Ongwediva Trade Fair highlights regional cooperation, innovation and youth participation

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the opening of the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair, Ongwediva, 24 August 2025

Allow me to express my sincere appreciation to the Ongwediva Town Council for the invitation extended to me to officiate the 24th edition of the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair. These annual trade fairs serve as strategic platforms for Namibia’s economic advancement.

I wish to also extend a heartfelt welcome to the high-level delegation led by Phophi Ramathuba, the premier of Limpopo province of the Republic of South Africa. Your presence here gives tangible expression to the close cooperation committed to under the bi-national commission established between the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Namibia.

Furthermore, it reinforces the memorandum of engagement that exists between the Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, and Omusati regions in Namibia and the Limpopo province in South Africa, which focuses on a shared commitment to regional economic integration and collaboration for the benefit of our people. Madam premier, I fully agree with your just-delivered statement that we have to work together as the global South to serve our citizens. I also agree with you that women in leadership should not be made to feel they are being done a favour – they are just as capable.

Within this context, I wish to extend profound gratitude to the people of South Africa and the Limpopo province. I further extend my best wishes to my dear brother, Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of the Republic of South Africa.

Additionally, I extend my sincere gratitude to local and international exhibitors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, development partners, public institutions, and guests from across the globe. A special mention goes to the Indonesian business people who, since the inception of the Ongwediva Trade Fair, have been participating, making this event an intercontinental experience. I call on the Namibian business community to take advantage of the country’s interest in Namibia and identify business areas where they could partner with their Indonesian counterparts.

By nature, trade fairs are opportunities for business people to learn from one another and to understand the demand of the market. Thus, they enable participants to be focused on their businesses to make a meaningful contribution to the economic development of the country.

I hereby commend this initiative and encourage our local entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and town councils to seize this opportunity, build cross-border partnerships, explore new markets, and embrace innovation.

Since its humble beginnings in 2000, the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair has transformed into a national flagship trade and innovation event. Today, this platform serves not only as an exhibition ground, but also as a hub for enterprise development, policy dialogue, and investment opportunities. Indeed, the trade fair is a reflection of our national aspirations, a space where our ambitions for economic diversification, inclusive growth, and sustainable development come to life.

This year’s theme, ‘Innovate–Connect–Prosper’, resonates with the essence of the national economic transformation journey we have embarked upon. Indeed, this is a call to action and a guiding principle for collective efforts towards sustainable economic growth, development, and shared prosperity.

This trade fair facilitates opportunities for businesses across regions, sectors, and countries to showcase their innovations, connect with markets, and explore partnerships. I am informed that this year’s exhibitors represent a wide range of sectors, from energy, fisheries, health, finance, and arts and crafts, among others.

I am particularly pleased to note that aviation and digital innovation are also represented for the first time, an indication that the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair is keeping pace with emerging trends and future demands.

This trade fair contributes to the economic growth, transformation and resilience pillar of the sixth National Development Plan, particularly on youth employment, local value addition and digital transformation. In addition, the trade fair links businesses and markets and supports the growth of small and medium enterprises, particularly those led by women and youth.

I have directed the minister of international relations and trade, and the minister of industries, mines and energy to undertake stakeholder engagements with the business community across the 14 regions. I urge all business people to participate in these regional engagements.

Similarly, I implore the Namibian business community to leverage the Intra-African Trade Fair scheduled to take place in Algeria as announced by the deputy prime minister.

It is gratifying to learn that 70% of this year’s exhibitors are women, and 60% are youth. These are not just figures – this is empowerment that this trade fair has for our women and young people in shaping our economic future. Therefore, I applaud women and young people for their entrepreneurial spirit, courage, creativity, and innovation.

The Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair has truly grown. As I understand, it has attracted a total of 450 exhibitors, including 26 international exhibitors from countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Botswana, and South Africa.

This growth underscores the potential of other trade fairs and exhibitions across the country to attract international exhibitors to promote regional and continental integration in alignment with the African Continental Free Trade Area.

I am pleased to note that this trade fair will host business-to-business matchmaking sessions aimed at knowledge exchange, benchmarking, and sharing of best practices between South African and Namibian business people. Therefore, the ideas that will come out of this engagement must translate into tangible results for shared development. I am also confident that through the participation of all our international exhibitors at this fair, people-to-people contact, trade, and valuable exchanges will be strengthened and will lead to broadening our economic landscape.

While progress is evident, challenges remain in our continent and the global South. The infrastructure gaps such as transport both on land, water, and air are a serious challenge in the facilitation of movement for both people and goods between our countries.

Thus, being a limitation to the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It is therefore important for governments, public and private sectors, and business people to work together to provide appropriate investment in continental infrastructure development, as that is the only way Africa can realise the aspirations of the African people as articulated in the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.

Namibia, as a member of the AU, has to play her part. Significant achievements have been made in the area of road transport infrastructure as we are connected with tarred roads to all our neighbours. However, a lot has to be done on the rail network and air services sectors. All efforts will be made to improve our rail system and reintroduce a national airline.

With the discovery of oil and gas in Namibia, and other critical minerals, it is essential that moving forward, these sectors should participate in Namibian expos or trade fairs for our people to understand different services that are required. This will enable Namibia to participate in the oil, gas, and critical minerals industries by providing the necessary services and ensuring the effectiveness of local content.

Against that background I call on financial institutions, training centres, and innovation hubs to scale up programmes that provide youth with access to finance, mentoring, and skills training. This will ensure that we have the necessary skills in the country across all industries – both traditional and emerging such as oil, gas, and critical minerals. Therefore, we must start now to develop the necessary skills for these industries.

In conclusion, I encourage all participants to use this platform to engage, collaborate, and forge partnerships that foster shared prosperity. Once again, congratulations to Ongwediva leadership and the organising committee for having put together this mind-enriching event.

Together we must make Namibia the best place for all of us to live in. We are too few to be poor, and with hard work, commitment, and integrity, shared prosperity is within our reach.

With these words, I now have the honour to declare the 24th Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair officially open.

I thank you.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.