Namibia Embarks on Transforming former Military bases into Commercial Airports
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IT is a well-known fact that for any country to boast of having a thriving tourism sector, such a nation need to have, not only the best infrastructure in place but should also be accessible by all. NDUBI MVULA was recently in Namibia to witness the inauguration of the passenger terminal building at former military base at Ondangwa airport in northern Namibia and now reports. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………“”WE are all aware that if we intend to meet our goal of becoming the logistics hub of Southern Africa, we will need to invest heavily in infrastructure.”
These are the words of Namibian President Dr. Hage Geingob who believes that a deficit in infrastructure is a serious constraint to our ambitions as it will limit the rate of economic growth
Dr. Geingob said his administration intends to make the country an efficient logistic hub for economic and tourism development in Southern Development Committee (SADC) region.
He said the export of minerals such as copper and coal and the importation of chemicals in the region has started in a number of countries hence the need for Namibia to develop its infrastructure.
The Namibian leader said this can only be achieved with the presence of good and efficient infrastructure like modernized airports.
Dr. Geingob was speaking in Osahana region when he officiated at the new terminal and ground breaking of the runway ceremony at Ondangwa Airport which previously was a military base.
The occasion attracted media personnel from Angola, Botswana, Zambia and the host nation.
Accompanied by his wife Monica said the terminal is expected to establish the new bench-mark of functional efficiency and operational safety for airports within Namibia.
Dr. Geingob said the modern facility valued at 7.3 million United States Dollars will open up the northern regions of the country by allowing larger aircraft to land.
He says the airport will have a significant and positive impact on commercial and tourist activities in the northern regions.
Dr. Geingob said the airport which used to be a military base will have a significant and positive impact on commercial and tourist activities in the northern region.
President Geingob has since challenged the Namibia Airport Company and the private sector to upgrade all airports in the country so that competes they provide service to the international community.
And Namibia Airport Company Chief Executive Officer Tamer El-Kallawi said the airport is envisaged to be more than an air transport gateway but a channel that will open opportunities to all Namibians.
Mr. El-Kallawi said NAC has embarked on upgrading all airports that were former military bases into international commercial airports.
In a rather similar development to his Namibian counterpart Dr. Geingob, recently, President Edgar Lungu gave directives that with immediate effect, the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Samora Machel Airbase situated in Mbala in the Northern Province which is home to vast tourist sites of the circuit start allowing commercial flights.
President Lungu said the move is aimed at boosting tourism and other economic activities in the region which since independence has had no proper commercial airport facility.
Mr. Lungu said modalities of how the civilian planes will be allowed access to Mbala ZAF Airbase were being looked into by the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Transport and already works to transform the base are underway.
And United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, recently said Africa had come of age as one of the world's fastest growing tourism regions, rising from 26 million international tourists in 2000 to 56 million in 2014 and contributing more than $ 36 billion to the African economy.
Dr. Rifai was speaking during the recent UNWTO Regional Conference on Enhancing Brand Africa - Fostering Tourism Development held in Accra, Ghana.
“Tourism's robust expansion in Africa has stimulated economic progress, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation, ultimately making a positive difference in the lives of millions of people," Dr. Rifai observed.
The three-day conference also saw Ghana President John Dramani Mahama
make an appealed to professional brand experts in Africa, to effectively package and promote the
tourists sites of the continent to the international world.He said marketing and media consultants need to change the negative perception that people have about the continent by painting a positive picture to the outside world.
President Mahama explained that the continent had over the years risen above the expected levels in all the aspects of growth and development and needed to use that as a bargaining chip for change.
As for Zambia, Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) Managing Director Robinson Misitala says over 90 percent of works have been completed at the Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport new terminal building.
Mr. Misitala said the new terminal building construction works are on course and are expected to be completed by end of September 2015 while the commission of the modern passenger terminal building will be October 2015 during the independence celebrations.
He expressed optimism that once the works are completed and commissioning done, the number of tourist arrivals will increase.
