Like the National Social Security Fund (CNPS), which takes stakes in various investment projects, which provide it with additional dividends, the Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD) is also thinking about diversifying its sources of income. There is one area that particularly interests it. It is the real estate sector. At least, this is the admission made by Jacques Yepmou, deputy director of the Real Estate Asset Management Agency (RPI) of this port area. It was in Douala, on July 11 and 12, during a meeting with the Cameroonian economic press.
Taking over the assets of the former Onpc to enhance their value
The ambition of the PAD is divided into two main components. First of all, it is imperative, stressed Jacques Yepmou, that it regain possession of the residual assets of the National Office of Ports of Cameroon (ONPC) which according to him, are essentially “built real estate properties”. The latter are at the center of a legal dispute between the PAD and Cabinet Atou SA, the structure entrusted with their management and many others, for more than 10 years. According to two decrees of the Minister of Domains, Cadastre and Land Affairs (Mindcaf) signed on November 16, 2021, which transfer the said assets to the Autonomous Port of Douala (PAD), they consist of a state-owned land located in Douala Ve, in the Bepanda district (port city) and 23 land titles. This decision, recalls this ministerial department, is in accordance with the presidential decree of January 24, 2019 on the reorganization of the Autonomous Port of Douala.
According to Jacques Yepmou, the company that employs him is resolutely committed to showcasing these assets, in particular by rehabilitating certain buildings that, according to him, are in a precarious state. It is also thinking of selling them in public-private partnership mode to service providers who are resolutely committed to building new buildings on bare land. Potential investors interested in this heritage also propose to raze existing buildings in order to erect new, much more modern ones.These buildings, the youngest ones are at least 40 years old. However, there has been no maintenance. The one who manages (Cabinet Atou, editor’s note) these residual assets, they do not modernize, they do not build, they do not maintain. All of this is in disrepair. Today we have to rebuild completely. There are so many partners who are capable of taking this over, destroying, building something new, operating, paying us some royalties and returning it to us 25 or 30 years later.” he revealed.
Currently, such ambitions cannot be realized because the Atou cabinet has taken legal action to oppose the process of transferring land titles initiated by the PAD after the aforementioned presidential decree.To gain access to these land titles, we asked the land registry to transfer them from the former Onpc to the PAD. The problem is that the firm that managed its assets has contacted the judge here to ask him to make an equalization on these sites. When there is an equalization on a property, you cannot sell it or transfer it to someone in the form of a long lease.“, indicates Jacques Yepmou, who also specifies that the procedure is pending before the Supreme Court.
New real estate investments
While waiting for this jurisdiction to render its decision, the Autonomous Port of Douala is already thinking about building new real estate properties. According to top management, it has started negotiations to acquire a vacant plot of land located in Tsinga, opposite the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), in the second district of the city of Yaoundé. It plans to build a building there. “We are currently doing studies. According to the firm we hired, building a building with two basements, a ground floor, R+10, the estimated cost varies between 12 and 13 billion FCFA. As for the studies, we need to count on at least 700 million FCFA“, revealed the director of the Real Estate Agency of the PAD. This company is also thinking of building silo-shaped or aerial parking lots. “We are also working on a project to build silo parking lots. We plan to build a ground floor or a shopping center, 4 levels of parking lots with offices above, for an investment cost that varies between 13 and 15 billion FCFA,” indicates Jacques Yepmou.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings