Katima rebrands expo, cancels 2017 event

Katima Mulilo has cancelled this year’s Town Council Zambezi Bream and Cultural Expo to allow time for rebranding it to the Katima Mulilo Trade Fair.

The council took over the running of the expo from farmers in 2012.

Pasval Elijah, the Katima Mulilo public relations officer, told The Namibian yesterday that some stakeholders believe the expo was not inclusive.

“Due to the takeover, the Katima Mulilo Trade Fair was faced with many challenges namely that of identifying stakeholders to the event and more consultations were undertaken which could not be completed and are still ongoing. It is therefore based on these reasons; the trade fair could not take place hence its postponement.”

Elijah said the event would be back next year under the management of an independent committee.

She said the new committee would decide on who would participate.

Benjamin Limbo, the chairperson of the Zambezi business forum who spoke to The Namibian yesterday, said he is very disappointed over the fact that the Zambezi Bream Festival and Cultural Expo was cancelled without consulting the local business community.

“I am disappointed to hear this through the media. We as a forum have been waiting to hear from the Katima Mulilo Town Council on the progress of the Zambezi Bream Festival and Cultural Expo 2017.

If we as a forum were informed that there were some financial challenges to organise the event we could have helped to source funds from institutions.

They should have consulted us because a trade fair is very important for the local business people who used the platform to market their businesses, share ideas with other people and make income,” he noted, adding that the local business people should not suffer because of politics.

Limbo further pointed out that the Zambezi Bream Festival and Cultural Expo was also an attraction for Katima Mulilo because many people across the country and from the neighbouring countries travelled to see the trade fair and in that way local business people met possible investors.

Solastica !Hoaes, a local businesswoman who has been having a stall at the Zambezi Bream Festival and Cultural Expo since 2011, says that the cancellation of the trade fair is very disappointing for her,

“As a businesswoman who is trying to make a living by selling food and perfumes, it is very discouraging that the trade fair is cancelled. I hardly make enough during the year and usually I look forward to the trade fair where I make N$10 000 or more in one week.

“This money I use to invest in another business venture or to buy furniture for myself,” she noted.Another exhibitor, Robert Mbeha, says that he has had a stall for about three years and he was also disappointed over the cancellation of the expo.

“This will be very bad for business because, as a small business owner in the region, I would usually look forward to the trade fair.

My business used to get a lot of exposure through the trade fair and I could make close to N$30 000 in that one week. Our clients flocked to the stands to get their T-shirts, banners and uniforms.

People as far as Zambia and Botswana would come and support us, and in the process, we exchange contacts with potential investors,” he explained.

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