However, the tour of duty to the land of the sand dunes did not end up with infrastructure development. Namibia Airports Company Head of Corporate Communication Mia Davids took the visiting media team from Botswana and Zambia on a trip further north of the Ondangwa to spend the day with the OvaHimba people.These are
indigenous peoples with an estimated population of about 50,000 living in northern
Namibia, in the
Kunene region (formerly
Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in
Angola.
The OvaHimba are a
monotheistic people who worship the God
Mukuru, as well as their clan's ancestors (
ancestor reverence). Mukuru only blesses, while the ancestors can bless and curse.
The OvaHimba have been successful in maintaining their culture and traditional way of life, with their women and girls performing more labor-intensive work than men and boys do, such as carrying water to the village,
earthen plastering the
mopane wood homes with a traditional mixture of
red clay soil and cow
manure binding agent.
They do most of the household and family chores than their menfolk whose main task is preoccupied with tending to the
livestock farming,
herding where the men will often be away from the family home for extended periods,
animal slaughtering,
construction, and holding
council with village
headmen.
Members of a single extended family typically dwell in a
homestead (
onganda), a small family-village, consisting of a circular hamlet of huts and work shelters that surround an
okuruwo (
sacred ancestral fire) and a central enclosure (
kraal) for the
sacred livestock. Both the fire and the livestock are closely tied to their
veneration of the dead, the sacred fire representing ancestral protection and the sacred livestock allowing "proper relations between human and ancestor
Researchers have it that the OvaHimba history is fraught with disasters, including severe droughts and guerrilla warfare, especially during Namibia's war of independence and as a result of the civil war in neighboring
Angola.
Between 1904–1908, they suffered from the same attempt at genocide during the
Herero Wars conducted by the
German Empire colonist government in
German South-West Africa under
Lothar von Trotha that decimated notably the
Herero people and the
Nama people during the
Herero and Namaqua Genocide.
To crown it all, as Dr. Geingob stated in his speech, hisgovernment has a clear intention of turning Namibia into the logistics hub of the SADC region and make it a symbol of efficient service to all neighbouring countries in the region.Ends.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
IT is a well-known fact that for any country to boast of having a thriving tourism sector, such a nation need to have, not only the best infrastructure in place but should also be accessible by all. NDUBI MVULA was recently in Namibia to witness the inauguration of the passenger terminal building at former military base at Ondangwa airport in northern Namibia and now reports. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………“”WE are all aware that if we intend to meet our goal of becoming the logistics hub of Southern Africa, we will need to invest heavily in infrastructure.”
These are the words of Namibian President Dr. Hage Geingob who believes that a deficit in infrastructure is a serious constraint to our ambitions as it will limit the rate of economic growth
Dr. Geingob said his administration intends to make the country an efficient logistic hub for economic and tourism development in Southern Development Committee (SADC) region.
He said the export of minerals such as copper and coal and the importation of chemicals in the region has started in a number of countries hence the need for Namibia to develop its infrastructure.
The Namibian leader said this can only be achieved with the presence of good and efficient infrastructure like modernized airports.
Dr. Geingob was speaking in Osahana region when he officiated at the new terminal and ground breaking of the runway ceremony at Ondangwa Airport which previously was a military base.
The occasion attracted media personnel from Angola, Botswana, Zambia and the host nation.
Accompanied by his wife Monica said the terminal is expected to establish the new bench-mark of functional efficiency and operational safety for airports within Namibia.
Dr. Geingob said the modern facility valued at 7.3 million United States Dollars will open up the northern regions of the country by allowing larger aircraft to land.
He says the airport will have a significant and positive impact on commercial and tourist activities in the northern regions.
Dr. Geingob said the airport which used to be a military base will have a significant and positive impact on commercial and tourist activities in the northern region.
President Geingob has since challenged the Namibia Airport Company and the private sector to upgrade all airports in the country so that competes they provide service to the international community.
And Namibia Airport Company Chief Executive Officer Tamer El-Kallawi said the airport is envisaged to be more than an air transport gateway but a channel that will open opportunities to all Namibians.
