International Transportation | Collection 2021 17 Logistics BEST PRACTICE Logistics innovation and knowledge transfer in Cameroon Developing countries, Freight transport corridors, Supply chain Cameroon is the second-largest economy in central Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is rich in natural resources. Within the last decades key innovations have influenced the logistics sector dramatically, as for example the containerization of cargo flows, the information and communication technologies, and more. Efficient and well-developed freight transport corridors are important for the national and international networking of production sites with procurement and sales markets. Since 2020 the University of Ngaoundéré and the University of Bremen are engaged in the „Navel Logistics Innovation Center Ngaoundéré“ project. The major result will be the successful installation of a Logistics FabLab on the university campus Ngaoundéré. Hans-Dietrich Haasis, Victor Tsapi, Anna Förster L ogistics is, as we know, one of the most dynamic and innovative sectors of the economy worldwide. Within the last decades there are key innovations, which have influenced this sector dramatically, as for example the containerization of cargo flows, the information and communication technologies, the sensor technologies as well as robotics and Industry 4.0. Also, in future there are many challenges, which are directly related with new technologies, new organizational principles and new business models. These challenges are limitations of resources, climate change, safety and security, new decentralized production technologies, cloud-based sensing technologies and cyber physical systems as well as big data analytics [1]. Of course, these developments affect also developing countries like Cameroon. Moreover, within these countries the phenomenon of digital gap, triggered by the economic, technological, infrastructural, social and cultural framework, has to be considered in particular. Due to this, education, training and research as well as knowledge and technology transfer play a major role in the development of supply chains, cities, rural regions and the whole society. Cameroon is a powerful and important economy within CEMAC (Communauté Economique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale). It is the second-largest economy in central Africa after the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is rich in natural resources such as petroleum/ oil, bauxite, iron ore, timber or hydropower. Its main export goods are coffee, logs and woods, cocoa, bananas, aluminum, cotton, rubber, oilseed, grains, cassava and livestock. Certainly, this is based on the geographic location and the resources as well as the access to the international transportation networks via the seaports in Douala and Kribi and the airports in Douala and Yaoundé [2, 3]. Moreover, the transportation corridors to the land-locked countries Chad and the Central African Republic play an important role for cargo transportation to the national and international hinterland, as seen in Figure 1. In this context the city of Ngaoundéré, located 900 km north-east from the Port of Douala in the Adamaoua region, serves as logistics hub and navel for transport and logistics business via roads, rail and air, see Figures 2 and 3. Efficient as well as well-developed freight transport corridors are important for the national and international networking of essential production sites with procurement and sales markets. Their design and improvement aim to: Figure 1: Transport infrastructure network in Cameroon Source: AfDB/ OECD - African Economic Outlook “Cameroon” 2008 International Transportation | Collection 2021 18 BEST PRACTICE Logistics •• Ensure economic accessibility for supply chains, •• Increase the connectivity, attractiveness and visibility of the regions along the transport corridors, •• Increase the reliability, the cost-effectiveness and the safety of freight transportation, •• Ensure a future-oriented sustainable development of economic regions. If this succeeds, transport corridors are valuable enablers for transport and trade facilitation, and thus for economic and social prosperity [4, 5, 6]. Against this background, since 2013 the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Ngaoundéré and the Faculty of Business Studies and Economics of the University of Bremen have established a close collaboration focusing on the implementation and qualification of teaching and research in logistics management and transportation science. In the meantime, both an internationally recognized bachelor study program as well as a master study program in Logistics Management and Transport (“Licence professionnelle en gestion logistique et transport”) was successfully implemented. Since July 2020 both universities are engaged in the project called “Navel Logistics Innovation Center Ngaoundéré”, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The major result will be the successful installation of a Logistics Fab- Lab on the university campus as part of the Innovation Centre of Excellence of the University of Ngaoundéré. The development and deployment of the Logistics FabLab is conducted together with the Sustainable Communication Networks Group at the University of Bremen. A part of the university campus is shown in Figure 4. The design of the center will transfer the proven and successful concept of the Bremen Research Cluster on Dynamics in Logistics. There are four axes of operations of the Navel Logistics Innovation Center Ngaoundéré: Applied research, academic education and professional training, business applications and knowledge transfer, and international dissemination and seminars. Knowledge and innovation are the major resources for sustainable, resilient, satisfying and peaceful regional developments. This is true mainly also for the logistics and transportation business. Therefore, the logistics innovation center is named after the Mbum word for the nearby “navel mountain”. Navel is used to underline the close relation to the regional culture and geography. Generally known, FabLabs are workshops or studios, which can be used by students and professionals to learn about new technological and organizational developments and innovations, and to test and try out these technologies, hardware prototypes, software, rules or policies. Certainly, a fundamental purpose of universities nowadays is to create an environment where students are encouraged to pursue and embrace opportunities, explore new ideas, take intellectual risks and begin the process of becoming the researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Therefore, the FabLab can be more than a creative zone; it may provide technical support in creating hardware or software prototypes and in