WBCG partners Bak Logistics

NDAMU SANDU

The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) has entered into a strategic partnership with Bak Logistics in which the two parties seek to drive volumes on the import and export of goods from Zimbabwe via the Namibian port.

The partnership comes as the WBCG has been on a marketing drive to lure local firms to use the port of Walvis Bay.

It comes after WBCG found it “not necessary” to set up a local office in Zimbabwe like what they did in Johannesburg, Lubumbashi, Zambia and Brazil, according to CEO Mbahupu Hippy Tjivikua.

“We are forming a strategic partnership where they [Bak Logistics] become our face in Zimbabwe and we become their face in Namibia. We complement one another. We will share information and probably increase our market share and also ensure that we create efficiencies in the supply chain,” Tjivikua told Business Times this week.

“We are looking at what commodities can be exported out of Zimbabwe and what can be imported into Zimbabwe. When we have that kind of balance of trade and also economies of scale then we can have advantages.”

He said the partners want to increase imports and exports of products from Zimbabwe via Walvis Bay, which is a more “safer and secure corridor” where there are no hijackings and theft of cargo.

Tjivikua said Walvis Bay has an edge over other ports in terms of weather conditions, as it does not experience flooding.

Joshua Mukarati, head of Supply Chain at Bak Logistics, said the parties are working on getting the costs down on the 2300km Harare to Walvis Bay route.

He said a good rate would be realised if “we have enough cargo to export to Europe or Asia through Walvis corridor and we can also have enough imports that comes through Walvis corridor vice versa”.

Mukarati said Zimbabwe exports about 250m kg of tobacco and the partners believe getting half of that through Walvis Bay would be a game changer in terms of bringing the rates down.

“You can tie the same period with imports of fertiliser because export of tobacco is between August and February; the same is when Zimbabwe will also be importing fertiliser,” he said.

“We have also been in touch with the big fertiliser companies. They are warming to the idea. We have also had discussions with tobacco companies; they are also warming up to the idea. After all has been done, then we can say the rate is this much.”

Mukarati said Walvis Bay has all the ingredients of a good port—efficiency and no country risk—but lacks import and export volumes.

Karen Williams, commercial manager logistics at Bak said for the horticulture industry, the critical part was to get the products to the markets in the shortest possible times and there are no delays at Walvis Bay.

Mukarati said Zimbabwe has enough transporters to carry the goods to and from Namibia.

Tjivikua said the Walvis Bay is more secure and cost effective trucks do not need escorts when moving in Namibia with copper or tobacco.

“If you go to South Africa, the vessels are waiting for wheat to dock. That is a cost. At the port of Walvis we don’t have that. Those are some of the benefits,” he said.

Tjivikua said the WBCG is lobbying governments to have rail interconnectivity in the region to enjoy economies of scale and bring the costs down.

It doesn’t have to be the governments to make the investments; they must create an enabling environment, he said.

“The private sector can be mobilised to do a business case with member states. Then they do the railway development, upgrade or rehabilitation in operations and hand it over to the States maybe after 30 years. It covers Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia,” Tjivikua said.

The WBCG-Bak Logistics partnership was born out of a “good meeting” held by the two parties in early 2020, according to Irvaan Maharaj, WBCG development manager for South Africa.

“We actually developed a very good relationship. So we are part of the group; we do business together where we work with the right partner in Zimbabwe, specifically logistics companies,” Maharaj told Business Times.

He said WBCG is a corridor management institution, which markets the port of Walvis Bay.

“In order for us to market the port of Walvis Bay, we need to have the right partnerships who have the assets, own warehouses, who have the right infrastructure to assist us with the transport of commodities between Namibia and Zimbabwe. So this is how we have formulated the strategic partnership with Bak Logistics,” Maharaj said.

The partnership between WBCG and Bak Logistics, a unit of listed TSL Limited, has been informal, and the two parties will sign later this month, Tjivikua said.

During the course of the informal partnership, the parties benefitted from client referrals.

“Our main aim is marketing the port and fixing the logistics corridor from the port along the trans Kalahari corridor connecting Zimbabwe.  The plan is to have Bak Logistics enjoy support from all WBCG offices in Brazil, Namibia, Zambia, DRC and Johannesburg,” Maharaj said.

Under the partnership Bak assists WBCG with marketing and business development activities in Zimbabwe. In return, WBCG markets the Bak Logistics to “our Namibian logistics community”.