Mr. El-Kallawi said NAC has embarked on upgrading all airports that were former military bases into international commercial airports.
In a rather similar development to his Namibian counterpart Dr. Geingob, recently, President Edgar Lungu gave directives that with immediate effect, the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Samora Machel Airbase situated in Mbala in the Northern Province which is home to vast tourist sites of the circuit start allowing commercial flights.
President Lungu said the move is aimed at boosting tourism and other economic activities in the region which since independence has had no proper commercial airport facility.
Mr. Lungu said modalities of how the civilian planes will be allowed access to Mbala ZAF Airbase were being looked into by the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Transport and already works to transform the base are underway.
And United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai, recently said Africa had come of age as one of the world's fastest growing tourism regions, rising from 26 million international tourists in 2000 to 56 million in 2014 and contributing more than $ 36 billion to the African economy.
Dr. Rifai was speaking during the recent UNWTO Regional Conference on Enhancing Brand Africa - Fostering Tourism Development held in Accra, Ghana.
“Tourism's robust expansion in Africa has stimulated economic progress, poverty alleviation and environmental conservation, ultimately making a positive difference in the lives of millions of people," Dr. Rifai observed.
The three-day conference also saw Ghana President John Dramani Mahama
make an appealed to professional brand experts in Africa, to effectively package and promote the
tourists sites of the continent to the international world.He said marketing and media consultants need to change the negative perception that people have about the continent by painting a positive picture to the outside world.
President Mahama explained that the continent had over the years risen above the expected levels in all the aspects of growth and development and needed to use that as a bargaining chip for change.
As for Zambia, Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL) Managing Director Robinson Misitala says over 90 percent of works have been completed at the Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport new terminal building.
Mr. Misitala said the new terminal building construction works are on course and are expected to be completed by end of September 2015 while the commission of the modern passenger terminal building will be October 2015 during the independence celebrations.
He expressed optimism that once the works are completed and commissioning done, the number of tourist arrivals will increase.
However, the tour of duty to the land of the sand dunes did not end up with infrastructure development. Namibia Airports Company Head of Corporate Communication Mia Davids took the visiting media team from Botswana and Zambia on a trip further north of the Ondangwa to spend the day with the OvaHimba people.These are
indigenous peoples with an estimated population of about 50,000 living in northern
Namibia, in the
Kunene region (formerly
Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in
Angola.
The OvaHimba are a
monotheistic people who worship the God
Mukuru, as well as their clan's ancestors (
ancestor reverence). Mukuru only blesses, while the ancestors can bless and curse.
The OvaHimba have been successful in maintaining their culture and traditional way of life, with their women and girls performing more labor-intensive work than men and boys do, such as carrying water to the village,
earthen plastering the
mopane wood homes with a traditional mixture of
red clay soil and cow
manure binding agent.
They do most of the household and family chores than their menfolk whose main task is preoccupied with tending to the
livestock farming,
herding where the men will often be away from the family home for extended periods,
animal slaughtering,
construction, and holding
council with village
headmen.
Members of a single extended family typically dwell in a
homestead (
onganda), a small family-village, consisting of a circular hamlet of huts and work shelters that surround an
okuruwo (
sacred ancestral fire) and a central enclosure (
kraal) for the
sacred livestock. Both the fire and the livestock are closely tied to their
veneration of the dead, the sacred fire representing ancestral protection and the sacred livestock allowing "proper relations between human and ancestor
Researchers have it that the OvaHimba history is fraught with disasters, including severe droughts and guerrilla warfare, especially during Namibia's war of independence and as a result of the civil war in neighboring
Angola.
Between 1904–1908, they suffered from the same attempt at genocide during the
Herero Wars conducted by the
German Empire colonist government in
German South-West Africa under
Lothar von Trotha that decimated notably the
Herero people and the
Nama people during the
Herero and Namaqua Genocide.
To crown it all, as Dr. Geingob stated in his speech, hisgovernment has a clear intention of turning Namibia into the logistics hub of the SADC region and make it a symbol of efficient service to all neighbouring countries in the region.Ends.