WALVIS BAY – The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Port Authority of Dakar to promote trade between Namibia and Senegal.
The agreement signed on Wednesday at Namport is said to be one of the ways through which Namport wants to strengthen ties with other African countries to enhance Intra-Africa and regional trade.
Outgoing Namport CEO Bisey /Uirab, who called for an increase in inter-continental trade among African countries, said the
MoU includes training of staff, information sharing as well as working closely with respective ministries to explore opportunities that can improve cargo efficiency and the promotion of both ports.
“African ports need to collaborate more as only 12 percent of trading takes place among African countries. We need to become more reliant on each other and promote our countries among ourselves,” he said. Dakar port chief of the Marketing and Communication Department, Abdoul Hamid Sy, who headed the delegation also stressed the importance of inter-African trade for Africa to prosper. He says the MoU will improve cooperation while also exploring business opportunities as well as sharing best practices among the two ports as the two ports are very similar to each other. “Through agreements such as these, it is possible for each of us to pick up best practises from each other, in order to develop each other and our own economies,” he said.