MSC’s Africa Global Logistics Sees $43 Million Spend in Namibia

(Bloomberg) —

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA’s Africa logistics unit will invest as much as €40 million ($43 million) in Namibia by 2030 to benefit from growing oil, gas and renewable energy developments.

Africa Global Logistics is already building a warehouse facility in Walvis Bay and plans to invest south of the port in Luderitz, Koen Rombouts, AGL’s managing director for the southern African corridor, said in an interview last week. 

The moves support crude exploration activity as well as the import of wind turbines and other renewable energy equipment, Rombouts said.

AGL also plans an energy unit “which will focus on delivering oil and gas services” in Namibia, where TotalEnergies SE and Shell Plc are among explorers that have made oil discoveries, according to Rombouts. “Ports are a catalyst to economic development and a catalyst to trade.”

Southern African ports have drawn investment interest due to the export of natural resources including critical minerals, along with economic growth because of the continent’s mounting population.

Declining performance by South Africa’s Transnet SOC Ltd., the state-owned logistics firm that dominated the region, has also attracted such companies. Transnet rail volumes have dropped by more than a third since 2018, according to the company.

Because of Transnet’s logistical challenges, “it creates opportunities for people like ourselves,” said Rombouts. AGL would consider a partnership on the rail corridor running from Durban to Johannesburg, he said. 

AGL also runs a terminal at Angola’s Lobito port, where copper and other critical minerals from the region are exported.  

“You have the west and the east looking for the same minerals,” he said. “We will provide solutions in all the ports so we can play everywhere strategically important.”

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

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