Corridors benefit from public/private sector strengths

Early border closing set to change Ed Richar dson BY CO MBINING the strengths of the public and private sectors, the Walvis Bay C orridor Group is changing the way freight is moved through Southern Africa. “Our challenge has been to develop trade routes that link Namibia with the rest of Southern Africa and the world,” says Johny Smith, business development executive for the Walvis Bay C orridor Group (WBCG). “At independence in 1990, the only direct link to Zambia, for example, was through South Africa – and then over gravel roads. This changed in 1999 with the construction of the Trans C aprivi H ighway (a tarred road) and was completed in 2004 with the building of a road bridge over the Zambezi river marking the completion of the Trans C aprivi C orridor,” he says. This is one of three corridors which use Walvis Bay as a port of entry or exit. It extends from the Port of Walvis Bay through to Zambia and the southern D emocratic Republic of C ongo (DRC). “This is proving to be a viable alternative to ports on the East C oast of Africa which are congested and which are further away from the European and American markets,” he says. The average transit time from Walvis Bay to Lusaka is four days, with “minimal border delays,” he adds. Private and public forums initiated through the WBCG are helping to smooth out any problems. The other two corridors are the Trans Kalahari Corridor, which connects the Port of Walvis Bay to Gauteng through Botswana, and the Trans Cunene C orridor, which links the Port of Walvis to southern Angola. Smith describes the Trans C unene as a “natural corridor”. It serves southern Angola and Namibia’s relatively densely-populated northern region, and is showing consistent growth. An extension of the rail link provides an alternative to road transport. The corridor with the biggest potential and least success to date is the Trans Kalahari between Walvis Bay and Gauteng. “At present 80% of Namibian imports come from Gauteng, but 40 to 60% of trucks return empty. This despite the fact that Gauteng importers can save several days by using Walvis Bay on freight from Europe and the Americas rather than D urban,” he says. There is a guaranteed 48-hour delivery from the Port of Walvis Bay to Gauteng. The WBCG has identified a number of reasons why the route is not realising its potential. O ne is that the border post on the S outh African side closes too early at night. This however will change in the near future as part of the three governments' commitment to effectively address and improve crucial issues for cross border transport and trade along the Trans Kalahari C orridor (TKC) as envisaged in the TKC Memorandum of Understanding which was signed by the three ministers of transport in November 2003. Another is stray animals in Botswana. “We have established a forum and a committee to focus on the issues and are confident that we will be able to make the route a success,” he says.