Lights on at new Rundu Mall
Rundu Mall will help to enhance the importance of Rundu as a destination and will lessen its retail reliance on towns such as Tsumeb and Grootfontein. The Mall represents a N$165 million investment in Rundu by Safcoll. Safcoll is the joint venture company that was formed by Collins Properties and Safland International, which recently became a wholly owned subsidiary of Tradehold.
Safland’s Leasing Director, Mirinda van der Merwe, said the Rundu tenants trading in this first phase of the development include Shoprite, KFC, JetMart, PEP Home Store, Markhams, Dodos and Bears. “We decided not to have an official opening for phase 1 of the development, opting to leave this for later this year when the whole centre will be opened for business.
This however did not deter shoppers who arrived in their thousands to support their favourite brands. “We are proud of being part of this venture, which – once finished – will be the biggest shopping centre in northern Namibia” she said adding that shoppers not only came from Rundu, but from the whole region and from Angola.
Regarding employment, she said “Around three hundred people are employed during the construction and once the mall is operational approximately 250 permanent jobs will have been created.
Furthermore skills development was also a vital ingredient of this project as quantity surveyors, engineers and the like gain experience in designing and planning of shopping malls.
Lastly, the overall contribution to retail sales of the Rundu Mall is estimated at N$280.5 million per annum, and N$1,6 billion over 5 years while Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is estimated at N$120 million and the development value at N$165 million.
