There is widespread optimism in the Namibian logistics industry that the concessioning of the container terminal in Walvis Bay will provide the impetus needed to attract greater volumes along the transport corridors and into Namibia.Industry leaders interviewed by Freight News during a visit to Namibia all welcomed the move, which was announced by Andrew Kanime, the chief executive officer of the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) in April.Freight News understands that the companies interested in bidding for the concession include the terminal operators of global shipping lines and logistics operators.Namport is, however, keeping the companies confidential.The concessionaire will need to be able to attract more calls to the port in order to reverse a reduction in volumes.According to Kanime, the R4.2-billion container terminal, which was commissioned in 2019, has been affected by a number of global developments.“The dynamics in the shipping industry have significantly shif ted,” he told industry representatives at the announcement of the concessioning plans. “On the back of depressed macroeconomic conditions which negatively impacted industries across all sectors, with attendant decreases in imports and exports handled through Namibian and other ports across the region, shipping lines have moved to larger-size vessel deployment as part of their own drive towards cost rationalisation.“The cumulative effect of these unforeseen and unfortunate developments has been a significant decrease in the volume throughput through the new container terminal.“Hence, given the need to earn a return on this very strategic investment, we have been compelled to explore means and ways we can drive the utilisation of the terminal – and amongst the outcomes from our considerations has been the decision to consider concessioning the new terminal to an independent operator.”The concessioning will be in the form of a lease agreement.Namport has appointed international consultants Maritime Business and Transport Solutions (MTBS) as transactional advisors for the concessioning.A request for proposal (RFP) was sent out to interested parties on April 8, with a deadline of May 5. The process of appointing an operator and reaching agreement on the terms is expected to take around six months, according to Elias Mwenyo, Namport executive: commercial services.He told Freight News that the decision to invite a private operator had been inf luenced by developments in the region, where most of the other ports serving Namibia’s neighbours were operated by concessionaires.One of the most recent is DP World having being granted a 20-year concession to operate the multipurpose terminal in the Port of Luanda since March 2021. “Since then, DP World Luanda has invested in new equipment and facilities, technology and the development and training of staff, as part of a US$190 million initial investment to transform the terminal into a major maritime hub along the western coast of southern Africa,” the company says in a statement.The concessioning of South African container terminals at Ngqura and Durban has also been mooted.“The Walvis Bay container terminal cannot reach its full potential with its present structure,” said Mwenyo.The terminal has a design capacity of 750 000 TEUs a year.
