WINDHOEK: Okakarara is destined to become a very important and critical hub in the Otjozondjupa Region, says one of its town councillors John Viakonda.
He was speaking during a fundraising-gala dinner on Thursday evening at the Old Power Station here.
An amount of N.dollars 230 000 was raised during the event.
The fair will take place from 04 to 09 September 2012 at the Okakarara Trade Fair Centre.
“The Okakarara Town Council is taking advantage of the national development effort that cuts across the Omaheke and Otjozondjupa regions, with special emphasis on the road network that is being upgraded and tarred,” said Viakonda.
He explained that the new road network will increase the traffic flow between Gobabis-Otjinene-Okamatapati and Otjiwarongo, and the same route will boost the Outjo-Kamanjab and Opuwo road link to re-enforce the tourism industry in the far north-western parts of the country.
Another major traffic boost will be road traffic from Windhoek through Okakarara to Koblence-Grootfontein-Rundu and Katima Mulilo to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
Okakarara with a population of about 300 000 people, mostly cattle farmers, is also in the process of spearheading the first-ever ecological village in Namibia.
Viakonda called on investors to venture into businesses with locals such as an export standard beef processing plant; tannery plant; medium-sized dairy farm; poultry farming; biogas electricity generation plant; lucernes plantation; and a brick and concrete plant.
He also called on potential investors to forward investment proposals in heavy and light industries; property development; modern central business district (CBD); state-of-the-art horse racing track; camping site and cultural village; and small agricultural commonages and much more.
At the same occasion, Rector of the Polytechnic of Namibia, Dr Tjama Tjivikua commended the trade fair’s sixth anniversary.
He explained that the initiative was established to bring together different livestock breeders from communal areas in the Otjozondjupa Region to showcase their animals and share ideas and experiences on how to improve farming methods, and to facilitate small and medium enterprises (SME) development in that geographical area in Namibia.
“However, the trade fair has grown beyond its initial focus on agriculture, and now attracts participants and interest from a wide range of economic sectors, as well as academia,” he noted.
Companies such as Meatco, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), Epupa Investments, One Call Solutions, Social Security Commission, and the Polytechnic of Namibia made donations during the gala dinner.
An amount of N.dollars 70 000 was also raised during a previous fundraising event held at the town.