Port expansion to spur growth in fishing

The N$4.2 billion expansion of the Walvis Bay harbour, which included the dredging and reclamation of 40 hectares of land, is almost complete.

The new container terminal reached 90% completion on 9 January this year and the project is expected to be fully completed by mid-year.

The ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz play a leading role in facilitating economic growth not just for Namibia, but also within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

“To support the growth and performance of Namibia’s economy, Namport has to continually upgrade and expand. This why the new container terminal on reclaimed land project was implemented in the port of Walvis Bay,” says Namport.

“The project will cater for containerised cargo handling capacity well into the next decade. The port of Walvis Bay is ideally located to accelerate the growth of Namibia and the SADC region as a whole by providing a gateway to the region, thus serving as a logistics hub.”

The new container terminal will be able to handle more containers than ever before, Namport says.

“Our clients, such as the clearing and forwarding agents, will have more business and related industries such as trucking companies will be transporting more cargo into the hinterland countries such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The potential positive knock-on effect [extends] to all industries based in Walvis Bay as more jobs will be created... The benefits of Namport handling cargo will create prosperity for Walvis Bay, the Erongo Region and Namibia as a whole,” says Namport.

The new container terminal will also allow the port authority to commission a dedicated cruise passenger liner.

“This will allow for passenger liners to dock in Walvis Bay for longer periods and boost tourism for the region. Passengers will disembark and take daily excursions, directly impacting [the] recreational tourism industry and thus creating more employment opportunities for tour operators, restaurants, shops and SME business as passenger vessels in the port of Walvis Bay will become a norm.”

Fishing sector benefits

Namport manages the ports of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, which serve the entire Namibian fishing fleet.

“The infrastructure in both ports thus serves as the backbone of the fishing industry. In addition to providing infrastructure such as deep-water berths, aids to navigation and dredged areas, Namport also provides the fishing industry with various services, some of which are vessel traffic management services, tugboat services and safe anchorage.”

Fish and related products amounted to 10% of the total volumes handled by the two ports in the 2017/18 financial year.

Marina development

Another exciting initiative earmarked for the port of Walvis Bay is a waterfront and marina development, which is expected to support the tourism, commerce and various other industries in the region.

The development, according to Namport, will be a private-public-partnership (PPP) and will be completed in phases.

The area will consist of a working harbour and local heritage to revitalise urban development and tourism.

“At the marina area, the types of vessels that will dock are yachts, sailboats, ski-boats and small fishing boats. Residential and commercial zones will be carved out to serve the residents of Walvis Bay and visitors to the coastal town.

“The new development will benefit the tourism sector and provide more focus on the commercial activities at the waterfront. Job opportunities will be created in retail, tourism and commercial job facilities.”

National Single Window project

Namport has also accepted a task from the central government to drive the National Single Window project, which is an online tool to facilitate the exchange of information related to trade such as import, export and transit procedures.

The system will also accept electronic payments of fees, duties and taxes required for trade transactions.

“This automation of manual trade processes will reduce the time it takes to clear goods, which will have a positive impact on costs and time in the supply chain.

“So it is a real game-changer for trade and economic prosperity and will receive priority attention from Namport. We are certain that it will significantly improve Namibia’s global competitiveness and port efficiency ratings as well as contribute to the success of the Namibia Logistics Hub,” the ports authority says.

Namport has established a subsidiary company, Namibia e-Trade Services, to manage and operate the window with a view to entering into a strategic alliance with a technical partner who will bring to the table experience and expertise in such an operation.