Dangote's pipeline puts transporters in focus
The proposed 1 700 kilometre (km) fuel pipeline by Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote puts the structure of Namibia’s fuel haulage industry in focus, with the infrastructure designed to move petroleum products in bulk between Walvis Bay and inland distribution points.
Pipelines transport large volumes of fuel between terminals and storage facilities, while tanker trucks deliver products to filling stations, mines, farms and industrial customers.
The proposed network could therefore change the role of road transport in bulk fuel movements without eliminating the need for trucking across the wider distribution chain.
For haulage operators, the key issue is how transport will be divided between pipeline infrastructure and road-based delivery. The extent of any change will depend on the final route, the location of inland depots and the volumes transported through the network.
The project was launched by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at Walvis Bay on Wednesday as part of Dangote’s proposed US$2.5 billion petroleum storage and distribution investment.
The regional pipeline is planned to extend inland towards Otjiwarongo, with connections towards Rundu and Ghanzi and Francistown in Botswana. The wider network is intended to serve Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dangote said the final route and length would depend on engineering studies, route surveys and regulatory approvals.
He said the pipeline was intended to improve access to petroleum products in landlocked markets.
“When we invest in the pipeline, it's not that we just want to make money out of the pipeline… most of the landlocked countries will be able to access petroleum products at a cheaper price,” he said.
He added: “Your petroleum prices will be much, much cheaper than what they are today.”
The project also includes a proposed tank farm at Farm 58 with storage capacity of 600 million litres, comprising 360 million litres of diesel and 240 million litres of petrol.
A separate pipeline of approximately 16km is planned to connect the fuel jetty to the storage facility.
The infrastructure would add a pipeline-based bulk transport option to the existing fuel distribution system. However, no details were provided on the volumes expected to move through the network, the number and location of inland distribution depots, or how transport contracts would be structured.
Those details will determine the extent to which the network changes demand for long-distance fuel haulage and the opportunities available to local transport companies.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said Namibian businesses and workers should be prioritised in the project's implementation.
“In executing this project while priority should be given to Namibians, the second space should look into Africans so that together we can support one another,” she said.
No specific procurement targets or transport contract arrangements were announced, leaving the extent of local business participation to be established as the project progresses.
