Walvis Bay Corridor Group CEO Hippy Tjivikua says the Walvis Bay Port’s shorter shipping times compared to regional alternatives position it as a more efficient and cost-effective choice for Brazilian trade.
He said compared to traditional shipping routes through South Africa’s Durban port, Walvis Bay boasts a substantial distance advantage.
The CEO highlighted the reduced sailing time to reach Walvis Bay from Brazilian ports like Rio de Janeiro and Santos.
The time saving translates into faster delivery times, lower transportation costs, and increased competitiveness for Brazilian companies operating in the region.
“If you look at the distances between, let me say, the port of Rio de Janeiro and Walvis Bay and the port of Santos to Walvis Bay, you realise that basically, the distance in the ocean from the port of Rio to Walvis Bay is 582km. The border of Durban is even further, at 8,730km. If you look at the port of Santos Bay and Luanda the distance is 5,878km. I’m deliberately mentioning Luanda and Durban because these are key ports within Southern Africa, especially to Brazil,” he said.
Tjivikua further explained that beyond its geographical advantage, Namibia also offers a stable political environment, efficient port operations, and robust infrastructure, making it an attractive destination for businesses.
“We’ve got a very stable political environment and one of the advantages that I can also share with you is that our safety and security in this country tops. We find trucks that are moving with high-value commodity goods like cobalt, no matter what happens in most operations, a truck, when it leaves the mine, the moving convoys have got armed escorts up to the port. But when they enter Namibia, they relinquish the armed escorts. That’s how safe it is,” he said.
The country is actively investing in expanding its port facilities, improving rail and road networks, and enhancing its logistics capabilities to further solidify its position as a regional trade gateway.
“We have been mandated to turn Namibia into a logistics hub we extended in terms of the new container terminal. We are working on basically four important elements: Efficient ports, storage operations, efficient transport, network, collection and distribution points, and basically our short-term goal is transforming from corridors into economic development corridors and subsequently into the industrialised economy of Namibia,” he said.
