New agreement streamlines trade on Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor

In a milestone development for the Walvis Bay-Ndola- Lubumbashi Development Corridor (WBNL), top transport officials from the DRC, Namibia and Zambia have reached agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding that will facilitate trade along the route. The aim of the corridor is to promote economic development through transport, trade, investment and tourism for the benefit not only of the DRC, Namibia and Zambia, but for the benefit of the SADC region at large. Officials will meet again in Livingstone in February where the three Ministers of Transport will sign the agreement. The terms of reference of the MoU are designed to address bottlenecks hindering trade along the corridor in order to foster increased economic activity. It’s all part of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group’s mission to identify and resolve non tariff barriers to trade encountered by various operators on its Corridors. The WBNL corridor is currently importing and exporting a variety of commodities –copper, vehicles, frozen meat and chicken and other consumables – and has over the past year seen a 66% increase in throughput. According to WBCG business development officer, Agnetha Mouton, the corridor offers significant time-saving benefits. “It can save importers and exporters up to 10 days in transit time to and from international markets.”