Importers and exporters in Gauteng and Botswana can anticipate reduced transit times at competitive costs for cargo moving from or to Europe and the Americas. A memorandum of understanding was signed in Johannesburg last week between Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) and the transport company Grindrod. The latter was selected as the logistics partner to develop the Trans Kalahari Corridor, a freight route between Walvis Bay, Botswana and Gauteng in South Africa. This corridor will offer importers and exporters an alternative port to that of Durban. At a press briefing in Windhoek on Wednesday WBCG executive Frank Gschwender said that using this corridor could reduce transit times by more than four days.

Grindrod will perform the logistics management & marketing function supported by the WBCG for 5 years. "We offer a complete supply chain solution for customers: shipping lines, NamPort, TransNamib, road hauliers, clearing and forwarding agents", said Reinhardt Küsters of Grindrod Namibia. Fritz Kaufmann (Desert Logistix) was appointed general manager for logistics.

Sebby Kankondi chairman of the WBCG and MD of NamPort said that this agreement would benefit both parties in that Grindrod would bring increased volumes to the corridor and in turn would benefit from gaining exposure to a new market.

Mozambique’s Hydro Cahora Bassa company (HCB) has threatened to
suspend electricity supplies to Zimbabwe last week over debt arrears.
At the last moment, the Zimbabwe central bank intervened and a one-month grace period was given to settle its arrears. This follows electricity cuts from South Africa, which caused erratic power outages in Gauteng and Western Cape. Senior officials at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) intervened last Friday and offered to help ZESA to clear its debt to HCB. The RBZ apparently assured Mozambique that the US$ 6 million arrears would be paid in 30 days. Zimbabwe imports about 34.6% electricity from regional suppliers, most from HCB, about 26% of imported electricity. ZESA is also indebted to South Africa’s power supplier Eskom.