https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Namibia punts strategic SADC, shipping position in bid for new investors

1st October 2015

By: Natalie Greve

Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

  

Font size: - +

While acknowledging that its compact population size of 2.1-million offered limited market scope for potential investors, Namibia continues to punt its strategic location along a key transatlantic shipping route and proximity to the frontier markets of Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe as a rationale behind foreign direct investment and the pursuit of joint venture opportunities in the country by foreign firms.

“Namibia’s biggest appeal for investors lies not in trade, but in its potential to serve as a gateway to Africa and the rest of the world, [particularly] for manufacturers. We have several trade agreements in place as part of regional trade blocs . . . and we’re a politically stable country from which to trade.

“Investors don’t only have to take advantage of local demand, but also of our various ports and export channels into other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),” High Commission of the Republic of Namibia’s Commercial Office commercial counsellor Bonaventura Hinda told the Namibia–South Africa Business Seminar, in Midrand, on Thursday.

According to figures provided by Hinda, South African exports to Namibia topped R51.5-billion in 2014, while imports from Namibia exceeded R8.4-billion over the same period.

Key exports from South Africa included chemicals, rubber, plastics, transport equipment, machinery and equipment, refined petrol, food products and fabricated metal, while Namibian exports to South Africa comprised largely
manufactured products, chemicals, metal ores, fish and marine products, beverages, refined zinc, live animals, meat and copper.

Hinda added that Namibia’s Walvis Bay and Lüderitz ports provided access to key West African shipping routes, with further port expansion projects under way.

“The Port of Walvis Bay is considered a SADC gateway port owing to its proximity to markets along the transaltantic ocean routes and offers strategic access [for foreign companies] to Zambia, the DRC, Brazil and Johannesburg.

“The idea here is to market the competitive advantage offered by Namibia in terms of the corridor leakages offered into the region,” she remarked.

Namibia was further linked to the subcontinent through four key transport corridors across the SADC region: the Walvis Bay road and rail corridors, which linked the Port of Walvis Bay to Gaborone and the Maputo Corridor; the Trans-Caprivi corridor, which linked the country to the DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe; the Trans-Cunene corridor, which extended from Walvis Bay through northern Namibia and into Angola; and the Trans-Oranje Corridor, which linked the Port of Lüderitz with South Africa’s Northern Cape.

“Foreign manufacturers are already benefiting from Namibia’s access to SADC countries, with some establishing facilities close to the border with Angola, for example, significantly improving transport time and reducing costs associated with the manufacture of goods for the Angolan market,” she commented.

The Namibian government asserted that it was, meanwhile, working to step up power availability in support of industrialisation, with a particular focus on renewable-energy sources and the potential for more power efficient technologies.

This as the country expected a gross domestic product growth rate of 5% this year, increasing to 5.5% in 2016.

While citing manufacturing as a key investment opportunity, Hinda pointed to additional investment opportunities in the supply of manufacturing equipment and support for infrastructure projects in the power, transport and logistics sectors.

With the Namibian government currently expanding its own infrastructure and addressing housing shortfalls, South African developers could also seek partnerships with Namibian construction firms to bid for large State building projects, she held.

“For example, property group Atterbury has recently developed a major mall in the country, and the only construction company active in the country that was big enough to fulfil the contract was South African construction group Murray & Roberts.

“There is thus a big opportunity for more competition [in the construction sector],” she argued.

The State was, meanwhile, also open to public–private partnerships in the supply of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals and in healthcare delivery, while agriculture and agroprocessing were considered a further growth area.

“The country has experienced drought conditions since 2013; therefore, there are opportunities for investors able to help improve food production along our four perennial rivers,” added Hinda.

Aiming to highlight investment and business opportunities in Namibia, the Namibian government this week held a series of Namibia seminars in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

Comments

Showroom

Hanna Instruments Image
Hanna Instruments (Pty) Ltd

We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD
Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD

For over 30 years, Werner South Africa Pumps & Equipment (PTY) LTD has been designing, manufacturing, supplying and maintaining specialist...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (15/03/2024)
15th March 2024 By: Martin Creamer

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.126 0.18s - 155pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now