Namibia SMEs Need Development Before Thinking About Africa

By:Fransina Nghidengwa, Hertha Ekandjo
Dinapama’s Managing Director David Namalenga says that Namibian SMEs first need to be developed locally in order for them to be ready for the African market.
This comes as Trade Minister Lucia Ipumbu, during the General Assembly of the World Trade Centers Association in Accra Ghana, announced that Namibia has various sectors that are keen and well-positioned to supply niche products to the African market.
According to Namalenga, however, in order for local businesses to reach the exporting level they need to have a capacity to produce more.
Namalenga added that he does not know of any industries that are pushing to have access to the African market.
“The development of the industry should be local based. They need to develop the industry first to get it ready to go out there,” he said.
He also said that the industry is not growing because it needs to be exposed to activities and work at home.
“When you go out there you must be able to have a capacity to supply outside,” he said.
Namalenga further questioned why Namibian SMEs’s need to export their products while it is already difficult to get their products onto the local shelves.
“We need to practice it locally to grow the capacity in order to take it outside,” he said.
Furthermore, Namalenga said that Dinapama has a project which allows them to find out if the internal capacity can be allowed so that the industry can grow.
“By 2024, we will be able to go out there to the market from July onwards and be able to push our products out there,” said Namalenga.
Last year Namibia launched its The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) strategy for Namibians to take advantage of the 1.3 billion Africans with a combined GPD of US$2.5 trillion market.
Director of Basecamp Business Incubator, Jesaya Hano-Oshike is of the view that Namibia can develop or add value to its products to make it suitable for the African market.
According to him, SMEs just need to be provided a suitable environment to help them succeed.
“I think the particular SMEs need to be provided with the right environment to succeed in terms of knowledge to produce and funding by initiatives,” he said.
He said the government also needs to open up its procurements instead of always importing goods.
“The government should open up its procurements rather than importing goods from other countries so we can have a self-based market. We need to see first if we can buy from our own SMEs so we can help them set up a base,” he said.
Moreover, he said that Namibia needs the facilities to produce products to be able to export to other countries.
“If we can have a market in Ghana then I do believe there is enough finance in the country to enable the SMEs to be able to produce,” he said.
The Trade Minister Lucia Iipumbu this week said Namibia is ready and open for business and in the pursuit to attract tangible investments and that the government is deliberate in ensuring a conducive investment climate, which is supported by progressive regulatory and policy frameworks.
Iipumbu further said that as a country endowed with an abundance of natural resources, Namibia offers lucrative investment opportunities in key sectors including mining, tourism, agriculture, blue economy, and energy as well as services amongst others.
Equally, she said Namibia produces high-value fruits such as table grapes, dates, blueberries, and pomegranates, which are currently exported to Europe, the Middle East and other markets. However, it is government’s wish for the products to find market space within the African continent as part of giving effect to trading under the AfCFTA.
“As a country, we are implementing the Growth at Home Strategy, aimed at attaining Namibia’s industrialisation agenda through investment in key niche sectors and manufacturing,” she said.
She added that Namibia has a variety of natural resources, including diamonds, uranium, copper, gold, zinc, lead, tin, silver, and sea salt.
Iipumbu added that to reap the benefits of an integrated continent, much needs to be done to improve or develop interconnected roads, shipping lines, and rail networks, enhanced communication and energy infrastructure, and make financing instruments easily available to aspiring entrepreneurs, especially for the young graduates, and women in business.
She said Namibia looks forward to increasing its bilateral trade with Ghana and the rest of Africa.
Meanwhile, Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board Chief Executive Officer Nangula Uaandja says that Namibia has unacceptable poverty levels hence she said, they are looking at diversifying the economy and looking at various partners for this.
She said Namibia hopes to add more value to goods to trade more complex goods.