Russian companies are willing to participate in the reconstruction of the Walvis Bay port, railway network expansion and the upgrading of locomotives and rolling stock, Russian ambassador to Namibia, Dmitry Lobach has disclosed.
The Namibian Ports Authority has said planned road and rail transport upgrades at Walvis Bay will enable Namibia’s ports to remain the preferred gateways to and from the SADC region. The upgrades will reduce transit times and provide alternative transport corridors. There are plans to extend the quay wall in the near future to cater for short-term demand. The port boasts a container throughput capacity of 750,000 TEUs and can handle ten million tonnes of liquid bulk cargo per annum.
A study was commissioned at the port of Lüderitz to explore how the port should expand in the short, medium and long term. The medium-term plan is to extend the current quay wall and yard area, and this is already at the initiation phase, while the longer-term option of developing a new port in the bay adjacent to
Lobach also disclosed that Russian companies are interested in building the Baynes hydroelectric power plant shared with Angola. Further, there are ideas to build an atomic power station with a modular reactor (100 MW) in Namibia and apply Russian nuclear technology in medicine and agriculture.
Russian investors have been working in Namibia and cited the geological surveying for uranium in the Omahake Region.
Presently, the African Development Bank is funding a railway project that entails constructing 207 km of new rail track close to the existing line between Kranzberg and Otjiwarongo, using concrete railway sleepers and new rails.
Other components include modernising the railway signalling system along the Walvis Bay-Tsumeb line to improve its reliability, safety and capacity, as well as the overall performance of the railway system.
The bank had previously funded the expansion of the container terminal at the Port of Walvis Bay, the bank is supporting integrating Namibia regionally by building critical port and rail infrastructure to connect the country to the rest of the region, move goods, support value chains and promote trade.
Written for Railways Africa Magazine by: Chamwe Kaira
