Business activities in Tiko Wharf, one of the major maritime transit points that links Cameroon and Nigeria are yet to fully resume more than a week after a joint ministerial communiqué signed on 30 October re-established air and maritime transport between the two countries.
The borders were closed for several weeks following the outbreak of the highly contiguous Ebola virus in Nigeria.
A few weeks into the closure of the borders, scarcity of some commodities such as electrical appliances, canned foodstuff and soft drinks amongst others imported from Nigeria was noticed in some major towns of the South West thereby leading to prices hikes.
For instance, a popular canned milk-drink known as ‘dudu’ disappeared from the market and a few businessmen who had it raised the price from FCFA 500 to FCFA 600. The situation is yet to normalise even though the borders have been re-opened.
This, according to sources at the Tiko Wharf, is because no ship has arrived from Nigeria. When CT visited the hitherto very busy Tiko wharf last Friday, there was no activity at the Nigeria line of the wharf.
According to Customs officials at the port, there has not been any arrival from Nigeria so the situation is the same. The Chief of Custom post told CT that only two ships have left for Nigeria and are expected to be back by the weekend.
Mr. Danglady Aboubakar however remained optimistic that business will bounce back to full gear from this week. Though the Custom Inspector admitted that the closure of the borders was a heavy blow on the State revenue, he however avoided to give concrete figures of how much money the State must have lost.
A commercial motor-bike rider who shuttles between Tiko Town and the Wharf lamented that he could barely make ends meet when the borders were closed because there were no passengers. He greeted with excitement and optimism the government’s decision to re-open liaison between Cameroon and Nigeria stating that things will soon go back to normal.
To Mr. Mpondo Paul, a Tiko Council revenue collector at the Wharf, activities went into comatose and are yet to fully take off even after the re-opening of the borders. The closure, he said grounded revenue collection for the council. He expressed hopes for a boom in business activities in the days ahead.
