An effective transport infrastructure is the backbone of a vibrant economy and Namibia’s favorable geographical position on the south western coast of the African continent bordering with Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, puts it in good stead to be the transport and logistics hub in southern Africa. Due to its leading advocate of regional economic integration, its membership to SACU and SADC ensures access to a market of over 55 million and 300 million people, respectively; with a combined GDP in excess of US$ 200 billion and US$ 662.7 billion, respectively. The port of Walvis Bay is ideally located for shipments to and from Europe, the Americas and other international markets.
SADC region currently relies heavily on South African ports or underdeveloped and congested ports in other countries in the region. Namibia with its well-developed ports, well maintained road infrastructure and other favourable conditions stands to benefit from the continued growth and prosperity of Africa in general
Despite being smaller than regional ports, the harbour benefits from higher efficiency, shorter waiting times and additional facilities such as a dry dock for oil and gas rig repairs. The Port of Walvis Bay has become the preferred African West coast port and logistics corridor for southern and central African logistics operations https://www.namport.com.na The Walvis Bay Port is being expanded (from 350,000 TEUs to 750,000 TEUs per year) and expectations about this are quite high among major shipping lines.
Plans are also underway to expand the Lüderitz Port and strengthen its connectivity with the Northern Cape Province of South Africa in terms of economic activity. Potential transport cargos for Lüderitz are manganese ore, zinc products (zinc ore and ingot of zinc) and fruit (table grapes and dates). The cargo handling volume at Lüderitz Port could currently be exceeding 500,000 tons.
In order to transform Namibia into an international logistics hub for SADC region, all elements related to transport and logistics (road, railway, maritime & port and aviation), should be aimed to be up to “international standard”. Therefore, the plans of developing a Master Plan for the International Logistics Hub for SADC Countries in Namibia is underway and is expected to be completed by 2025.
Namibia has a well-established road infrastructure, regarded as one of the best on the continent. The majority of towns and communities can be reached via a road network comprising more than 44,500 km. The country is linked by road to Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo. Namibia has 4 corridors Trans-Kalahari via Botswana, Trans-Caprivi, Trans-Cunene via Angola to DRC and Trans-Oranje via South Africa that links to SADC countries (http://www.wbcg.com.na/) . The Trans-Kalahari and the Trans-Caprivi highways provide a fast and comfortable road link between the Namibian port of Walvis Bay on the Atlantic coast and her landlocked neighboring countries. The highways provide a regional transport corridor intended to reduce shipping times for imports and exports from the neighboring countries to the markets of Western Europe and the Americas by at least five days compared to traditional routes in southern Africa.
Namibia has also committed to upgrading 1,480 km of roads over the next five years which will improve accessibility across the country. Despite such extensive road network, most of the country’s road infrastructure has been in existence prior to independence and are in urgent need of rehabilitation and maintenance
The Trans-Kalahari Corridor comprises a tarred road linking the Port of Walvis Bay with Botswana and the industrial powerhouse of South Africa, Gauteng. The Corridor stretches over 1,900 km along Walvis Bay – Windhoek – Gaborone -Johannesburg/Pretoria. It is supported by a railway line from the Port of Walvis Bay to Gobabis (via Windhoek), where transhipment facilities are available, and continues from Lobatse in Botswana. The Corridor is complemented by the Maputo (Mozambique) Corridor on the east coast of Africa, thus forming a transport corridor over the entire breadth of southern Africa. The corridor aims to simplify cross-border transactions and customs operations along the Corridor.
Namibia is also strategically placed to take advantage of the air transport industry. Plans are underway to expand its international airport at Windhoek while the Walvis Bay airport has recently been extended to allow larger planes to land there.
Presently, Air Namibia, the national airline has direct flight to Germany and other regional destinations in the SADC region. Recently, the Ethiopian and Quarter airways started direct flights to Windhoek
Despite the good infrastructure, massive investment opportunities still exist in this sector.
- Port related services
- Railway development & linkage
- Cargo handling facility
- Warehousing & Distributing
- Corridor projects
- Truck Stops Facilities
- Value addition projects
- Flood and rainwater harvesting
- Seawater desalination plants
- Groundwater (Borehole Drilling)
- Constructed pipelines to transport water over large distances