Africa-Press – Namibia. The government must engage local manufacturers more to better understand the challenges the sector is faced with to create policies that help stimulate sector growth.
This was said by Web Steel CC owner Jason Amwiigidha, who manufactures steel products at the Menarovandu Municipal Stalls in Katutura, Windhoek.
He believes the sector is struggling to grow because government policies and sector needs are not aligned.
“Some of the solutions to small and medium enterprise (SME) challenges can be found through consulting the small manufacturers who face those challenges and know the best solutions,” he says.
Not all challenges require academics, he says.
Amwiigidha says his main challenges include difficulty in penetrating the local market, competition from cheap imports and a lack of access to cheap funding.
“The government can implement a market protection programme for the sector and align funding policies to the needs of the SMEs.
We cannot do away with imports, but the government can introduce quota systems to build local capacity,” he says.
He says the near-collapse of the construction sector had also affected the steel sector, stalling product sales.
Among the products Amwiigidha manufactures are steel rakes, steel gun cabinets, jewellery boxes, electricity poles, tool boxes, builders’ scaffolds and electricity boxes.
He is currently making steel electricity poles for a project at Omuthiya in northern Namibia.
“I even manufactured steel boxes for transporting voting materials to various polling stations throughout the country,” he says.
Amwiigidha says the highlight of his welding business was starting to manufacture gun cabinets.
“My uncle bought a shotgun but did not have the prerequisite safe for it, so he approached me to make him one.
“I had never made one before, so I started consulting a number of firearms dealers for the appropriate design and strength. I consulted a shop in the north and they ordered 11 cabinets,” he says.
A major agricultural retail chain took 28 units and the product line grew.
Amwiigidha attributes this to advice from the Namibia Manufacturers’ Association and the trust he had established with suppliers and customers.
The prices of the cabinets range from N$900 to N$2 800.
Amwiigidha, who hails from Ikokola village in the Oshikoto region, says the main target market for his products are retailers, although he still supplies individuals.
He says Web Steel CC employs six permanent workers, including one woman welder, and three trainees. He says he has a hands-on leadership style to impart knowledge to his workers and trainees.
Relating his own journey, Amwiigidha says he trained as a boilermaker at the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre before working for a number of companies and mines in the country as he gained experience.
After he was retrenched at one of the uranium mines in the Erongo region, he started his welding business under a tree at his uncle’s house in Windhoek.
He says he applied at the City of Windhoek and was allocated a workshop at the municipal stalls.
Amwiigidha advises aspiring entrepreneurs, including the youth, to be disciplined, especially with finances, and focus on the growth of their business through research and consultation.
“Some young people rush to buy flashy cars that do not add value to the business, leading to its collapse,” he says, adding that young people must use social media platforms more constructively.
“Entrepreneurs must start with whatever small resources they have and strive to grow,” he advises, adding that in the next five years he envisages a giant steel manufacturing company with a good market share.
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