July- August 2012 - Walvis Bay Corridor Group

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REDUCING BOTTLENECKS ALONGTHE WALVIS BAY-NDOLA-LUBUMBASHI DEVELOPMENT CORRIDORT he 6 th W alvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor( W BNLDC ) Technical Committeemeeting of the public and privatesector officials from the DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Zambiawas held on the 15 th to the 16 th ofAugust 2012 in Walvis Bay, Namibia.The objectives of the meeting was todiscuss the WBNLDC action plan inorder to resolve the bottlenecksaim of the WBNLDC initiative is toreduce the cost of doing businessamong the member states. He furtheradded that by reducing the bottlenecksand challenges along thecorridor, it would promote the economic development of the memberstates. He further stated that theGovernment of Namibia through theWalvis Bay Corridor Group aims atdeveloping the WBNLDC from atransport corridor into a preferredbeen reached along the corridor andexpressed their commitment to fullyachieve intended objectives to ensuringthat all the corridors become asuccess.The achievements recorded on thecorridor thus far, include the extensionof VISAs duration for drivers, allthe member states along this corridorhave electronic weighbridges,the construction of the dry port forRepresentatives from the DRC, Namibia and Zambia who attended the meetingalong the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Corridor and to discussthe way forward in addressing thesebottlenecks.At this meeting, MrJohny Smith,CEO of the Walvis Bay CorridorGroup ( WBCG ) stated that thetrade route for neighbouring countriesin the SADC region.The Governments of the DemocraticRepublic of Congo ( DRC ) , fromthe Republic of Zambia and the Republicof Namibia said that they appreciatethe achievements that haveZambia has been completed, theconstruction of a bridge at Katima-Mulilo across the Zambezi river, customsrelated issues, increase in trafficalong the corridor, and the openingof an office in Lubumbashi.Continued on page 7………...6 The leading trade route in southern Africa www.wbcg.com.na | e-Corridor July-August| 2012
……..continued from page 6It was also briefed that Namibiacompleted a feasibility study to constructa railway line from Grootfonteinto KatimaMulilo border withZambia. Zambia appointed a privatecompany from South Africa toconstruct a railway line from KatimaMulilothrough Zambia to DRC.It was also mentioned that Zambiaintends to construct a railway linefrom Livingstone to KatimaMulilo.The Walvis Bay Corridor Group iscurrently hosting the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi DevelopmentCorridor Technical Committee,which is a Public Private Partnershipbetween the Governmentsresponsible for transport of theDRC, Namibia and Zambia to addressthe bottlenecks that impedethe flow of traffic along theWBNLDC using the Port of WalvisBay.THE DIVUNDU BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION COMPLETEDThe construction of the DivunduBridge has been completed, whichwas fully funded by the Governmentof Namibia to the value of N$19million. The bridge forms part of theWalvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi DevelopmentCorridor ( WBNLDC )that is the only means of crossingthe Okavango River to the NorthEastern part of Namibia.Prior to the construction of thebridge, it was a single lane, whichposed as a bottleneck for heavyand abnormal cargo between Namibiaand neighbouring countries.Often, abnormal loads were transportedfrom Zambia and Malawithrough Botswana to Walvis Bay,which resulted in an extended transittime.With the newly strengthened andwidened bridge, it will lead to anincrease in traffic with regard to abnormalloads along the WBNLDC,into Zambia and the DRC, making itmore viable to use this trade routedue to the shorter transit times.From Walvis Bay to Zambia, thetransit time is from 3 to 4 days andfrom Walvis Bay to the DRC it ’ sabout 5-7 days on average.The bridge thus plays a pivotal rolein enabling the imports and exportsof goods between Southern Africaand the rest of the world, along theWBNLDC.The leading trade route in southern Africa www.wbcg.com.na | e-Corridor July-August| 2012 7
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Page 3 and 4: NOTE FROM THE EDITORThe Walvis Bay
Page 5: NAMPORT SETS RECORD IN TEUSThe Nami

July- August 2012 - Walvis Bay Corridor Group

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