By Surihe Gaomas WINDHOEK Tsumeb in the Oshikoto Region is destined to expand southwards towards Otavi, making way for future manufacturing and light industrial businesses. With this development in mind, the Mayor of Tsumeb, Engel Nawatiseb, has called on local and international business people to invest in infrastructural development at the town. He said they could start buying the close to 100 erven that are available. Some Tsumeb residents believe their town is physically located in a valley whereby one is unable to see the town from a distance, especially from the Ondangwa-Grootfontein road crossing. Against this background, the Tsumeb Town Council has seen fit to expand the town southwards with manufacturing and light industrial businesses. This in turn would assist with the necessary job-creation and economic development. “We are vigorously strategizing to expand the town southwards because there is plenty of unserviced land and the demand is high for investment in the south from credible, serious partners. We are also looking at building manufacturing plants in partnership with China,” explained Nawatiseb during an interview with New Era this week. In view of this, the Tsumeb Mayor together with a member of the Management Committee, Councillor Lineekela Ndangi Shetekela, undertook a weeklong exchange visit to the City of Lanzhou in the Ganzu Province of China from January 19 to 25. The trip, described as successful, was made possible by the City of Lanzhou through the Embassy of China in Windhoek. The trip follows a friendship visit by a four-member delegation led by China Zhang Jinlang, the Mayor of Lanzhou City, to Tsumeb two years ago. A memorandum agreement was signed between the two municipalities. Amongst others, the areas of cooperation centre on health, education, information technology, sports and culture, as well as agriculture. Nawatiseb believes that Tsumeb and the rest of the country stand to benefit a great deal from the recently-concluded visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Namibia. “We are convinced that the Presidential visit and the envisaged investment in respect of the development funding for Namibia will greatly benefit the people of Tsumeb and the twinning partnership with Lanzhou in general,” added Nawatiseb. The second phase of the southwards expansion of Tsumeb has already been commissioned, and council is currently in the process of rectifying the finer technical details before making the plots available to potential investors. “We can only hold discussions with investors and entrepreneurs who are serious about investing in Tsumeb, because we do not want to create unnecessary high hopes and expectations for our hungry, unemployed masses in Tsumeb,” added Nawatiseb. Council decided to take the strategic move to the south due to mining activities west and north of the town. The south is an ideal development for hub and would serve as a linkage to the TransCaprivi and Kunene development corridors for the import and export of goods and services serving as a link between Southern African countries and the port of Walvis Bay. “Tsumeb is (therefore) geared and ready to receive foreign direct investments as a strategic inland hub for the storage and transportation of goods to all destinations – west, south, north and east of the country,” elaborated Nawatiseb. The railway extension to the north and the envisaged Katwitwi/Tsintsabis road will allow the transportation of goods into and from Angola to reach destinations at cost-effective prices, because of the shorter and direct routes.