The Namibia Industrial Development Agency(NIDA)'s !Homs-Ai Open Market in Keetmanshoop is set to resume operations in April.
Regional manager Andre Izaacks made the announcement during a visit of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economy, Industries, Public Administration, and Planning to informal trading premises to the southern town.
The multi-dollar open market comprises 30 trading units, retail space, and state-of-the-art commercial units for garment and furniture manufacturing.
It shut its gates in 2023 after the Keetmanshoop Municipality suspended electricity and water services due to unpaid rates.
The market's default payments accumulated to N$6,000,000.
“And it was also around that time that NIDA, you know, went into all the financial troubles and cash flow problems. In actual fact, the !Homs-Ai is not the only facility that has these problems; we have some other facilities as the councillor alluded to, like Gochas,” Izaacks explained.
He partly attributed the financial woes to non-payment of rental fees by tenants.
The open market is set to undergo renovations due to vandalism that occurred during the time the building stood unguarded.
Members of the parliamentary standing committee expressed discontent over the long period that the market stood idle.
“We are going to engage the leadership of NIDA from the board up to the top management when we get back to Windhoek. We have noted some challenges affecting various NIDA projects. I think this is something we have known for quite some time—that NIDA has been functioning as an agency for quite some time. Up to now, NIDA has no CEO. So these things will have to be fixed. And if we don't fix the leadership, you will not be able to get results. I think that's the conversation we need to have. I believe there is good will when we engage them,” Committee Chairperson Iipumbu Shiimi suggested.
The committee also expressed dissatisfaction over the conditions under which informal traders currently operate.
Of the 473 informal traders registered with the Keetmanshoop Municipality, about 95% are fully operational.
The Namibia Statistics Agency survey conducted in 2018 shows the informal economy is estimated to be worth approximately N$8,000,000,000, representing 27.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).