Only one company has expressed interest in taking part in Namibia’s first consignment under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Policy analyst from the trade ministry, Vistorina Nghifenwa, confirmed this to The Brief.
The AfCFTA was launched by the African Union (AU) to create a single market for goods and services across Africa, aimed at boosting continental entrepreneurship by eliminating tariffs on most goods and services.
“So far, only one company has expressed interest in being part of the consignment, which is the Walvis Bay Salt Company. We have now approached the Namibia Trade Forum to generate more interest among local companies,” Nghifenwa told The Brief.
This comes after the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in February this year urged local businesses to participate in Namibia’s first consignment under the AfCFTA, which was initially planned to depart via the Walvis Bay port by road transport.
The Walvis Bay Salt Company, currently the only local participant, is Africa’s largest producer of natural solar sea salt. In May, the company inaugurated its new N$100 million salt warehouse at the Walvis Bay port.
Nghifenwa said Namibia is targeting West Africa as the destination for its first consignment, with the aim of expanding its footprint in markets where no trade agreements are currently in place.
“Apart from West Africa, we are also looking at the Southern African region, particularly the SADC,” she said.
She further revealed that the initial launch of the consignment into the continent, originally expected last year, was delayed due to the gazetting of the offer not being finalised.
“It was supposed to be completed on 20 December last year, but this was not achieved on time. After further consultations, we have now gazetted the offer and the consignment can depart — we just have to find a day,” she said.
Former Trade and Industry Minister Lucia Iipumbu previously said that Namibia would benefit from access to a large market of over 1.3 billion people through the agreement.
The country has spent the past four years since 2021 raising awareness about the significance of participating in the AfCFTA.
