The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform is targeting the first quarter of 2027 to reopen the Oshakati abattoir after more than a decade of closure, with rehabilitation works and machinery assessments required before operations can resume.
Agriculture Minister Inge Zaamwani said the government had initially targeted the end of 2026 for the facility to become operational, but preliminary assessments indicate that extensive rehabilitation will make that deadline difficult to achieve.
“Initially, I thought we could have it operational by the end of the year, but it now looks almost impossible to have it up and running by then. However, by the first quarter of next year, it should be operational,” Zaamwani said.
The planned reopening is expected to support the Etunda feedlot, which is nearing completion and will have capacity for about 1,000 cattle.
“The importance of this facility is that we are now nearing completion of the construction of the Etunda feedlot, which will have a capacity of 1,000 cattle. Those cattle need to go somewhere for slaughter, and this is the facility where that should happen,” she said.
Zaamwani said the abattoir has been closed for more than 10 years and requires significant rehabilitation of its electrical, mechanical and machinery systems before slaughtering operations can restart.
A recent inspection by the Ministry found that while the interior of the facility remains in relatively better condition, equipment that has been idle for more than a decade will require further technical assessment.
The Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco), together with technical officials from the Ministry, is expected to conduct a detailed assessment of the abattoir next week to determine which equipment can be repaired or recommissioned and which machinery will need to be replaced.
The Ministry, Meatco and the Office of the Governor are expected to work jointly on the rehabilitation programme as the government seeks to accelerate the reopening of the facility.
However, Zaamwani warned that additional funding could be required, particularly if critical machinery needs to be replaced.
“We have some funding available at the Ministry at the moment, but it might not be sufficient. In particular, some of the critical machinery may need to be replaced,” she said.
She said the reopening timeline would ultimately depend on the availability of funding and the extent of rehabilitation identified through the technical assessment.
