Namibian President Nandi-Ndaitwah has in recent weeks undertaken visits to neighbouring countries to encourage stronger economic cooperation, including the upgrading of railway projects, road infrastructure and transport corridors that lead to the port of Walvis Bay.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, who became Namibia’s first female president in March, has so far visited Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
The Namibian Presidency announced that Nandi-Ndaitwah and President Duma Boko of Botswana agreed to consolidate bilateral cooperation on joint infrastructure, including the upgrading of the Trans-Kalahari Railway Line and scaling up imports through the Port of Walvis Bay.
The Trans-Kalahari Railway is envisioned to be approximately 1500 km along the Trans-Kalahari Corridor (TKC), stretching from Mmamabula in Botswana to Walvis Bay in Namibia.
The Presidency said during a visit to Zambia, Nandi-Ndaitwah and Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, called on the urgent implementation of joint investments in common infrastructure, including ports and roads, in order to facilitate trade.
The two presidents said practical steps were needed to improve or replace ageing infrastructure along the common border, including at the border up to Katima Mulilo. The two leaders underscored the strategic importance of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor for both countries and directed officials to speedily resolve bottlenecks if and when they emerged. In order to facilitate a transition towards an efficient 24-hour border, technologies needed to be deployed, and the Zambian government informed that the Livingstone-Sesheke-Katima Mulilo, as a strategic artery for the movement of goods, was undergoing upgrades and repairs.
Hichilema said Namibia fully aligns with this realisation and Zambia’s vision of a land-linked economy, notably through the Walvis Bay–Ndola–Lubumbashi Development Corridor, which is key to enhancing regional trade and access to the Atlantic Ocean.
In Zimbabwe, Nandi-Ndaitwah and Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa identified the Trans-Kalahari Highway as a critical enabler to increase trade and other economic activities between Namibia and Zimbabwe.
This follows the Zimbabwean government's interest in joining the Trans-Kalahari Corridor project, along with Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. The Trans-Kalahari Corridor provides a direct route from the Port of Walvis Bay, through Botswana, to South Africa's Gauteng Province.
Nandi-Ndaitwah said this is a priority, in addition to the rehabilitation of railway lines and other transport linkages with neighbouring countries.
She expressed satisfaction with the way the Zimbabwean government is developing its dry port facility at Walvis Bay, which opened in 2019.
The Trans-Caprivi Highway between Namibia, Zambia and the DRC is another project that President Nandi-Ndaitwah has put forward as a consideration for collaboration with Zimbabwe and the rest of the SADC region.
Written by Chamwe Kaira
