‘Ostora was stolen’

JEMIMA BEUKES WINDHOEKThe Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) has been accused of stealing the ‘Ostora’ concept from two budding entrepreneurs who knocked on their door for funding earlier this month.Email correspondence shows that Micheal Hipo and Chalden Uirab – who have a business plan and copyright certificate for the concept – wrote to the investment board on 23 August to appeal for funding to realise their Ostora Digital Food Voucher, which aims to stimulate local food production.In their emails, which included their business plan, they said the concept was the first of its kind in Namibia and the service would allow customers to redeem digital food vouchers from home shops (corner shops) in their respective communities.They are looking for financial assistance to the tune of N$500 000 for equipment, vehicles, logistics and administrative costs.Hipo and Uirab now claim to have been given the cold shoulder by the NIPDB, only to find the board announcing its own plans to introduce the concept a few days later.They have in the meantime roped in Salomon Kanyemba Legal Practitioners to demand that NIPDB and its CEO Nangula Uaandja withdraw the announcements in local newspapers as well as statements made on Uaandja’s Facebook page with regards to the Ostora concept.“Our clients never received any communication. To our clients’ shock and disbelief, a newspaper article in which your Mr Dino Balloti is purported to have explained the NIPDB’s plan to establish a retail store, a concept which is strikingly similar to our clients’ concept as introduced to you via email, was posted on The Namibian’s online platform,” they said.The entrepreneurs are threating to drag the investment board to court should it refuse to give in to their demands. No ideaUaandja yesterday said she is not aware of Hipo and Uirab’s claims to have contacted her office, and also confirmed that the investment board is yet to register its Ostora concept.She, however, emphasised that the idea comes from the trade ministry as far back as 2015, and was discussed when she was part of the High-Level Panel on the Economy.“The idea was already discussed when we discussed our Strategic Plan on 1 July and was finalised by 15 July and thereafter presented to President Hage Geingob. “We obviously do not want to be distracted running a retail store, but we are looking at how best to implement the idea. It is just an idea and we need to study how to implement it in the next few months,” she said. jemima@namibiansun.com

‘Ostora was stolen’

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-04-20

Please login to leave a comment

‘Ostora was stolen’

Comments

Namibian Sun 2026-04-20

Please login to leave a comment

Subscription Required to Access Content ×

Login

Subscription Required to Access Content