Mining expo opens doors for local suppliers

Opportunities abound at this year’s annual Chamber of Mines of Namibia Expo and Conference for more local suppliers of goods and services to the country's extractive industry companies.

Veston Malango, chief executive officer of the chamber, believes that his members are eager to spend more of the nearly N$52 billion expenditure from 2023 on local suppliers.

"Out of that, 40% was spent on local suppliers of goods and services; we are talking about N$20 billion. So, that is the low-hanging fruit," he said, adding that the chamber believes another 10% of member expenditure on goods and services could be spent within the country.

"That’s money on the table, and we can do more, up to 50%," he said, emphasising that Namibian entrepreneurs need to prioritise the establishment of more manufacturing capabilities.

Malango cited Namibia’s established and growing capacity to process uranium for export, which currently involves shipping it abroad in drums. Instead of importing these drums, they could be manufactured locally in Namibia, he said.

“It's not rocket science to manufacture drums. Of course, they must be to specification, but we believe at the chamber that it is doable,” he said.

Another opportunity lies in the widespread use of steel balls for crushing. “We have been importing these tennis ball-size balls since independence,” he said.

Although it would probably require establishing a foundry in Namibia, Malango believes that locally produced iron ore can support such an initiative. “We shall participate in deepening such upstream linkages,” he said.