Walvis corridor to appoint full-time secretariat

The member states
of the Walvis Bay-
Ndola-Lubumbashi
Development Corridor
– Namibia, Zambia and the
Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) – are in the process
of establishing a full-time
secretariat to ensure the
smoother f low of goods between
the three countries.
Cindy-Lu Hasheela,
manager of marketing and
communications at the Walvis
Bay Corridor Group (WBCG),
told FTW that the secretariat
should be operational in July
2017.
WBCG is also establishing
working groups at all corridor
borders to resolve issues between
transporters and government
agencies. “We have already
managed to resolve a number of
trade barriers and other issues
through meetings with the
member states of the respective
corridors,” said Hasheela.
According to her, the growing
copper trade along the route
offers a number of growth
opportunities for logistics
service providers, highlighting
the need for the cost-effective
and efficient movement of goods
across the respective borders.
Hasheela pointed out that
WBCG had embarked on a
“very aggressive marketing and
business development campaign”
to grow volumes along the
respective corridors, specifically
targeting the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) market.
“We are focusing on building
the corridors out of Walvis
Bay port as an alternative
trade route for SADC,” she
commented.
As part of the campaign,
WBCG has been focusing on
improving road transport
legislation and immigration
policies for commercial drivers
as well as establishing stronger
road infrastructure, Hasheela
said.
CAPTION
The Walvis Bay to Ndola, Zambia and Lubumbashi Development
Corridor is a main copper trading route within the SADC region.