WALVIS BAY – The Namibia Local Businesses Association (Naloba) says the Namibia Ports Authority should not enter into a concession agreement with a foreign investor unless the business community and ordinary Namibians benefit from it. The newly established association visited Namport on Tuesday, two months after Namport CEO Andrew Kanime announced they would lease the N$4.5 billion new container terminal for the next 25 years to a foreign operator.

The successful operator should be able to make volume-related payments during the tenure of the concession, introduce additional capital for investments and drive operational efficiencies. Namport appointed international consultancy firm Maritime Business and Transport Solutions (MTBS) to assist with the process of finding an operator.

At least five reputable operators have shown interest in running the new container terminal that was commissioned in 2019. However, Naloba says the Namibian business community and its people should be at the forefront when it comes to the benefits of the concession. Speaking on behalf of the association’s vice president Peter Amadhila said Namibians should draw maximum benefits out of this proposed concession.

“If this is not possible, Namport should not continue with the concession and should allow Naloba to assist them in setting up a structure to source from local capacity to manage the new terminal,” Amadhila explained. He added the association was established specifically to look out for all business interests and needs of all Namibian business people that should also benefit through the consessioning of the new container terminal. He then asked whether there was any attempt to source for local capacity or in the SADC region itself to operate the port.

“We are proposing that Namport and Naloba sign a memorandum of understanding in order for the association to represent local business interests in the venture going forward,” he said. According to him, Naloba strives to advise the government on economic and trade policy and also to localise, protect and promote the Namibian economy.

Namport earlier also explained they are looking for an international operator who has the proven capability to bring the much-needed volumes of transhipments to Namibia to drive the profitability and sustainability of the new container terminal. Global operators have strategic relationships with shipping lines, which gives them leverage to push for the use of the terminal by shipping lines so that there is meaningful growth in the volumes of containers handled at the terminal.

There is presently no company in Namibia with that capacity.