O&L Group join forces with Dinapama to foster growth in the manufacturing industry
In support of growth-at-home and commitment to contributing to local value addition, the Executive Chairman of the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group, Sven Thieme signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Managing Director of Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies, David Namalenga, this week.
Through this new found partnership, the two companies aim to foster a more conducive business environment; foster greater competition in key sectors and strengthen the national quality infrastructure and technical standards to further empower and enable Namibians to meet international standards.
The agreement also aims to improve labour and management skills; invest in technology upgrading and innovation, and strengthen supply chains to be able to supply goods and services reliably and within reasonable time.
“While there are certainly many examples of Namibians supporting local businesses, there is much more that can be done. Therefore, I herewith challenge business Namibia to create the future we want for our children, by taking the necessary action. We need to choose to support local and embrace the growth of Namibian businesses while developing local talent and skills; and invest in local infrastructure. This all starts with committing to grow local,” Sven Thieme said.
Thieme further stressed that it should be a collective dream that every Namibian has a job, adding; “Every single dollar we spend on imports is a dollar of local value addition we export. We should thrive to create opportunities locally for our own people because if we do not take the people off the streets, they will take us into the street.”
Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies was registered in 2009 and started operating in January 2010 with five machines and seven employees. The business is now equipped with 874 machines and 356 employees, and supplies number of products to Namibia and Angola including, but not limited to sport wear, corporate wear, work wear, safety wear, bags of different sizes and shapes, with the capacity of employing about 750 employees.
“We want to see organizations and businesses that live beyond ourselves. Businesses that can place Namibia above ourselves. O&L has over the years proven to be one of those organizations. Such organizations, and relationships such as the one manifested here today will create a better life for the people of this country. We are humbled and very happy, and will make use of this opportunity to contribute even more to building the Namibian economy. This MoU creates hope for everyone, both in and outside of Dinapama,” Namalenga said on his part.
