The Online Guide to the Namibian Economy

Transport

With its two ports, excellent roads and strategic location, Namibia is seeking to position itself as a gateway to Southern Africa. There is a thriving private transport sector, especially in road and air and to a limited extent in rail, but public enterprises play a key role in determining the overall performance of the sector.

Ministry of Works and Transport and Other Public Agencies

The Ministry of Works and Transport is the key policy-making institution for the industry headed by the Minister of Works and Transport, since March 2025 the Honourable Veikko Nekundi. Transport is the responsibility of the Department of Transport which covers transport by road, rail, air and sea. There is no explicit transport policy. Government commercial public enterprises play a vital role in delivering transport services. The Road Fund Administration and the Roads Authority are public enterprises that raise funding for roads through the Road User Charging System (RUCS) and plan and build the country’s trunk road network. Namibia regularly comes top in Africa for the quality of its roads. The Namibia Port Authority (Namport) is the commercial public enterprise which owns and operates Namibia’s two ports at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz. Namport has a 25-year contract with MSC-owned Terminal Investment Limited to operate its container terminal. The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) is the commercial public enterprise which owns and operates Namibia’s eight airports: Hosea Kutako International Airport, Eros, Katima Mulilo, Keetmanshoop, Lüderitz, Ondangwa (Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport), Rundu and Walvis Bay International airport. TransNamib is the commercial public enterprise which runs Namibia’s railway network transporting bulk, break bulk and containerised commodities using its aged fleet of GE diesel locomotives. The Walvis Bay Corridor Group resides under the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and promotes the use of Walvis Bay as an entry and exit point on trade corridors to Namibia’s land-locked neighbours.

Transport network and average daily traffic

Private Sector

Namibia has a competitive private road haulage industry including companies such as FP du Toit, Coleman Transport, and Blaauws Transport and Unitrans. South African-Namibian PektraNam Logistics with TradePort transports manganese on the Namibian rail network between the Northern Cape in South Africa and Lüderitz. FlyNamibia is a private airline owned 40% by South Africa’s Airlink, which operates domestic routes from Eros airport in Windhoek to and from Ondangwa, Katima Mulilo, Lüderitz and Oranjemund as well as international routes to and from Cape Town and Victoria Falls. There is a Namibia Logistics Association which represents the logistics industry and the Namibia Transporters Association (NATA) which represent road haulage operators.