The Port of Walvis Bay is located near trade shipping routes that traverse the Cape of Good Hope and provide cargo service connecting Asia with southern and western Africa as well as South America. As traffic volume increased, the state-owned Namibian Ports Authority (NAMPORT) embarked on a program to build a new container terminal that would increase throughput capacity from 355,000 TEU to 955,000 TEU.

Nathan undertook a comprehensive study of the competitiveness of Walvis Bay and its ability to attract international transshipment traffic and capture transit traffic for landlocked and other regional countries for which the port is a gateway. To develop traffic forecasts, we interviewed representatives of shipping lines, shippers, and transport service providers and conducted empirical econometric analysis of traffic trends and economic conditions.

As part of the financial feasibility analysis, we identified potential equity and debt financing sources, including public-private partnerships, with a detailed understanding of the determinants of future port traffic and associated risks. Our study entailed construction of a sophisticated financial model and a cost-benefit analysis of the expansion program.