Arandis Town Council signs several commercial joint venture agreements

Several manufacturing plants to open their doors – big scale employment creation and industrial development

The newly elected Arandis Town Council has entered into several joint ventures with private entities in recent days, to stimulate industrial growth and job creation in this mining services town.

In fact, Arandis Town Council is believed to be the first to take full advantage of the amended Local Authorities Act that now makes provision for joint ventures with commercial entities.
The joint ventures are assisting the local authority to grow business activities and job creation, whilst for the commercial entities it means increased business growth, increased production, and profitability. These joint ventures are also taking pressure off central Government
Council has secured a joint venture with Unoo Investment CC, a charcoal processing plant that was established in January 2020.
A joint venture was also agreed with Cymot to take over a clothing factory that closed sever years ago. Seven years ago, the closure meant the end of 450 job opportunities and had a significant impact on the town’s micro economy.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Arandis Town Council, Mr. Stanley Norris, explained Cymot Namibia, under the registered name Namibian Garments, is a prime investor in Arandis and plans to manufacture 2 500 personal protective clothing units per month for the local market.
“With this joint venture Cymot has added manufacturing to its portfolio. It also plans to re-employ 250 staff members”, said Norris.
Adding, Council’s contribution was the purchase of machinery for the plant, in conjunction with the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade. Cymot holds an 80 % shareholding, Council 10 %, and Bathu Investments 10 %.
Norris confirmed more negotiations are on the table with a third investor for a commercial undertaking. He expects negotiations to conclude soon.

Other commercial entities currently also in the process of setting up operations include a boot manufacturer, a sulphuric acid plant (environmental impact assessment completed), a gypsum exporter, bag manufacturer, and a truck port.