HomeAfricaAfDB, Namibia sign US$338b loan pact for construction of new Container Terminal

AfDB, Namibia sign US$338b loan pact for construction of new Container Terminal

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and Namibia have signed a US$338 million pact for a sovereign guaranteed loan for Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) to finance the construction of a container terminal at Walvis Bay New Port.

The AfDB Group approved the construction of the Container Terminal Project in July 2013, in line with its 10-year Strategy and focus on infrastructure development and regional integration,

The Bank also provided a US$2.3 million grant to the Government of Namibia for logistics and capacity building complementing the port project loan.

Namibia’s Finance Minister and Governor for the Bank, Sara Kuugongwelwa-Amadhila, signed the loan guarantee and grant agreements on behalf the Government in Windhoek.

Namport Chief Executive Officer Bisey Uirab signed the loan agreement on behalf of Namport, while Ebrima Faal, Regional Director of the AfDB’s Southern Africa Resource Centre (SARC), signed for the Bank.

The Project will enable Namport to triple the container-handling capacity at the Port of Walvis Bay from 350,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 1,050,000 TEUs per annum.

It will also finance the purchase of up-to-date port equipment and the training of pilots and operators for the new terminal.

The grant component will fund the preparation of the National Logistics Master Plan study, technical support and capacity-building for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and training of freight forwarders with particular emphasis on female staff.

According to the AfDB Director of Transport and ICT Amadou Oumarou: “Through this project which potentially serves up to seven major economies in the SADC region, the Bank is assisting in the diversification and distribution of port facilities on the southwest coast of Africa, and provides the much-needed alternative for the region’s landlocked countries.”

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