Chamwe Kaira
6 November 2009
Windhoek — The Erongo region has been experiencing a uranium boom due to increases in the price of uranium over the past few years.
The governor of the region, Samuel Nuuyoma says the mining of low-grade deposits had become viable, and that the country has become an attractive investment haven for many mining companies due to Namibia's competitive investment regime.
Nuuyoma was speaking at the opening of the Erongo Trade Expo, which was held in Walvis Bay last week.
He said the importance of Walvis Bay as an import and export harbor is underlined by the fact that cargo can be shipped between the SADC region, Europe and the Americas up to seven days faster than some of those ports on the coast of south-eastern Africa.
"The region also saw the establishment of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group in 2000 as a public-private partnership to promote the utilisation of the Walvis Bay Corridors, which is a network of transport corridors comprising the Port of Walvis Bay, the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, the Trans-Caprivi Corridor, the Trans-Kunene Corridor and the Trans Orange Corridor," Nuuyoma said.
Trade volumes along these corridors have grown from a bit more than 282 000 tonnes in 2007/2008 to nearly 550 000 tonnes in 2008/2009, which is an increase in tonnage of more than 94%. Walvis Bay also receives approximately 3 000 vessel calls, and handles about five million tonnes of cargo per year.
"The existing container terminal at the port can handle about 250 000 containers per year. It is expected that this facility will reach its full capacity by 2012."
Nuuyoma said, because the current stacking area cannot be increased, Namport is planning a new container port facility on reclaimed land inside current port limits. He said this will provide room for about double the containers to meet future demand.
"Namport has recently also announced the acquisition of a state of the art container terminal operating system, an investment of N$13.5 million, one of a number of developments to increase productivity," he added. The Namibian Airports Company (NAC) is currently upgrading the Walvis Bay Airport to become Namibia's second international airport.
"The runway will be expanded to handle the world's biggest aircraft, such as the new Airbus A380. This is a further step in handling more goods and fish to export markets", he continued.
"Due to the various developments in the Erongo region, a demand for more housing is exerted. We are witnessing various new property developments at Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, as well as on the coastal area between the two towns," he said.
"With this bulky package of development opportunities in Erongo, it is indeed essential that events like the Erongo Trade Expo 2009 and the Wesbank Auto Show are organized in order to prepare our businesses for the future," he added.
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