Construction work on the new port in Namibia to help exportation of commodities and importing of fuel in southern African states, will begin next year, a year earlier than initial expectations. According to Namibia Ports Authority, the new harbor, known as Southern Africa Development Community Gateway Port, will have its first phase work starting in 2015.
Located 5km away from the North of Walvis Bay, the first phase will involve the construction of R4-billion oil tanker jetty, a 75-million litre oil storage facility and petroleum pipelines which will help cater for exporters and importers of commodities from landlocked Southern Africa neighbors.
Phase two and three of the Southern Africa Development Community Gateway Port , which were slated to start in 2030 will involve construction of a huge multi-purpose dry bulk terminal and a coal terminal to aid cater for up to 65 million tones of shipment from Botswana’s Mmabula coalfields in five berths.
The new Southern Africa Development Community Gateway Port will also target shipments from Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe because of its strategic location for sailing to Europe, Asia, North America and the Middle East.
Additionally, Namibia and Botswana are jointly developing a 1,500km Trans-Kalahari railway to transport coal from eastern Botswana to markets in China and India.
Mr Uirab from the Southern African Development Community noted that the being a medium-size port compared to regional ports, the Southern Africa Development Community Gateway Port will be less congested hence and waiting time reduced.
