Bisey Uirab to bid Namport farewell

The Chief Executive Officer of Namport, Mr Bisey Uirab’s contract is expiring with the ports authority in the matter of the next few months and will not be renewed. Mr Uirab bids farewell and leaves an exemplary legacy of ten years at the helm of Namport.

The Board of Directors of Namport issued a statement over the weekend in which they highlighted Mr /Uirab’s achievements the past ten years. Namport saw unprecedented growth the past decades and Mr /Uirab steered the port authority through a period of mega projects such as the container terminal on reclaimed land. The full extract of the statement reads as follows: “The Board of the Namibian Ports Authority wishes to announce, that the term of office of the Namport CEO, Mr Bisey /Uirab, is coming to an end in the next few months.
Over the past ten years, the Board evaluated the performance of Mr /Uirab as agreed upon and monitored his leadership role, in achieving the overall strategy of Namport.

It is with great pride that we reflect on a successful ten years during which Mr /Uirab diligently steered the Authority from a fairly medium sized Public Enterprise into the regionally acclaimed logistics and maritime industry leader which it has transformed into. Since his appointment on 9 April 2009, under his leadership and alongside his executive team, and close engagements with the successive boards, the following significant milestones were achieved, during the past ten years:
Strategy development and Execution: a rolling five year strategic plan was developed and approved by the Board. The Plan is aligned to the ideals of Vision 2030 and NDP5, focusing on infrastructure development and the logistics sectors. A number of projects have been identified as key to the achievement of the over-arching purpose of Namport. The Board is satisfied with the progress made in achieving these strategic objectives.
Leadership style: He has built a formidable team that worked with him to raise the profile of Namport within and beyond Namibia’s borders. He has specifically focused on capacity building of his team members, and young Namibians, specifically focusing on advanced training in the maritime industry.
Stakeholder Engagement: Mr /Uirab interacts effectively with various stake-holders, in sharing the vision and mission of Namport and communicating important information with these role players. The Board values the fact that Mr /Uirab has a mature understanding of the role of the political and economic environment in which Namport operates, as well as the role of Namport in achieving the National Development Priorities.
Business and financial performance: The port operates in a complex and highly competitive environment. Under the leadership of Mr /Uirab, Namport has delivered relatively good results and revenue increased from N$434 million in 2008 to N$1 billion in 2018. Total cargo tonnage handled through the port increased from 4.6 million (2008) to 5.3 million in 2018. The balance sheet grew from N$ 2.6 billion to N$ 7.2 billion as at the 31st of March 2018.
New Container Terminal: Mr Uirab was intimately involved in the planning, execution and strategically guiding the implementation of this project. Upon completion, this asset will add a total of N$4.3 billion to the asset base of the Authority and will see the annual throughput capacity increase threefold from the current 350 000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) to 1 050 000 TEU’s’.
Localization and empowerment: The Port local procurement empowerment and capacitation strategy that has seen the Authority localise a majority of its procurement requirements gained significant impetus during his tenure as the CEO. Namport now boasts of acquiring an average of 80% of its total goods and services from Namibian registered and owned companies, thanks to the localisation drive, while Small to Medium Enterprises now constitute meaningful role players in the overall Authority’s supplier complement.
Marginalised community employment: The Port has embarked on employment schemes which specifically targeted members of the marginalised communities as well as the Children of the Liberation Struggle, for training and employment by Namport, with the ultimate view to put them in a strong stead to plough back into their own communities. Over forty (40) young people from these vulnerable communities were specifically employed though a specially designed program.
Corporate Social Investment: Key under his stewardship were the initiatives to invest in vulnerable and deserving communities to the tune of N$ 25 million through the Namport Social Investment Fund. Namport has further awarded bursaries to underprivileged and deserving students for studies both locally and abroad with the specific brief to enable these beneficiaries to take both Namport and the country forward.
Long term infrastructure development: Propagated the North Port develop-ment in Walvis Bay, effectively paving the way for Namibia to build one of the biggest bulk handling facilities in the whole of Africa.
Branding: Increased Namport’s profile in the domestic and international markets by working closely with the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and setting up the Walvis Bay Corridor group representative offices in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Brazil.
On behalf of the Board, management and staff of Namport, we would like to wish Mr /Uirab every success with his future endeavours.
The Board has commenced with the recruitment process for a new CEO and the call for applications will be placed in the media soon.”