Namibia has made important strides to improve regional trade and logistics by approving the establishment of the headquarters of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor Management Committee (WBNLDCMC) in Windhoek. The move, alongside the approval by the government of a new cargo levy charged to users, underpins the country’s aspiration to make the Port of Walvis Bay a major logistics hub for trade into and out of Southern and Southern African business circles, and for enhancing trade connectivity for landlocked neighbours.
The approval allows them to sign a Headquarters Agreement between the Government of Namibia and the WBNLDCMC, which will put in place the legal framework needed for the regional corridor management body to be based in Windhoek. Additionally, Cabinet also approved the Executive Director of the Ministry of Works and Transport, Jonas Sheelongo, to be a signatory for the Namibian government.
The agreement is a significant development in the development of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor, one of Southern Africa’s most critical transport corridors. The Walvis Bay – Namibia – Zambia – Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) land-sea transport corridor facilitates regional integration and cross-border trade and economic development for landlocked countries, giving them direct access to the Atlantic Ocean.
Namibia will chair the management committee of the corridor, in order to increase the level of coordination between the member states, strengthen the governance of the transport corridor and speed up the efforts for eliminating logistical bottlenecks which delay the transport of goods. There is expected to be more coordination of institutions to streamline the border procedures, enhance infrastructure planning and boost cooperation between transport authorities and the private sector.
The Cabinet decision follows earlier this year when the 14th Tripartite Council of Ministers (TCM) meeting was held in Swakopmund, where it was announced that the government will support the private sector. During the meeting, Minister of Works and Transport Veikko Nekundi confirmed the necessary preparations for the hosting of the corridor secretariat have been completed in Namibia. Preparations included the creation of a detailed implementation roadmap, drafting of the headquarters agreement and design of a sustainable funding framework with the help of a task team that involved the Ministry of Works and Transport, the Roads Authority, the Namibia Revenue Agency and the Walvis Bay Corridor Group.
Namibia will implement an 80% user-pay cargo charge of 90c per tonne on all goods that move across its borders through the corridor. The levy is to supply stable funding for the operation of the secretariat for the corridor, and to facilitate transport efficiency, trade facilitation, infrastructure coordination and regional economic integration programmes.
The Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor is an important route for the transportation of mineral, fuel, agricultural and containerized goods throughout Southern Africa. It is a strong export corridor for Zambia’s copper, cobalt and other mineral production, as well as a way for industrial goods, machinery and consumer goods to be imported into the interior.
The new governance system and funding mechanism will be something industry will be keeping a close eye on – it has the potential to become a template for other corridors. With volumes of trade continuing to increase, the reliability of the supply chain, lowering transport costs, and competitiveness of the Port of Walvis Bay as a preferred gateway for regional and international trade are expected to improve with improved corridor management and sustainable financing.
