The Namibia Biomass Industrial Group says the participation of key exhibitors contributed significantly to the success of this year's Biomass Fair at Otjiwarongo.

Namibia Biomass Industrial Group Chief Executive Officer, Progress Kashandula, says the fair provided an important platform for exhibitors to showcase their products, services and innovations in the biomass sector.

He says the strong participation also created opportunities for visitors to learn more about biomass.

“So we have a holistic group of exhibitors who are here; that is one expectation which I had, which I think we have made this one, and of course, in terms of traffic or people coming in, we actually had a lot of people who visited the expo.”

Kashandula stressed that the response from exhibitors and visitors demonstrates the growing interest in Namibia's biomass sector and its potential to create economic opportunities.

One of the machines that received the public's interest was the horizontal grinder for the fuel producers at the Nampower project. 

CEO of Africa Biomass Company, Willem van der Merwe, explained.

“They will use this machine to process the harvested encroaching bush and convert it into the fuel that is needed to feed the power plant to make electricity.”

Renewable power is another sector, which also caught the public eye at the fair. 

Standard Bank sponsored N$400,000 towards the event.

Its Brand and Marketing Manager, Sindano Nekundi, explained.

“We have been a sponsor since 2018. We look forward to the industry growing, and it's a young industry, and it has potential. I believe some comments have said that Namibia is actually quite far in developing this new industry.”

For those who did not make it to this year's biomass fair, the organisers urged interested parties to visit the Namibia Biomass Industry Group or the Charcoal Association of Namibia to discuss biomass production.