Editing Walvis Bay (section)

== Transport ==

[[File:Flughafen Walfish Bay Luftaufnahme.jpg|right|thumb|[[Walvis Bay Airport|Walvis Bay International Airport]]]]

Walvis Bay is an important logistical port for the southern African region, providing port facilities for the import and export of cargo for the rest of Namibia, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Botswana. Since the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) was established in 2000, cargo moving through the port has increased from 30,000 [[intermodal container|containers]] a year to 370,000 containers in 2016.  As of 2017 the port was being upgraded to increase its capacity to move 1 million containers a year by 2019.  Bureaucratic and logistical problems at the city's competitor port at [[Durban]], South Africa have diverted traffic to the port at Walvis Bay. Ninety-five percent of all cargo hauled overland through Walvis Bay is carried by truck.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/is-this-country-the-new-commercial-gateway-to-southern-africa/80696|title=Is This Country the New Commercial Gateway to Southern Africa?|last=Dall|first=Nick|work=OZY|date=6 September 2017|access-date=2017-09-06|language=en|archive-date=8 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808035717/https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/is-this-country-the-new-commercial-gateway-to-southern-africa/80696|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Walvis Bay Corridor Group is gearing up to increase import/export-business opportunities in Namibia. The Namibian National Development Plan expects to complete the expansion programme of the Walvis Bay port by 2019. Because of the harbour's geographical positioning, authorities plan to gain a footprint in providing landlocked Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries with a vital logistical hub.<ref name=Larkin/> In addition to the importance of the port, development would strengthen trade corridors which consists of current road and rail networks.<ref name=Larkin>{{cite news |title=Walvis Bay aims to become hub for SADC import/export |first=Philippa |last=Larkin |url= https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/companies/walvis-bay-aims-to-become-hub-for-sadc-importexport-8322681 |newspaper=Business Report |date=24 March 2017 |access-date=29 July 2018}}</ref>

In an attempt to strengthen and enhance trade relations between other African countries, Namport (the Namibian Port Authority) in April 2019 signed a five-year MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Port Authority of Dakar, Senegal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neweralive.na/posts/namport-and-port-of-dakar-sign-mou|title = Namport and port of Dakar sign MoU| date=23 April 2019 }}</ref>

[[Walvis Bay Airport|Walvis Bay International Airport]] provides commercial flight services to the city's residents, as well as to neighbouring towns and villages. [[Airlink]] services flights between South Africa and Walvis Bay.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flyairlink.com/routemap/WVB|title=Flights to Walvis Bay &#124; Flyairlink}}</ref>

In August 2019, a new container terminal was opened, built on a 40-acre platform reclaimed from the sea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Container Terminal - Namibian Ports Authority |url=https://www.namport.com.na/port-engineering/container-terminal/592/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=www.namport.com.na}}</ref> The terminal was built by the state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company with funds from the Namibian government and the African Development Bank, costing N$4.2b.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Port of Walvis Bay's New Container Terminal |url=https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/port-walvis-bays-new-container-terminal/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Ship Technology |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

This increases the capacity of the port to 750,000 containers per year from 350,000. The terminal also includes a dedicated cruise liner berth.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/2163093/namibia-inaugurates-r4-2bn-chinese-built-port-terminal/|title=Namibia inaugurates R4.2bn Chinese-built port terminal|last=AFP|website=The Citizen|date=3 August 2019|language=en|access-date=2019-08-06}}</ref>