Rail links a key focus for Walvis Bay Corridor Group

Infrastructure development over the medium to long term is key, Johny Smith, business development executive of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), told delegates at a recent Nepad summit in Johannesburg. “The Walvis Bay Corridor is looking at creating missing links on the routes, whether it is road or rail. We want to ensure proper connectivity,” said Smith. “If we are handling more cargo we need more facilities. We have created a separate portfolio to focus on infrastructure. We will take an idea and develop it till feasibility and then hand it over to the relevant party to develop. The one-stop border posts is such a project – we have done the study and now the governments of Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Angola need to implement it. “Then there is the port expansion project. The idea is to reclaim land and add 500 metres of berthing space so that Walvis Bay can handle half-a-million containers per annum. We are also involved in rail and are currently developing a dry port to provide value to the seaport inland. It is necessary for the systematic movement of containers out of the port area,” he said. Over the long term, a railway to Zambia comprising 700 km of rail is needed, according to Smith. “We are currently doing a feasibility study for it. A Trans- Kalahari Railway between Botswana, Namibia and South Africa also needs to be developed. It is very important to involve all three countries and we will shortly start with a feasibility study.” Smith acknowledges that funding all the projects remains a challenge. Fortunately we have the backing of the Namibian government but we require capacity regarding funding, equipment, skills and the like. We are approaching the private sector and donor agencies. There is lot of interest in the projects globally and see it as a structured approach over the long term,” he said.