On the sidelines of the 10th African Shippers’ Days held from July 14 to 18, 2025, in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo, the Union of African Shippers’ Councils (UCCA) held its 14th General Assembly, during which a new executive board was appointed. Dr. Dominique Fabrice Candide KOUMOU BOULAS, Director General of the Congolese Shippers’ Council, was unanimously chosen to chair the Union for a two-year term.
Elected by consensus, Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS succeeds Senegalese national Ndeye Rokhaya Thiam, Director General of the Senegalese Shippers’ Council (COSEC), who assumed the role in 2022.
A well-known figure within UCCA and the broader African transport and logistics community, Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS is a logistics and transport engineer with a PhD in management sciences, specializing in project management in the transport and logistics sectors. He currently leads the Congolese Shippers’ Council and oversees the TRAINMAR Center, a logistics training school. He also teaches at several private institutions and universities in Brazzaville and acts as a consultant to various organizations in the field. He is President of the Congolese Association of Logisticians (ALC) and is widely regarded as a leading expert in logistics and transport project management.
His appointment as UCCA President, warmly welcomed by all member countries, reflects the growing influence of the Congolese Shippers’ Council and acknowledges his efforts in modernization, regional cooperation, and the development of African logistics. It also represents a source of national pride for Congo-Brazzaville, which is now assuming UCCA’s leadership for the second time, tasked with guiding the Union’s work over the next two years with the ambition of transforming it into a strategic lever for efficient, sovereign, and seamless African trade.
The symbolic handover ceremony between incoming President Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS and outgoing President Ndeye Rokhaya Thiam was marked by solemnity and fraternity, demonstrating the shared commitment of UCCA member countries to elevate Africa’s voice in global transport and trade policy.
Given the current challenges facing maritime transport, international trade, and the development of transit corridors, Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS is expected to tackle major responsibilities during his tenure. This will require methodical and meticulous organization to meet UCCA’s growing expectations.
Upon receiving the instruments of office, Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS expressed his gratitude to his fellow Shippers’ Council Directors for their trust. He praised the quality of the discussions at the General Assembly in Pointe-Noire and emphasized that the decisions made marked the beginning of a new era for African shippers—focused on innovation, competitiveness, and regional integration.
This mandate, which runs through 2027, comes at a time when intra-African trade fluidity, the implementation of the AfCFTA, and the reduction of logistics costs are top continental priorities. Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS has pledged to revitalize UCCA by promoting digitalization, rationalizing transport corridors, strengthening professional training, and defending the interests of African shippers on the global stage. In his words:
“Our mandate will focus on African logistics integration, permanent dialogue among stakeholders, and the sustainable transformation of our transport systems.”
Aware of UCCA’s structural weaknesses, he announced a number of major initiatives to reinvigorate its operations, including:
- Revitalizing the permanent commissions, which currently lack regular statutory meetings,
- Creating new commissions to better address today’s challenges,
- Pursuing the collection of membership dues and diversifying revenue sources from maritime freight,
- Developing new funding strategies in collaboration with the UCCA General Secretariat,
- Accelerating the ratification process for the 2008 United Nations Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea (Rotterdam Rules),
- Revising the 1977 Accra legal framework to strengthen UCCA’s position as a respected pan-African organization,
- Promoting membership of additional African countries, each with their own national Shippers’ Council,
- Strengthening assistance to shippers.
On that last point, Dr. KOUMOU BOULAS urged all African Shippers’ Councils to enhance their core mission of supporting shippers and other transport chain users, equipping them with the tools needed to face modern challenges in trade and transport. He also advocated for increased use of mediation in commercial dispute resolution.
Shippers’ Councils, as key economic players aligned with Africa’s logistics momentum, must reposition their roles to help optimize port passage times and costs, improve the efficiency of transit corridors, and enhance competitiveness in the AfCFTA era.
Dr. Dominique Candide KOUMOU BOULAS has clearly committed to leaving a lasting mark on his term, determined to turn UCCA into a powerful and effective working tool for the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (OMAOC).
