The Namibian Ports Authority has said the absence of rail connections to the key markets in Botswana and Zambia remains a major cause for concern, especially given the latest developments on alternative corridors such as the Lobito and Tazara corridors.
Chairperson of the Namibian Ports Authority, Nangula Hamunyela, writing in the 2024 Integrated Report said this has the serious risk to erode Namibia’s competitiveness as rail would offer a more cost-effective alternative to road.
The proposed Lobito railway runs from Lobito, on Angola's Atlantic coast, 1700km eastwards to Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a proposed link to Zambia and is projected to cost close to US$600 million. In September 2024, China, Tanzania and Zambia signed a memorandum of understanding on the revitalisation project of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway.
Hamunyela said Namport is following with keen interest the ongoing engagements on the developments of the Grootfontein to Katima Mulilo and Trans Kalahari rail links and is hopeful that these may move to fruition in the medium term.
The proposed Trans-Zambezi Railway will extend from the northern town of Grootfontein to the border town of Katima Mulilo, bordering Zambia and Botswana. The proposed Trans-Kalahari Railway between Namibia and Botswana will span from Mmamabula in Botswana to Walvis Bay.
The Integrated Report said the Walvis Bay Ndola-Lubumbashi corridor has become a major source of volumes through the Port of Walvis Bay with main commodities being raw materials into the mining industry, equipment and mineral ores in various stages of processing.
In addition, the Trans-Oranje corridor is a key node for the Port of Lüderitz, feeding hundreds of thousands of tonnes of manganese from the Northern Cape Province of South Africa to the port per annum, the report added.
Walvis Bay is Namibia’s largest commercial port, handling about 6.6 million tonnes of cargo per year. It boasts a container throughput capacity of 750 000 TEUs and can handle 10 million tonnes of liquid bulk cargo per annum as well as 10 million tonnes of dry and break-bulk cargo per annum.
The ports handle local and cross-border cargo imports and exports through the four main trade corridors connecting the ports to the respective Southern African Development Community (SADC) markets, namely Zambia, the DRC, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola.
In terms of cargo handled in 2024, the report said the volume of Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) handled increased by 6% year-on-year, from 160 883 TEUs in 2022/23 to 171 151 TEUs in 2023/24, with notable growth in import and export container volumes, which went up by 12% and 10%, respectively.
The total cargo tonnage handled increased by 4% year-on-year, from 7.7 million to 8 million tonnes. Bulk and break-bulk cargo accounted for 5.6 million tonnes, while containerised cargo totalled 2.4 million tonnes. Bulk and break-bulk cargo handling increased by 3%, from 5.4 million to 5.6 million tonnes.
Written for Railways Africa Magazine by Chamwe Kaira
