Local plastic manufacturing plant to halve imports from abroad
The construction of a state-of-the-art plastic manufacturing plant at Brakwater, expected to be complete before the end of this year, was officiated by the Minister of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development, Tjekero Tweya this week.
The plant is expected to close the gap of an estimated 50% of plastic currently imported from abroad.
Tweya in his keynote address stressed the importance of the partnership between government, and the private sector.
“We need to take hands not only during difficult times but more so when celebrating our successes. Allow me therefore to commend Namibia Plastics for not only dreaming but ultimately bringing that dream to fruition by being committed to and contributing to the growth and development of the Namibian house,” he said.
According to Tweya, the significant investment of N$95 million into this plant will create an additional 200 direct and indirect job opportunities during and after construction and this is testimony of the support and commitment to achieve the ideals and objectives of Vision 2030 and the President’s Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP).
“I am excited and confident that the development of Namibia Plastics’ factory plant will contribute immensely to the City of Windhoek and the Namibian economy at large,” Tweya said.
Namibia Plastics co-founder and CEO, Johan Struwig, entertained the audience with the history of the companys during his address at the official ground-breaking ceremony of the construction of the plant.
“Initially, I started from a home based office, making use of a spare room, one cell phone, and a laptop. We struggled for a few months with no orders. The average response in approaching potential clients was always ‘let us know when you have Namibian clients on board, then we will buy’. I told them that our suppliers have big customers in South Africa – hoping that this will rescue us and bring in Namibian clientele, but unfortunately it didn’t,” Struwig said.
Former Member of Parliament, and Chairman of Namibia Plastics, Theo-Ben Gurirab during his welcome address said Namibia Plastics directly contributes to two of the five pillars of the HPP; namely effective economic advancement; and social progression.
“The existence of Namibia Plastics and the significant growth into a successful proudly Namibian entity, speaks directly to government’s growth-at-home agenda. Today we also celebrate the support by Namibian companies, not only to Namibia Plastics, but to other local suppliers as well. It is that camaraderie among Namibian entities and Business Namibia at large that will take Namibian businesses, and the local economy to the next level,” Gurirab said.
Executive Chairman of the O&L Group and president of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NCCI), Sven Thieme served as endorser of the ground-breaking ceremony.
“Surely manufacturing locally and procuring from home supports growth at home. Yet, we still find that some of us are happy to save a dollar by procuring an imported product that may be a little cheaper. The bottom line is that we need to understand the multiplier effect of the opportunity cost of not supporting local and how our children will pay this price. Therefore, I would like to sincerely appeal to the rest of Business Namibia, the Government and the public at large, to support Namibia Plastics and other local companies in their endeavours to build our nation and make a positive impact on the lives of Namibians,” Thieme said.
Caption: The Namibia Plastics Manufacturing Plant is scheduled to be complete and running before the end of this year.
