The Construction Industries Federation of Namibia (CIF) has called for the Ohorongo-Cheetah cement merger to be withdrawn, warning it threatens competition and local contractors.
The call follows industries, mines and energy minister Modestus Amutse’s decision earlier this month to overturn the Namibia Competition Commission’s (NaCC) ruling blocking the transaction.
Whale Rock, which owns Cheetah Cement, applied to buy all shares of Schwenk Namibia, which owns Ohorongo Cement, last February.
The federation argues that the approved transaction could drive up cement prices, threaten supply security, hurt local contractors and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and negatively affect the broader construction value chain.
Published in Government Gazette notice No 229 of 2026, the decision allows the merger to proceed subject to conditions aimed at preventing job losses, preserving local production and limiting market dominance.
Amutse directed that no jobs be lost as a result of the merger and that the Cheetah Cement plant must remain operational, with options explored to keep it productive.
He also ordered the merged entity to increase local ownership to at least 40% and instructed the NaCC to monitor the company to prevent abuse of a dominant market position.
However, CIF chief executive Bärbel Kirchner says the conditions fail to address key concerns, including cement price monitoring, fair market access, protection against discriminatory pricing, safeguards for SMEs, local procurement obligations, import competition, reporting requirements, implementation timelines and penalties for non-compliance.
“Namibia cannot afford a cement market structure that weakens competition and then relies only on monitoring after the damage may already have occurred,” Kirchner says.
The federation wants the approval withdrawn and implementation of the merger suspended pending broader stakeholder consultation and a comprehensive assessment of its competition and public-interest implications.
NaCC spokesperson Dina
//Gowases says the minister acted within his legal mandate and rejects suggestions of conflict between the ministry and the commission.
“We do not see it as a conflict. The minister is exercising his mandate. We regulate the industry while the minister has oversight over some of our regulatory functions and reviews our determinations,” she says.
The merger has also been opposed by the Otavi Cement Group, which argues it would significantly increase market concentration and create a dominant market position to the detriment of consumers, the construction sector and the wider Namibian economy.
The group says it will continue to pursue all lawful avenues available to protect fair competition and to ensure that the provisions of the Namibian Competition Act 2 of 2003, are applied consistently, fairly and in accordance with due process.
The group adds that the NaCC was correct in prohibiting the proposed merger, as the transaction would, in its view, create an obvious monopoly in Namibia’s cement industry and substantially lessen competition.