demonstrating their applicability. This action is accompanied with a process-oriented capability development to support organizational progress to improve the corresponding innovation capability. Thus, the project corresponds to the Africa Strategy by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. As a starting activity, the project team has decided to focus on supply chains for milk and for meat. The meat supply chains cover the link between farmers, shepherds, livestock market players, slaughterhouses, carcass carriers and butchers. The milk supply chains focus on milk producers, collectors and transporters, mini dairies and bak- Figure 2: Logistics center nearby the train station of Ngaoundéré Picture: Haasis Figure 3: Arterial Road in the City of Ngaoundéré in the direction to Chad Picture: Haasis Figure 4: Faculty building on the Campus of the University of Ngaoundéré Picture: Haasis International Transportation | Collection 2021 19 Logistics BEST PRACTICE eries, milk markets and other grocery stores. Figures 5 and 6 give an impression on the present situation, motivating to initiate reflections on possible improvements. For these improvements there are both technical and organizational logistics challenges to be considered, e.g., the temperature of the milk must be controlled along the whole supply chain and partly lax, unprompted and informal supply chains must be organized reliably. Moreover, possible solutions have to consider weaknesses in transport infrastructure and Internet based communication as well as cultural driven organizational principles. Besides more suitable transport equipment, a rethinking of communication, coordination and cooperation is advised. The problems to ensure time-efficient and reliable processes are not only communication problems and different working hours, but behavior patterns and context interpretations. In connection with implementing logistics information systems and decision support tools, it’s not uncommon, mainly in developing countries, to hear something like: “We were used to work without pressure and postponing some tasks for later because the system was not synchronized. Everyone was working for themselves without pressure. However, with this synchronized system, work must be always done instantaneously so that operations can take place on time. As a result, we feel that we are under pressure from the system and that we are no longer acting according to our own free will, but that we are subject to the system”. This statement may underline that human behavior and cultural aspects must be considered as part of supply chain decisions to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication, and to increase the quality and reliability of supply chains [7, 8, 9]. In the near future, the Navel Logistics Innovation Center Ngaoundéré may become the engine for technology and knowledge transfer between applied research, academic education and business implementation, and for regional sustainable development of economic and social prosperity. Moreover, the center promotes the improvement of the World Bank Logistics Performance Index for Cameroon, whose ranking spots Cameroon in 2018 on position 96 of total 160 countries worldwide [10, 11]. The present 2-years project focuses on the design and implementation phase. The two follow-up phases are the operational phase realizing know-how and technology transfer projects in close cooperation with companies and industrial partners as well as the internalization phase considering the extension of the cooperation and the transfer of the concept to other Sub-Sahara countries. ■ Acknowledgements: The project on which this article is based is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the funding code 01DG20011. The authors are responsible for the content of this publication. REFERENCES [1] Buer, T.; Haasis, H.-D.; Kinra, A.; Kotzab, H.: An overview to contemporary maritime logistics and supply chain management decision areas. In: Panayides, P. M. (eds.) (2019): The Routledge handbook of maritime management, pp. 113-123. London, New York: Routledge, . [2] Dominguez-Torres, C.; Foster, V. (2011): Cameroon’s infrastructure. A continental perspective. In: The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 5822, Washington. [3] Tsapi, V.; Gouanlong Kamgang, N. I.: The Kribi Deep Water Port: The engine of development and industrial growth in CEMAC zone. In: Dovbischuk, I.; Siestrup, G.; Tuma, A. (eds.) (2018): Nachhaltige Impulse für Produktion und Logistikmanagement, pp. 249-258. Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. [4] Dovbischuk, I.; Haasis, H.-D.: Path dependency in the process of sustainable regional development of transport and logistics regions. In: Ivanov, D.; Kopfer, H.; Haasis, H.-D.; Schönberger, J. (eds.) (2011): Dynamics and sustainability in international logistics and supply chain management, pp. 241-247. Göttingen: Cuvillier. [5] Rodrigue, J.-P. (2012): The Geography of global supply chains: Evidence from third-party logistics. In: Journal of Supply Chain Management 48 (3), pp. 15-23. [6] Rodrigue, J.-P.; Hesse, M. (2006): Global production networks and the role of logistics and transportation. In: Growth and Change 37 (4), pp. 499-509. [7] Baumann, T.; Haasis, H.-D.; Nehlsen-Pein, T. (2013): Human decision making in business. Implications and application operations of neurosciences for business decisions. In: Business Systems Review 2 (1), pp. 1-14. [8] Fawcett, S. E.; Magnan, G. M.; Williams, A. J. (2004): Supply chain trust is within your grasp. In: Supply Chain Management Review 8 (2), pp. 20-26. [9] Smyrlis, L. (2004): Cultural differences can trump the most logical of supply chain planning. In: Canadian Transportation & Logistics 107 (9), pp. 4-5. [10] Ojala, L. et al. (eds.) (2018): Connecting to compete. Trade logistics in the global economy. The World Bank, Washington. [11] Gouanlong Kamgang, N. I.; Bidisse, A.; Tsapi, V.: Flow management tools and techniques for logistics performance: An application to the logistics service sector in Cameroon. In: Freitag, M.; Haasis, H.-D.; Kotzab, H.; Pannek, J. (eds.) (2020): Dynamics in logistics, pp. 148-158. Cham: Springer. Figure 5: Meat supply chain: Transport of meat carcasses by tricycle in the Adamaoua region Picture: Tsapi Figure 6: Milk supply chain: Collection and transport of milk Picture: Tsapi Anna Förster, Prof. Dr. Sustainable Communication Networks, Faculty of Physics/ Electrical Engineering, University of Bremen (DE) anna.foerster@uni-bremen.de Hans-Dietrich Haasis, Prof. Dr. Maritime Business and Logistics, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, University of Bremen (DE) haasis@uni-bremen.de Victor Tsapi, Prof. Dr. Head of Marketing Department, Faculty of Economics and Management, University of Ngaoundéré (CM) vtsapi@yahoo.fr