Namibia opens Chinese-built port terminal

WINDHOEK, Aug 04 (AFP): Namibia has inaugurated a new Chinese-built port terminal which doubles its container capacity and is also to give tourism a boost.

The 40-hectare platform reclaimed from the sea at Walvis Bay, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) west of Windhoek, is to become a strategic gateway to emerging markets of southern and west Africa.

The terminal was built by state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company with funds from the Namibian government and the African Development Bank.

The cost of the installation is 4.2 billion rand (around $280 million).

"The completion of the container terminal expansion puts us on a firm trajectory towards realising our dream of transforming Namibia into an international logistics hub," President Hage Geingob said at Friday's inauguration ceremony.