LONDON – TransNamib Holdings and Hong Kong-based Global Collieries has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the national carrier to transport five million tonnes of iron ore per year from a site around Windhoek to Walvis Bay.
TransNamib chief executive officer Titus Imbili and Simon Hicks, director of Global Collieries South Africa, signed the deal in London last Thursday on behalf of their companies.The deal was signed at the Royal Commonwealth Society Hall in London, United Kingdom, where a two-day Africa Business Forum took place.Hicks told Nampa afterwards that his company wants to set up an iron ore project, and would like TransNamib to transport the products to Walvis Bay for export to South Africa.He said the name of the mine would be announced at a later stage, but it is within the surroundings of Windhoek.Imbili said the deal will add more volume to the declining rail freight sector in the country.’One of the challenges TransNamib is facing now is the low domestic freight density of two million metric tonnes per year, which declined from five million over the past years,’ he said.With this deal, the domestic density of freight will now increase to seven million per annum.Rail freight has declined tremendously due to some segment of the market currently using road transport.About 80 per cent of TransNamib’s revenue comes from freight on rail, and 20 per cent on road and passenger rail.TransNamib has an asset base of N$1,2 billion, and its turnover per annum goes up to N$ 560 million. – Nampa
