Namibia aims to become regional distribution hub

Namibia is pulling out all the stops to reach its goal of becoming the regional logistics and distribution hub for southern Africa. “If we consider southern Africa a mall then the entrance is the Port of Walvis Bay,” Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) CEO, Johny Smith, said at the Africa Ports Evolution Forum in Cape Town recently. “The connectivity between Walvis Bay and the rest of the world is very good with links to Europe, the Far and Middle East while also offering the shortest link between southern Africa and the Americas,” he said. “Along with the development at the port and the various corridors into Southern Africa there is no reason why we cannot become the logistics and distribution hub in the region.” Smith said less than ten years ago – in 2003 – there was no cargo moving through the Port of Walvis Bay into southern Africa. Today the port sees some 800 vessels calling per annum while it handles at least 2 million tons of cargo. According to Namport, the ports of Walvis Bay and Luderitz combined handled a record 300 000 containers over the past year. Smith said much of the success was thanks to the development of the WBCG, a private public partnership established 12 years ago. “Namibia has always been focused on regional integration and has set itself a goal. Through the WBCG all role-players are brought together working towards that one goal.” The country is in the process of implementing its Fourth New Development Plan (NDP4) which aims to create a large number of jobs while at the same time doubling cargo handling and rail-transported cargo by 2017. Smith said expansion at the Walvis Bay port and along the corridors serving the port continued to impact positively on trade facilitation, allowing for an increase in cargo volumes. He said indications were that the Namibian Ports Authority, which has completed the first phase of its Terminal Optimisation Programme, was now in the process of increasing capacity at the container terminal with expectations that by 2020 it would be able to handle at least one million TEUs.