Walvis Bay aims to be 'Singapore of Africa' by 2030

The Namibian transport community has been urged by the chairman of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, Bisey Uirab, to co-operate and commit to driving the vision of transforming Namibia into a logistics hub as a matter of priority in order to make Walvis Bay the Singapore and Dubai of Africa by 2030. This is in line with the Namibian Vision 2030 which was unveiled in 2004 and provides the guiding principles for economic growth and social upliftment in the country. Uirab was speaking at an information session held in Walvis Bay recently to bring together stakeholders from the public and private sectors. With the sub-Saharan African economy expected to grow by an average of 5-6% a year to 2020, Uirab believes there are abundant trade opportunities. “We must seize the day as now is the right time to grab these opportunities. “Our logistics hub provides a seamless transport and logistics solution to ensure that these potential consumers get their goods at the right time and in the most cost-effective manner,” he added. According to Uirab, Namibia has many competitive advantages – its strategic geographical position to serve southern Africa, the fact that it is a peaceful and secure country; that it has a government which is supportive and also wholly committed to development and growth; that its institutions are sound; that its services are relatively efficient; and that it has a generous amount of land for industrial development and inland logistics hubs. In order to capitalise on the opportunity Namibia has been forced to ensure that its physical infrastructure in the form of ports, rail and road links has the capacity to handle the demand. “We need to develop ahead of demand so that we can be a few steps in front of our competitors to capture emerging business opportunities,” he said. Information technology (ICT) and other transport infrastructure should be modernised in order to ensure that they complement and support each other. Namibia will also be working at reducing non-tariff barriers in the region. “Ultimately, the development of the Port of Walvis Bay and the Walvis Bay corridors is clearly an advantage to accelerate growth for Namibia and the SADC region by offering southern Africa an alternative gateway,” he said. INSERT & CAPTION We must seize the day as now is the right time to grab these opportunities. – Bisey Uirab CAPTION Port of Walvis Bay … ensuring that physical infrastructure has the capacity to handle the demand.