By: Lina Amutenya
The number of wood charcoal producers had increased from 350 in 2014 to 1082 at the end of 2020, the industrialisation and trade ministry (MIT) has revealed.
The ministry constructed a charcoal production factory at Witvlei and, together with the University of Namibia (Unam), the University of Finland, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), completed the construction of the Biomass Charcoal Factory earlier this year at Otjiwarongo, Otjozondjupa Region.
MIT says it has mobilised regional councils and regional development committees to decentralise its development programs, including policies and strategies to ensure implementation through mentorship and business support services.
“The ministry’s engagement effort is therefore extended to all who are considering investing in the wood charcoal industry and equally all other growth sectors,” MIT stated.
Namibia is in phase two of the implementation of the Growth at Home strategy, which is the theme chosen by the ministry to reinforce the importance of accelerating economic growth, reducing income inequality, and increasing employment.
According to the ministry, Growth at Home places greater emphasis on the significance of industrialisation by strengthening national value chains and creating more efficient linkages within the economy, improvements in the ease of doing business, and ongoing engagement of collaboration between the government and private sector.
“The main focus under this strategic area will be creating conditions that will boost Namibian exports, as well as the capacity of Namibian firms to supply and export at a competitive level. Export markets at the end of 2020 for wood charcoal were South Africa, Japan, and Pakistan, and there have been efforts to access the Turkish market.”
The Growth further provides a road map for the execution of Namibia’s Industrial Policy in the context of Vision 2030 and the National Development Plan (NDP4). It focuses on three Strategic Intervention Areas, namely supporting value addition, upgrading, and diversification for sustained growth, Securing market access at home and abroad, and improving the investment climate and conditions.
The ministry says the interventions are aimed at supporting value addition and will stimulate the development of local industries by utilising the potential of local procurement measures and by generating synergies between local producers and large retailers.
“Among the challenges identified in the Wood Charcoal Industry during the implementation of phase one of the strategy was that it is capital intensive for some farmers to venture in, and farmers and interested producers or investors require information on factors such as the standards for wood charcoal required for export, transport and lack of research and development,” the ministry noted.
The need for charcoal production factories was also identified in strategic areas such as Omaheke, Otjozondjupa, and Oshikoto regions are the invader bush is predominant and thus yields high volumes of charcoal, says the ministry.
