ED RICHARDSON
WHILE MANY in the Namibia freight forwarding
and transport industries are keeping a wary eye on
the rebuilding of the Benguela rail link between
Luanda and the Zambian and Democratic
Republic of Congo copper belts, Heino Herrlich,
managing director of Transworld Cargo, welcomes
the development.
There has been strong growth in freight from
Walvis Bay through Namibia to Zambia and the
DRC following the opening of the Trans Caprivi
corridor, and there are concerns that the new rail
link could take much of this traffic.
“We in the region need all the routes we can
get in order to move the quantity of exports
we are able to produce. Our challenge is getting
goods out, and we need to look at alternative
routes” he says.
The 1 300 km Benguela railway line runs from
the Atlantic port of Lobito to the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s (DRC) border.
Transworld is also looking for growth from
direct neighbours South Africa and Botswana.
According to Herrlich, bottlenecks and delays in
transporting freight inland through South African
harbours can be reduced by making better use of
the existing facilities in Namibia.
He would also like to see more lines calling
Walvis Bay to increase competition and reduce
costs.
The volumes are there, he says. The port can
be used for the export of 10 000 tons of meat
and 25 000 tons of grapes per annum, currently
being shipped via Cape Town.
Looking at the neighbouring countries, Herrlich
describes Zambia as “very promising. There are
new mines opening up and we are seeing some
three thousand tons of copper concentrate a
month being exported to Tsumeb for processing,”
he says.
The multi-modal warehousing, freight and
logistics company is adapted to Namibian
conditions.
The company also handles the distribution of
new cars north of Windhoek in Namibia.
With drought and famine gripping much of the
sub-continent, Herrlich believes Walvis is a viable
alternative to Durban for relief shipments. “We had
a successful trial where we transported 8000 tons of
maize from Walvis to Lusaka.
“The route is more economical for the transport
of relief goods than Durban,” he says.
‘We need all the routes we can get’
10 Apr 2007 - by Staff reporter
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