PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday opened Zimbabwe’s Dry Port
Facility at Walvis Bay in Namibia, which is expected to provide a strategic and
cheaper gateway to the Atlantic Ocean for local manufacturers and international
business.
A dry port is a city away from a sea where formalities for
exporting or importing goods (through sea) are completed and shipments sent
from there to sea ports for loading on ships where no more paper work is
required.
Now that the dry port has been launched, President
Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe and Namibia are now considering constructing a railway
line linking the two countries, to further enhance movement of goods to and
from the port. The facility was built on an estimated 19 000 square metres
given to Zimbabwe by Namibia on a lease agreement of over 50 years.
President Mnangagwa said when the dry port becomes
operational, “many things will need to be done”. “I have been discussing with
my colleague and counterpart Mr President, how we should improve the land
connection now from here to Zimbabwe.
“The biggest possibility is the construction of a railway
line,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said the dry port was expected to help
foster regional integration as it will not benefit Zimbabwe alone but other
countries in Sadc. He said presently, Zimbabwe and other landlocked countries
in the Sadc rely on Beira, Maputo and Durban ports, which are now congested.
This provides logistical challenges for exporters and
importers in the respective countries.
President Mnangagwa added that the dry port was an
alternative and shorter route for transportation of goods to and from the
respective countries.
“This dry port infrastructure will go a long way towards
the realisation of economic development and integration of our countries. It’s
not only going to serve Zimbabwe.
“It is going to serve Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Zambia
and possibly DRC. This facility provides us in Zimbabwe with a direct
alternative shipping route on the Atlantic side for both exports and imports
from the Americas, the Far East, Europe and West Africa.
“It will further broaden the prospects of our companies to
increase trade within the context of African (Continental) Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA), by promoting inter-African trade,” he said.
President Mnangagwa added that the dry port was richly
endowed with the vital integrated infrastructure networks that link several
transport corridors and connects SADC to Comesa, the East African community and
beyond.
He said such corridors as the Trans-Kalahari, the
Trans-Kapriv, the Trans-Kunene and Trans-Orange – which link several southern,
eastern and central African countries – offer Zimbabwe plenty of opportunities
and options, and access to vast markets and destinations.
“So we have been running with that adage that Zimbabwe is
land-linked and not anymore landlocked. But today (yesterday) here at Walvis
Bay, they have improved again; we have now been told that Zimbabwe is not
land-linked but seas-linked.
“This now means that Zimbabwe’s frontiers actually share
the waters of the Atlantic. I am grateful,” he said.
The President expressed his indebtedness to Namibia for
granting Zimbabwe land to build the dry port.
“We are indebted to the Government and people of Namibia
for granting us this rare gift to enable Zimbabwe to be part of Namibia’s grand
plan to make Walvis Bay Port a regional logistics hub in the Sadc region. “We
are grateful for your vision. We are grateful for your cooperation,” he said.
President Mnangagwa implored officials from Zimbabwe and
Namibia to work tirelessly to ensure that businesses and investors realise
immediate benefits from the dry port.
Namibian President Hage Geingob said the opening of the dry
port will unshackle landlocked neighbours.
He called for “action” and less talking to ensure citizens
benefit from the dry port. President Mnangagwa was in Namibia on a three-day State
visit which ended yesterday.
The visit also saw him witness the signing of seven bilateral
agreements between Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Meanwhile, the President returned home yesterday evening.
He was welcomed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International
Airport by Vice President Kembo Mohadi, Minister of Defence and War Veterans
Affairs Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Chief Secretary to the President and
Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda, Service Chiefs and other senior Gvernment
officials. Herald
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