Corridor group introduces cargo levy

THE Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor (WBNLDC) has imposed a levy of US$0,90 per tonne on cargo originating from the port of Walvis Bay to sustain operations of a permanent secretariat to be established by January 2024.

This was one of the resolutions made at the 13th WBNLDC tripartite meeting held in Livingstone, Zambia, last week and attended by senior government officials and technical experts as well as the private sector from Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.

According to the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), which facilitated the meeting, the secretariat is currently hosted by Namibia, and chaired on a rotational basis.

A council of ministers, which consisted of Namibian minister of works and transport John Mutorwa, his Zambian counterpart Frank Tayali, and DRC minister of transport Roger Te-Biasu, signed the agreement on resolutions to address various challenges impacting trade on the corridor.

Other major resolutions agreed were that Zambia ratifies the corridor tripartite agreement by the end of this year, and that Zambia and DRC increase clearance of trucks from 600 to 800 in each direction at Kasumbalesa border, as well as open 24 hours a day.

All member states were urged to harmonise transit fees and cross-border charges, as recommended by the regional economic communities like the Southern Africa development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

Namibia was urged to consider opening a diplomatic consulate in Lubumbashi, DRC, to ease trade while DRC was encouraged to sign a lease agreement for a dry port at Walvis Bay and was also urged to relax restrictive measures on the transportation of petroleum products by September this year.

Member states were encouraged to ensure that their drivers drive horse and/or with trailer registered in their home country and insure drivers undertaking cross-border transportation.

WBCG chief executive officer Mbahupu Tjivikua commended Namibia for revising and relaxing abnormal load restrictions during peak seasons as well as consistently maintaining the road infrastructure.

He also noted Zambia’s commitment to improving the operating conditions for transport operators and the DRC’s significant road infrastructure improvements in the Katanga and Lualaba provinces, as well as the construction of a new border post and parking area at Sakania.

He further commended Namibia’s law enforcement for curbing the incidences of stone throwing at trucks in the Kavango East area around Rundu.

The corridor runs from Walvis Bay in Namibia, passes through Ndola in Zambia and ends at Lubumbashi in the DRC and provides the shortest route between the Namibian west coast ports of Lüderitz and Walvis Bay and the vital transport hubs of Zambia, southern DRC and Zimbabwe.

This corridor is perfectly positioned to service the two-way trade between the SADC region and Europe, North and South America and emerging markets in the East.

– Email: matthew@namibian.com.na