SDV builds Walvis Bay warehouse

SDV has started work on a 5 000 sqm yard with plans for a warehouse and office complex in Walvis Bay to cater for growth in the mining and telecommunications industries. The warehouse and offices will cover around 1 000 sqm. The investment is part of SDV’s drive to promote greater use of the Walvis Bay corridors and the Port of Walvis Bay, says newly appointed SDV Namibia branch manager, Raymond Gryffenberg, who was formerly the company’s freight forwarding and logistics manager. He succeeds Willie van Meenen who opened the SDV offices in Namibia and has been transferred to the SDV operation in Ethiopia. Gryffenberg says there is growing interest in using Walvis Bay from mines in neighbouring states. “We have started moving cargo to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. There is a lot of big and heavy machinery moving up as the mines recapitalise,” he says. Volumes of exports from the mines are also picking up, as are airfreight volumes out of Windhoek where SDV has offices. The company is well positioned to grow as it has operations in all the neighbouring states where the mines are situated, and which are served by the Walvis Bay corridors. “That is the reason we are investing in Walvis Bay and the region,” he says. Having facilities in Walvis Bay may also help persuade the local mining industry to make greater use of the port. “We are still in competition with Durban when it comes to exports from the local mines. They have been slow to switch to Walvis Bay,” he says.