Freight News Africa correspondent Ed Richardson will be sharing his twin loves of logistics and information technology at the 13th Annual Logistics and Transportation Workshop being hosted by the Namibia-German Centre for Logistics at the University of Science and Technology Centre.
Starting at 8:30, tomorrow (October 21), the workshop will focus on 'Namibian Logistics - The Driver for Covid Recovery'.
Richardson has been travelling to the ports in Namibia and Mozambique, as well as Zambia and Zimbabwe on assignment for Freight News for more than a decade.
“It has been such a privilege to see the developments in the ports of Walvis Bay, Maputo and Beira. Their modernisation and expansion are vital for the economic revitalisation of the region. In many respects, Namibia is ahead of the curve as it has an operational deepwater port and a government that has identified logistics as a key economic driver. Much of the physical groundwork is in place. Now the challenge is to establish Namibia as the SADC logistics hub – which is part of the government’s vision. That is going to mean seamlessly connecting every link in the logistics chain between the ports of Lüderitz and Walvis Bay and wherever the cargo is loaded or delivered in the hinterland. What Covid has done is accelerate the transition to data-driven logistics. If a driver, truck and load have been precleared for transit through a one-stop border post then there is close to zero risk of contamination. Similarly, the faster they turn around in a port, the sooner they are safe in their own cockpit ‘bubble’. That is just one small advantage of having fully transparent and shared information on the movement of cargo,” says Richardson.
All local and international stakeholders are invited to attend this free event, "a platform to network and discuss best practices in the logistics and transport sector".
To register for tomorrow's event, please contact Mercelyne Maletzky: mmaletzky@nust.na, +264207 2909 / 2818
