within the framework of a protocol accord done recently for the dematerialization of external commerce with the goals to reduce cost and delays during the mobility of goods and services at our border posts. We are constantly in search of innovative solutions to overcome these and other challenges. Due to the unavailability of banks in border posts, there are time consuming procedures caused by the long list of pending formalities before payments. Appropriate solutions have been found to reduce travelling expenses among Campost customers operational in about 250 border posts.”
The General Manager disclosed that implementations begin on Thursday March 1 2018 and called on all economic operators to discover and exploit these facilities which he hoped will transform their lives. He assured GUCE’s professional commitment to the improvement and performance of the commercial activities of Campost customers and their partnership.
The General Manager of Campost Pierre Kacdadak on his part expressed the necessity to bring their joint experiences within the fabric of this technological platform for the smooth and harmonious commercial transactions. He assured that Campost possessed the needed expertise and his personal commitment to realize these goals and called their joint collaboration the beginning of a new era.
Campost has some banking services such as postal cheques accounts, savings and money transfers through mandats. This partnership has come to facilitate transactions “Economic operators have the needed possibility like banks to pay fees or revenues relative to trans-border commercial activities and we have on-line services for that” said he.