Green scheme bids open

Namibia last week officially launched a request for proposals for the leasing of several yet-to-be-developed green schemes at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Local and international bidders will compete for the Katima Mulilo-Liselo, Zone Green, Neckartal and Tandjieskoppe green schemes, which are available on a build, operate and transfer basis. These are projects for which land has already been secured.The Uvungu Vungu dairy farm is offered on lease basis, for which the invitation for pre-qualification was published last Friday.The bidding will run until 30 June.Deputy agriculture minister Anna Shiweda said a good blend of domestic and foreign investors is a recipe for a thriving economy.She added that Namibia needs to move beyond production to agro-processing, and this might require expertise and experience which the country currently does not have, but will open new employment opportunities for graduates who are currently underserved by the existing opportunities.Investment opportunitiesAgriculture minister Calle Schlettwein last week explained that government has opted to offer investment opportunities at the 11 developed green scheme projects, including the dairy project, to the domestic private sector as well as international investors with capacity to operate the schemes through competitive leasing and bidding processes.He said the green scheme programme encourages the development of irrigated agronomic production with a target of approximately 27 000 hectares along the perennial rivers bordering Namibia and at strategic inland areas where water is abundant.The investments are expected to promote the production of gains and cereals as basic staple foods to reach food self-sufficiency, while allowing investors to diversify production into high-value horticulture, crops and fruits, he said.“Namibia considers agriculture as a key sector and embarked to engage domestic and international private investors through lease agreements and public-private partnerships on various green schemes as a means to stimulate and grow the agricultural sector and the economy in general.”Private capitalSchlettwein added that in order to attract private capital and partnerships, the government, through the ministry, prepared request for proposals (RFPs) for each green-scheme project for competitive bidding, and started publishing these RFPs in batches from the end of May.“The ministry wishes to emphasise that the competitive leasing process is inclusive of both the domestic private sector and international bidders wishing to partner with Namibian producers. Namibian participation in these arrangements will be encouraged on the basis of bankability of the investment proposals,” he said.

Green scheme bids open

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Green scheme bids open

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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