By Anna Ingwafa
EENHANA
The Eenhana Town Council is expected to hold its first-ever exposition from today until June 30 at the Eenhana Multi-Purpose Centre.
The aim of the five-day expo is to attract much-needed investment to the town and region and to develop and promote indigenous entrepreneurship at the town.
The event is expected to attract businesspeople, visitors and investors from within Namibia and neighbouring SADC countries.
At a media briefing, the Chief Executive Officer and a Chairman of the Expo Preparatory Committee, Walde Ndevashiya, said there is enough space to accommodate every exhibitor including small businesses that sell food and refreshments.
“… There will be 24-hour combined security by the Namibian Police and private security,” said the CEO.
The centre has two main exhibition halls – one big tent and a conference hall – and a number of corporate companies and various entities have booked stands.
“We will also have a component on agriculture with different agricultural products, as it is well-known that Ohangwena is one of the regions in Namibia with an active agricultural industry and this will be a good opportunity for communal farmers to bring their products to the potential markets, ” Ndevashiya said.
Entertainment will also be available featuring popular Namibian artists.
Kids will not be left out as Just Fun Entertainment, a South African-based outfit, will run a merry-go-round that has already been trucked to Eenhana.
Miss Eenhana Trade and Business Expo 2008 will also be crowned.
“During the presentation, the town council will make presentations on the available investment opportunities in the town and tours will be arranged to view available land for investment. The exhibitors and visitors to the expo can also visit various attractions in Eenhana including the memorial shrine which was unveiled last year, where the remains of those who have fallen in the liberation struggle where laid to rest last year,” he said.
An official delegation from the North East District Council of Masunga Province in Botswana under the leadership of their Mayor Kleotswe Cecil Minyene will attend the expo.
The two towns will sign a twinning cooperation agreement on July 1.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Hage Geingob, is expected to officially open the expo on Saturday. Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) President, John Akapandi Endjala, and Standard Bank Namibia Managing Director, Mpunzi Pupuma, will be at the Eenhana expo.
Tickets will be sold at N$10 for adults and N$5 for children while the elderly and disabled will enter free of charge.
Eenhana was declared a settlement and an administrative centre of the Ohangwena region in 1992 and was later proclaimed a town on April 15, 1999. It became autonomous in July 2002.
Before independence, Eenhana was mainly a strategic military centre for the South African Defence Force (SADF) and there was no pu-blic infrastructure in place.
Today, Eenhana is one of the fastest growing towns in Namibia, with surfaced roads and serviced land. The town has a population of over 24 000.