Find Freight, Shipping and Logistics expertise in Namibia

Freight and carriage of goods and cargo takes place to, from and within Namibia via air, land and sea.

The CIA estimates that in 2011, Namibia’s imports of foodstuffs, petroleum products and fuel, machinery and equipment and chemicals from South Africa, EU and China were worth an estimated $5.345 billion (2011). Exports of diamonds, copper, gold, zinc, lead, uranium; cattle, processed fish and karakul skins to South Africa, UK and Angola were worth $4.393 billion (2011).

Both the road and rail networks are well maintained. There are over 2,600km of railway in the country and over 64,100km of roadway of which the majority is unpaved. TransNamib is a government parastatal which is responsible for running road and rail freight as well as its infrastructure and development.

Walvis Bay is the main port in the country and is an important link for the region in terms of imports and exports for Namibia’s landlocked neighbours. The port provides a full range of auxiliary services and facilities and logistics for cargo, container shipping, clearing, forwarding, ship registry and stevedoring. Approximately 3,000 vessels use Walvis Bay Port every year and it handles 5 million tonnes of cargo per annum. The second Port of Lüderitz is a key link for southern Namibia and South Africa’s Northern Cape. The Namibian Ports Authority oversees all activity at the country’s ports and is also responsible for a dry dock facility called Syncrolift which can lift vessels of up to 2000 tonnes to be repaired. It also has two floating docks with a combined lifting capacity of 16,000 tonnes. In terms of merchant marine vessels, Namibia has one cargo ship.

Of the country’s 112 airports, most airfreight traffic goes through Windhoek International Airport which is one of Namibia’s 19 airports with a paved runway and has a range of cargo handling facilities.

The World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) scores countries on various aspects involved with shipping and logistics on a scale of one to five with five being the highest. Namibia scored 2.65 (2012) placing it above the regional average for sub-Saharan Africa (2.46) but below the average for the upper middle income group (2.84) and in 89^th place out of 155 countries.

A range of freight forwarding and customs clearance services is available with global leaders DHL, Fedex, TNT and UPS (represented by Transworld Cargo (Pty) Ltd) operating in the country along with many other firms. The Namibia Logistics Association (NLA), launched in 2009 to improve industry performance and shape public policies affecting the sector, is the sector body.

The World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) scores countries on various aspects involved with shipping and logistics on a scale of one to five with five being the highest. Namibia ranks in the top 100 out of 155 countries in customs (54^th), tracking (67^th), infrastructure (69^th) and logistics (88^th). It comes lower down in infrastructure, shipment (114^th), and timeliness (144^th).