Amando Legner, Walvis Bay managing director of French line CMA CGM, answered a few questions about the carrier and Namibia’s Vision 2030 plan, whereby the government wants to turn Namibia into a logistics hub for the sub-Saharan region. Where does CMA CGM see itself regarding the rollout of enhanced logistics across Namibia as part of the government’s cross-border supply-chain aspirations? CMA CGM has a very strong and well-established presence in Africa, including in Namibia. For more than 10 years, the group has been operating regular services to and from Walvis Bay, recognising the port as a key gateway for landlocked countries in southern Africa.In terms of multimodal logistics, CMA CGM has been actively developing its intermodal services to provide seamless transport solutions to its customers.We offer a range of services, including rail, trucking, and barge connections, to ensure efficient and reliable transportation of cargo from port to door.Regarding Namibia and President Hage Geingob’s National Development Plan, CMA CGM is aware of the importance of multimodal logistics in achieving the government’s objectives and is already actively playing its part.We are in constant and regular engagements with the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and other key stakeholders to understand their needs and explore opportunities for collaboration.Namibia is yet to unlock its full potential but is making very positive strides in the right direction towards achieving this goal.CMA CGM, as a major global carrier, will of course support the development of infrastructure and be looking at strengthening its position in the country.Overall, CMA CGM is part of the process of optimising the deep-sea cargo supply chain in Namibia and supporting the country’s economic development.However, the extent of the company’s involvement and specific plans may depend on various factors, such as market demand, infrastructure development, and regulatory frameworks. Hinterland logistics is a vital component of Namibia’s objective to maximise bulk loads into Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including backhaul shipments on the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor. Is it part of CMA CGM’s sub-Saharan business strategy to secure freight share on this corridor? Namibia is becoming an increasingly attractive corridor for mineral exports from the region and mining-related imports to the region. CMA CGM is already a very active participant on the main Namibian hinterland corridors. Our Group’s main objective is to assist customers with the optimisation of their supply chain.CMA CGM has a diverse portfolio of value-added services that cater to our customers’ changing needs. These include, amongst others, our intermodal services, our range of Serenity cargo cover products, as well as our range of CMA CGM Act products which are designed to analyse, reduce and offset our customers’ environmental footprint.We aim to offer a comprehensive one-stop-shop solution to our customers that is hassle-free, while at the same time developing and fostering long-term sustainable business partnerships.Thanks to our expansive network and truly global reach, CMA CGM Namibia is also working very closely with the different CMA CGM offices abroad and in the region, such as Zambia, the DRC and Botswana, who are all collectively promoting and pushing for more volume on our corridors. To what extent is CMA CGM involved in Namibia’s southern Port of Lüderitz? Historically, we have not had any presence in Lüderitz but we are certainly staying informed on the current and future developments in the area and remain open to exploring any worthwhile potential business opportunity.For the immediate short term we have realised that there is a gap in the market, with no feeder vessels calling Lüderitz.Since then, we have mobilised underslung gensets to be able to offer selected shippers an alternative solution to transport their reefers by road to Walvis Bay without compromising their cold chain, which is critical for their reefer cargo to their designated export markets abroad.
