Namport's marketing drive bears fruit

A CONCERTED drive to increase volumes is
literally bearing fruit for the Namibian Ports
Authority with the expectation of greater
grape exports at Walvis Bay when harvesting
commences next month.
Other numbers are up too for products
shipped and received thanks to a good
agricultural season, the influx of inland cargo
from Zambia and other nations using the
new Katima Mulilo Bridge spanning the
Zambezi River, and an effective marketing
campaign by the Walvis Bay Corridor Group
(WBCG), says Namport public relations
officer JoAnn Stevens.
“The Trans Caprivi Corridor promises to
be a viable alternative for commodities such
as copper and agricultural commodities,
construction materials, machinery and
vehicles,” said Sebby Kankondi, Namport MD
and chairman of the WBCG.
With the World Food Programme using
Walvis Bay in 2007 to ship emergency food
aid to Zambia, volumes along the Trans
Caprivi Corridor are expected to track or
better last year’s rise of 55% over 2005.
To accommodate perishables, by
December a 9700m² Walvis Bay reefer
terminal will house 256 reefer containers.
This will effectively double the port’s
capacity to handle reefers, and thus fruit and
vegetable exports from around SADC.
Namport is looking beyond Namibia’s
agriculture and industry for port customers,
and this year dispatched a team to brief
exporters in South Africa and other nations
about expanding capabilities at Walvis Bay
and Luderitz.