THE WALVIS BAY-NDOLA-LUBUMBASHI CORRIDOR ON THE RISE
A Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Technical Committee (WBNL) meeting was held recently at Protea Hotel Pelican Bay in Walvis Bay, Namibia. This follows the first meeting that was held at the Governor’s office of the Katanga Region, which took place in September 2008. The objective of the tripartite meeting was to finalise the agreement of the WBNL between the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Zambia before it is presented to the Committees of Permanent Secretaries and Ministers responsible for transport for their approval and signing. The meeting was attended by institutions from the public and private sector from the Governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Namibia and the Republic of Zambia. The purpose of the agreement is aimed at addressing bottlenecks hindering trade along the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi corridor with a view to foster increased economic activity through the promotion of trade; developing adequate, reliable, cost-effective, efficient and seamless transport, telecommunications and energy systems so that the corridor is a competitive investment area; and to ensure that the development in the Corridor takes place in an environmentally sustainable manner. The delegates from Zambia informed the meeting that customs clearance at Katima Mulilo has improved and that the Zambia Revenue Authority is in a process of procuring scanners for all the major border posts in Zambia which would assist in speedy clearing of cargo. Furthermore, the Government of the DRC approved the extension of VISAs from 7 days to 14 days. The Ministry of Transport, DRC further added that the objectives of the TOR and MOU were to facilitate development of the Walvis Bay –Ndola – Lubumbashi Corridor (Trans Caprivi) in order to optimize and foster cross-border trade and Transit-Transport Cooperation among the three countries; give landlocked countries of Zambia and the DRC unimpeded access through Namibia’s territory to the Port of Walvis Bay; and Develop a spatial development initiative aimed at developing socio-economic areas. The Trans Caprivi Corridor has become the popular alternative in terms of imports and exports through the Port of Walvis Bay to Zambia and the DRC. This is evident in the fact that cargo volumes have increased by more than 156,9%.
