Namibia gears up to become SADC logistics hub

Namibia, which has a population of just 2.26 million people, is gearing up to serve as the logistics hub for the nearly 300 million people in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Logistics has been identified as the key priority area to support the Namibian government’s economic growth plans, according to Clive Smith, logistics hub project manager for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG). Priority areas identified by the Namibian government’s fourth National Development Plan (NDP 4) are logistics, tourism, manufacturing and agriculture. “All sectors need logistics,” he says. He lists the critical success factors as “rail connectivity, port expansion, air linkage, road networks, GRN (government of the Republic of Namibia) legislative support, private sector support and participation, and collaboration”. “By 2017 we want to have doubled the volumes through Walvis Bay and along the corridors, with Walvis Bay becoming the preferred West Coast port. We want to claim a sizeable share of the regional logistics market,” he says. The hub project was established by the WBCG to help the Namibian government to implement its plan to transform the transport corridors into economic corridors. It will see Namibia transformed into a “logistics nation” by 2025. This vision will guide investment, marketing and development going forward, according to Smith. Decisions on infrastructure development will be inf luenced by the vision, which also provides the country with a common marketing platform. “We will maximise the value we add through a focused business model. Namibia will be a “brand of excellence”, he says. The WBCG is being supported by an 11-person technical team from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) to develop what the memorandum of understanding describes as a “Master Plan for Development of an International Logistics Hub for SADC Countries in the Republic of Namibia”. Smith says it is important that the development of the plan is seen as a collaborative effort. “We are talking to the shipping lines and operators along the corridors to understand how they perceive the NDP 4 vision, and what they see as the missing links,” he says. INSERT & CAPTION By 2017 we want to have doubled the volumes through Walvis Bay and along the corridors, with Walvis Bay becoming the preferred West Coast port. – Clive Smith