Ivorian company Impact Palmarès R&D SAS will oversee the Ministry of External Relations’ electronic visa issuance service for a renewable ten-year period. This includes the construction of a data center in Yaoundé, the ministry indicates.  The groundbreaking ceremony for the forthcoming Digital Transformation Center of the Ministry of External Relations (Minrex) was held in Yaoundé on April 16. The center will be built in the framework of a public-private partnership with Impact Palmarès R&D SAS, which will finance, design, and standardize consular services in Cameroon for a renewable ten-year period, according to Patrice Koe Jr., the Director of Communication, Documentation, and Diplomatic Archives at Minrex.

He further explained that the construction of a data center for visa services is part of a broader initiative to standardize and secure Cameroon’s consular services. This initiative includes the development of an IT system and the construction of the Digital Transformation Center.

Despite criticism from numerous users regarding recorded bugs, Minrex commends the performance of the e-visa platform, which has been operational since 2023. Patrice Koe Jr. reported that from April 30, 2023, to March 30, 2024, the platform registered 157,688 visitors to Cameroon.

The partnership, whose value was not disclosed, with Impact Palmarès R&D SAS was signed in 2022. “Since then, several significant milestones have been achieved in the execution of this crucial project. These include the establishment of a digital platform for managing Cameroon’s general consular services and particularly the flow of incoming and outgoing visitors, the equipping and operationalization of 44 diplomatic and consular posts, and the deployment of equipment at 19 out of the initially planned 25 border posts,” reveals the Minrex communication director.

L.A.