The Port Authority of Douala (PAD) has just reached a decisive milestone in its quest for operational excellence and regional competitiveness. The signing on November 17, 2025, of a strategic agreement with INNOVENDI DATA TECHNOLOGIES & COMMUNICATIONS LTD formalizes the Cameroonian logistics hub’s commitment to a large-scale digital transformation. This partnership, bold in its scope and structuring in its implications, unequivocally positions the Port of Douala-Bonabéri as a pioneer of “Smart Ports” in Central Africa.

The PAD’s initiative is not simply a technological addition, but a strategic response to the increasing competition among West African ports. As with the analysis of modern supply chain doctrine, the performance of a port is now measured less by its physical infrastructure than by the fluidity and transparency of its information processes.

Thanks to INNOVENDI’s expertise, the port ecosystem is about to be equipped with a range of cutting-edge tools:

Scalable and dedicated 4G/5G infrastructure: Ensuring the high-speed connectivity necessary for real-time management of flows (ships, cargo, vehicles).

IoT (Internet of Things) solutions: Enabling intelligent and predictive management of assets and operations (preventive maintenance, optimization of storage areas).

Secure local cloud: A crucial point for digital sovereignty and compliance with critical data security requirements.

Cybersecurity Tools: Essential for protecting a strategic site from growing digital threats.

This arsenal aims to achieve fundamental objectives: the optimization of operations (reduction of turnaround times), the quality of service to users, and a tangible strengthening of the platform’s competitiveness, aligning the PAD with the standards of world’s first-generation ports.

One of the most remarkable features of this alliance lies in INNOVENDI’s engagement model. Under the leadership of its founder, Joël Monefong, the company acts as a comprehensive vertical integrator. It guarantees not only the full financing of the project, but also the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the entire digital infrastructure.

This Public-Private Partnership (PPP) approach, financed by private sources, frees up the PAD’s resources for its core business, while ensuring infrastructure delivery in accordance with international best practices. Furthermore, the concept of a local cloud strongly affirms the commitment to securing national data sovereignty.

Article 3 of the Convention appears to place particular emphasis on the socio-economic and national dimensions of the project. The partnership is clearly geared towards strengthening the local economic fabric.

Priority to Cameroonian skills: The implementation plan provides for the recruitment and preferential involvement of national expertise.

Involvement of local SMEs: The integration of national small and medium-sized enterprises into the project’s value chain.

Technology Transfer and Training: A massive training program is announced to ensure sustainable appropriation of the tools by younger generations and the PAD teams.

This component illustrates the vision of PAD and INNOVENDI of a modernization project that is not just an import of technology, but a true act of creating sustainable value and strengthening national technical capacities.

The Smart Port is underway: the zero stage has been reached.
For Joël Monefong, this signing constitutes the zero stage of the project, the point of no return from which the deployed operational phase accelerates.

The alliance between the Port Authority of Douala (PAD) and INNOVENDI is more than a service contract; it is a strategic declaration of intent aimed at positioning the Port of Douala-Bonabéri at the forefront of the next era of global logistics. The “Smart Port,” once a mere conceptual project, is now a reality under construction, supported by a clear roadmap and the mobilization of stakeholders to strengthen Cameroon’s position as an essential gateway to Central Africa.

This partnership, with its technological scope (5G, IoT, sovereign cloud) and integrated financing model, could serve as a benchmark for modernizing critical infrastructure across the continent. The success of this transformation will be closely linked to the quality of system interoperability and the effective implementation of the skills transfer program.