People work at a bread manufacturing factory in Windhoek, Namibia, March 12, 2020. Namibia's Minister of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development Tjekero Tweya on Thursday inaugurated the country's first-ever state-of-the-art bread manufacturing factory valued at around 135 million Namibia dollars (about 8.4 million U.S. dollars). The factory system runs like a conveyor belt through the entire process of mixing, fermenting, baking and packaging. (Photo by Musa C Kaseke/Xinhua)
WINDHOEK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's Minister of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development Tjekero Tweya on Thursday inaugurated the country's first-ever state-of-the-art bread manufacturing factory valued at around 135 million Namibia dollars (about 8.4 million U.S. dollars)
The factory located about 30 km north of Windhoek, which is owned by Namib Mills Investment Group (NMI), under the Bakpro brand, started operations in September 2019. The factory system runs like a conveyor belt through the entire process of mixing, fermenting, baking and packaging.
In his keynote address, Tweya encouraged local production of goods in order to cut down on the dependency of imports as well as support Namibia's "growth at home strategy," which reinforces the importance of accelerating economic growth, reducing income inequality and increasing employment.
"While the government is committed to supporting local industries to grow, the expectation is also that Namibian companies, especially the big ones must develop corporate social investment programs to inject some of their profits into the economy to grow other SMEs," he added.
Furthermore, Tweya urged producers and farmers to join the opportunity to feed the local industry and support value addition.
NMI Group of Companies CEO, Ian Collard said the new facility has since created 120 new jobs along the entire production line and the factory is also in line with the "growth at home strategy."
Established 37 years ago, the company has emerged as one of the biggest manufacturers in the country, specializing in producing high-quality wheat and maize meal products.
