WALVIS BAY – A new era has dawned for the fishing sector as the country was accorded its first ever fully Namibian owned fishing company, Tunacor Fishing, after a successful takeover by Namibian investors and fishing right holders.
Previously the ownership was 51 percent Namibian while the remaining 49 percent was owned by Pesca Puerta, a Spanish company that focused on investment and distribution.
The takeover is said to have cost millions.
The 49 percent is now owned by the Kaume Group and others.
Tunacor was established in 1958 and has transformed from being a pelagic fishing company to one of the biggest hake processing companies and also one of the largest employers in the fishing industry.
The change of ownership was celebrated yesterday at the company’s premises and described by the chairman of Tunacor Fishing, Andimba Toivo ya Toivo, as a significant event that gives Namibians the opportunity to take responsibility for their own natural resources.
“The willingness of our foreign partners to relinquish their shares to Namibia should be applauded. Now Namibians can harvest, preserve and responsibly manage their own resources,” stated an upbeat Ya Toivo.
Speaking at the same occasion, Sidney Martin, the director of Beluga Investment that owns 26 percent of Tunacor said the takeover was long overdue. He said it was no secret that Namibia’s fishing industry was controlled by segments of the society who had access to the country’s natural resources although they were not Namibian.
“This resulted in a lot of unscrupulous deals going through from which no Namibians benefitted. I must also point out that a lot of Namibians did not have the capacity or the capital input to change the situation around and assist those Namibians allocated quotas to act as trustees. However, the situation has changed now. Namibians are taking ownership and we are definitely heading towards Vision 2030. Namibianisation is one of the government’s goals towards achieving Vision 2030, but if we can already witness this milestone in 2014, we can surely reach Vision 2030,” Martin said.