OKULAC agreement effective for three towns: Sindongo

Omaruru Town Council Chief Executive Officer, Valentinus Sindongo has said the Omaruru, Karibib and Usakos Local Authority Councils (OKULAC) agreement has great economic potential for the three towns.

Signed in 2022, OKULAC is a tripartite communication, cooperation and collaboration in technical, economic, social, human resources and local governance matters.

Through the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the three towns organised the Amalgamated Rotational Annual Festival (ARAF), which is set to revive the economy and attract investment opportunities within the three towns, equalising small and medium enterprise growth and expansion for the betterment of the three towns’ livelihoods.

Sindongo, in a presentation during the investment seminar on the sidelines of the ongoing ARAF in Omaruru, noted that economic development is one of the main areas of the MoU between the three local authorities.

‘One of the aspects of the agreement was finding the initiative to bring all the little resources we have at o
ur disposal together so that we can do more for our economies. When you look at the closed economies and open economies and you look at your autonomous spending they multiply factors,’ he said.

The CEO added that before the MoU, the different towns each ensured individually that their local economies were on par with the different investments available at the towns, which they found was not effective enough.

Sindongo also highlighted technical support as one of the other aspects of the MoU on which the three towns want to expand, and further called on investors in this field to take advantage of the opportunity.

‘When we are talking about technical cooperation, we are looking at what type of expertise we can draw from each other because if you look at our towns, we are so dispersed from each other but at the same time, we can learn from one another the different ways we can diversify our economies.’

OKULAC has combined investment opportunities in mining, agriculture, tourism and natural resources sectors,
among others.

The three towns have a combined population of over 30 000 residents and are strategically located along the three transportation corridors of Trans-Cunene, Trans-Kalahari and Trans-Oranje corridors.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency