The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon are accelerating plans to operationalize the Kribi–Zongo trade corridor—a strategic logistics route intended to link the deepwater port of Kribi in Cameroon to northern DRC via the Central African Republic (CAR).
The project aims to streamline freight transport to and from one of the most geographically isolated regions of the DRC.
On June 11, 2025, Congolese Ambassador to Cameroon, Pierre Kashadile Bukasa Muteba, met with Auguste Mbappé Penda, Director General of Cameroon’s National Shippers’ Council (CNCC), in Yaoundé to discuss the corridor’s next implementation steps.
“We are committed to mobilizing all relevant authorities in both countries to ensure this major project comes to fruition,” said Ambassador Muteba, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
This high-level diplomatic engagement builds on technical groundwork laid the previous month. On May 12, a delegation from the DRC’s Multimodal Freight Management Office (Ogefrem), led by Consulting Director Francis Bedy Makhubu, visited the CNCC in Douala to gather key logistical data for the corridor’s activation. The visit continued with a field mission to the Kribi port from May 13 to 14.
The Kribi–Zongo corridor is intended to alleviate long-standing transportation challenges in the DRC’s northern provinces, where connecting to the country’s primary seaport in Matadi, located in the far southwest, is both logistically difficult and cost-prohibitive.
For Cameroon, the project also promises economic dividends by increasing transit traffic and generating new revenues from Congolese trade flows.
As both countries deepen cooperation on this initiative, the Kribi–Zongo corridor is emerging as a cornerstone of regional trade integration and infrastructure development in Central Africa.
