Okakarara
What started off as a small event to showcase livestock and small businesses in 2007 has blossomed into one of the most well-organised annual trade fairs for big and small exhibitors for a diverse array of economic sectors.
The annual Okakarara Trade Fair, which started on Monday, August 31 and ended yesterday (September 06), attracted about 15 000 visitors this year, compared to just over 4000 in 2007, and is steadily becoming a star attraction in the Otjozondjupa Region.
“To host an event of this magnitude we need companies to contribute towards the organisation of the trade fair. The payments we receive from exhibitors go towards the operations”, John Uazukuani, the director of agriculture and coordinator for the Okakarara Trade Fair Society, explained.
Uazukuani, who is also a local municipal councillor, has been involved in the trade fair since its inception and said this year the main sponsor with N$60 000 was Standard Bank, while Meatco sponsored the agricultural component with N$75 000.
What irked the main co-ordinator was that some companies booked and actually paid for stalls at the trade fair but did not show up.
“Some of these are public institutions, who need to disseminate information to the public and more importantly render a service to the public,” said a clearly annoyed Uazukuani. He added that other businesses could have made use of the unused exhibitor stalls to promote their products or services.
However, besides the no-shows, the rest of the Okakarara Trade Fair consists of three exhibitor halls, Chief Riruako Hall with 14 VIP stalls, Chief Kambazembi Hall with 54 stalls and Chief Ndinda Hall, consisting of 14 stalls for SMEs promoted by the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development.
This year’s agricultural component consisted of about 100 large livestock and approximately 150 small livestock. The Okakarara Trade Fair also incorporates three categories of open space for kapana sellers, big companies and SMEs.
“The Okakakara Trade Fair is growing each year and is arguably the third biggest business platform in the country. As such, it continues to create a platform for business networking whilst encouraging the growth of small and medium enterprises,” said Elia Kandjii, the chairman of the Okakarara Trade Fair Society.