The Coronavirus pandemic and its cohort of barrier measures, especially social distancing, henceforth impose that public events be held by videoconferencing.  But the webinar organised on Friday 19 June 2020 by the PAK can be better justified by the very topic of the conference, which is the use of new technologies.

"Assets and opportunities of a Port in the era of new technologies. "This was the theme of the very first webinar organised by the PAK. This innovative initiative from the young port community of Kribi took place via the digital application Zoom and was followed live on Facebook. The videoconference started at 11am and ran for two hours, without the slightest breakdown in connection, despite the hundred or so participants on Zoom and the thousands of followers on Facebook.

Moderating the Webinar was Abdoullahi FAOUZI, Technical Director of the One Stop Shop for Foreign Trade Operations (GUCE). He described the purpose of the meeting as being the need for the PAK to contribute to sharing experiences on the use of NICTs in African ports.

The panellists included leading figures from the African port sector. Ahmed BENNIS, Secretary General of the African Port Task Force, and guest speaker brilliantly presented the peculiarities of connected ports, which ride on the harmonization of data exchange among the parties, the development of local standards and the digital revolution.

Charles Melchior MOUDOUTHE, an expert in maritime transport, was on hand to disclose the history of paperless procedures in Africa. It should be noted that, until recently, maritime transport procedures were far too long, slow, costly and unreliable. It was therefore necessary to incorporate new technologies, hence the ongoing move towards digitalized ports.

Laurent Chéreau, Managing Director of DSP Consulting explained that Smart Ports are simply characterized by automation in handling operations, tracking management in transport, stamping in storage and warehousing, block-chain security and integrated maintenance. Ridouan BOULAICH, Director of Performance and Information Systems of Tangier MED went in the same direction, insisting on the fluidity in the transmission of information, the traceability of the different flows and a paperless management.

Talking about the deep-sea port of Kribi, Michael MAMA, Operations Manager of the PAK, presented its characteristics, its terminals, its prospects, and the current and future worksites. For the IT environment of the PAK, the floor was given to Landry NDJENG, Head of the Department of Infrastructures, and IT Systems of the PAK. According to this expert, the IT ecosystem of the port of Kribi is gradually gaining momentum. It is a smooth interconnection between the systems of the PAK, customs, consignees, and other stakeholders.