Namibia’s national oil storage facility (NOSF) was financed mainly by two loans from the Development Bank of Namibia and the African Development Bank.
For this, the country must pay back N$2.4 billion at N$30 million per month for 13 years to the African Development Bank, while the N$1.5 billion loans are being repaid at N$25 million a month for eight years.
Government further committed to interest payments of N$2.7 billion, which brings the total repayment of the two loans to N$7 billion.
The repayment of the loans is financed by a fuel levy of 60 cents per litre on all petroleum products in the country.
Also, the NOSF is still only operating at 60% of its capacity. This was shared by the acting minister of public enterprises Ipumbu Shiimi in the National Assembly last week.
Shiimi added from January 2020 to date, Namcor has generated N$3.3 billion from the national Oil Storage Facility.
The multi-billion-dollar facility was constructed to increase Namibia’s security of supply of fuel and petroleum products from a concerning seven to 10 days to a more manageable 30 days or more.
The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) was appointed by government to manage and operate the NOSF in Walvis Bay.
“Namcor imports its product and distributes it inland to its customers and exports the rest to its customers in Botswana and Zambia. It also recently started handling products that are imported by other international marketing companies, such as Puma, Engen and TotalEnergies, through the storage facility Jetty to their respective terminals,” explained to the minister while responding to questions.
The facility is not leased to a third party but solely managed and operated by Namcor, he
said.
“Namcor, however, host two international marketing companies as agreed upon and approved by government. The two companies are Gunvor and Validus Energy,” noted Shiimi.
This is considered one of government’s biggest investment projects.
The construction of the facility commenced in January 2015 and was officially handed over to Namcor on 1 March 2021 by the mines and energy ministry.
The construction was to replace the old oil tanker berth in Walvis Bay, which is over 50 years old and has outlived its design life.
– mndjavera@nepc.com.na