The Namibian government will together with Norway organise a conference in Swakopmund next month to discuss aquaculture, a new sector in Namibia’s fishing industry. Aquaculture is commercial marine and inland fish farming, including oysters, shrimps, clams, seaweed, abalone (perlemoen), mussels and salmon, apart from inland fish species like tilapia (bream). The aim of the conference is to discuss Namibia’s potential, employment creation and investments in aquaculture.

The conference will last from 13 to 15 February and will be opened on Monday, 14 February by President Sam Nujoma and the fisheries ministers of Namibia and Norway. Prospective investors and business people already involved in the aquaculture industry can participate in this conference and should contact Ms U. Tjihuiko at the ministry at 061-205-3055, Ms R. Uises at 061-205-3095 or Mr Albert Mbanga at 061-205-3084. High quality oysters are already farmed in Swakopmund, Lüderitz and Walvis Bay for export, while kelp and seaweed are farmed at Lüderitz. One company has recently set up an abalone farm at Lüderitz and in northern Namibia community, farmers are already selling their first tilapia (bream) fish, earning an income.

About 7 000 clothing and textile workers face a bleak year after three factories in Lesotho failed to reopen after the festive season. A similar situation could evolve in Namibia, where 1 of the 2 Malaysian factories operating in Windhoek, will allegedly close down by June. The end of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) is in force since on 1 January 2005. It means that access to US markets for garments will no longer be restricted by quotas.

Deputy general-secretary of the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers Union, B. Shaw Lebakae, told IRIN News that the end of quotas for cheap imports to the USA from Asian countries would cause more foreign factory owners, originally from Asia, to reconsider the location of their businesses. "Given the end of quotas and the WTO allowing China and India back into the market, we believe most of the foreign-owned textile companies in Lesotho will relocate back to their original countries". They were in Lesotho to utilise the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) of the US, according to Lebakae "All these companies come from the East, as does the fabric and the yarn used in Lesotho."

Although Lesotho, like Namibia still enjoys duty-free access to the US market under AGOA, goods manufactured in countries like Lesotho will probably be more expensive for US importers than goods from countries like China, which are able to achieve superior economies of scale. AGOA, which has been extended until 2007, benefited Lesotho’s economy, with 56,000 people employed in the industry.

One of the 3 Asian factories was placed under liquidation in December 2004, while the other 2 closed for the holiday period and have simply not reopened.