More than 1 400 exhibitors miss out on OATF

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has urged the Ongwediva Town Council to work with the private sector and other stakeholders to mobilise resources to expand the Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre after 1 417 prospective exhibitors could not be accommodated this year because the venue had reached capacity.

Nandi-Ndaitwah made the call when she officially opened the 25th edition of the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) on Sunday.

The trade fair received 1 872 applications for exhibition space this year, but it could accommodate only 485 exhibitors.

“The strong demand for exhibition space also presents a challenge that cannot be ignored," the president said. "One can conclude that the success of the Ongwediva Trade Fair has outgrown its present facilities."

The president said the demand for space indicated the value businesses and entrepreneurs attach to the trade fair.

“Those numbers tell us that Ongwediva is doing something right. They tell us that businesses see value and entrepreneurs see opportunity in being here. Also, investors and exhibitors recognise this fair as a place where connections can be made, products can find markets, and ideas can grow into enterprises,” she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said the event had grown significantly from its beginnings as a local authority exhibition and had become one of Namibia's leading trade platforms.

She said the expansion of the physical infrastructure should be matched by efforts to turn the centre into a facility that supports economic activity throughout the year.

“The Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre should progressively develop into a year-round hub for trade, business events, entrepreneurship and investment engagement,” she said.

Regional impact

The fair has also expanded its international reach, with 36 exhibitors from South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Botswana participating this year.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said their presence demonstrated the fair's potential as a platform for regional commerce.

“Our entrepreneurs must increasingly think regionally, continentally and globally,” she said.

“Our task is to ensure that economic growth is felt not only in statistics, but in households; in the young graduate who finds work, the entrepreneur who gains access to a market, the small and medium business that expands, and the family whose prospects improve because opportunity has reached them."