Africa-Press – Namibia. Staff Reporter
THE growing public concern over the management of a major concession within the Namib-Naukluft National Park is intensifying.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is caught like a hare in the headlights about confusion regarding entry to Sossusvlei. Concerns are growing as the Minister of Environment, Indileni Daniel, is seemingly in the dark about the mounting dissatisfaction regarding the management of concessions within the Namib-Naukluft National Park. A commitment to clarify the entrance within the Greater Sossusvlei–Namib Landscape (GSNL) before 15 December is stalled and is not being kept.
This follows the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism’s issuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a concession within the Greater Sossusvlei–Namib Landscape (GSNL) in November 2023.
Photos: Spotlighting Namibia.
The proposal outlined plans to develop and operate a campsite at Farm Arbeid Adelt, run a non-exclusive shuttle service between the 2WD parking area and Deadvlei, operate a small kiosk at Sossusvlei, and offer guided hikes within the concession area. Grow Namibia (Pty) Ltd, trading as About Adelt Sossusvlei Concession Management, won the bid with an offer totalling N$105,150,080.
However, after nearly two years, stakeholders claim that the campsite development at Farm Arbeid Adelt has not begun, while construction activity has been documented in areas of the park where no such rights were granted under the original tender.
This issue was recently highlighted in an update by Spotlighting Namibia, a social media platform created to call for greater accountability at all levels, which claimed that the process for securing the Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) may not have met minimum standards.
“Before any development can take place, concessionaires are required to secure an Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC). This, in turn, depends on complying with Namibia’s environmental legislation and conducting a legally recognised public participation process,” Spotlighting Namibia explained.
To support their claim, Spotlighting Namibia highlighted that public notices reportedly appeared only once in a single issue of Confidente in 2024, and only one stakeholder meeting was held at Rostock Ritz, roughly 160 km north of Sesriem – a location many affected parties say made attendance impractical.
Spotlighting Namibia also pointed out that the notices only reached the Maltahöhe Village Council after the meeting had taken place. There was a reported absence of an attendance register or official minutes from the meeting, and numerous GSNL operators were allegedly never informed of the process at all.
These issues have prompted questions about whether the public consultation was conducted in line with the Environmental Management Act and EIA Regulations.
Furthermore, Spotlighting Namibia added that, while the ECC process remains unresolved, operators in the area report that the company has continued running a commercial shuttle service inside Sossusvlei. Although the concession designates this shuttle as non-exclusive, signage at the 2×4 parking area has been interpreted by some visitors as suggesting otherwise—creating confusion and deterring competition.
According to Spotlighting Namibia, the promised facilities at Farm Arbeid Adelt have also not been developed, and staff associated with the concession have been housed at the Farm Elim homestead, a location not included in the original tender scope.
Furthermore, Spotlighting Namibia revealed that during a recent site visit in November 2025, stakeholders documented the presence of permanent structures at Elim, an environmentally sensitive section of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. This discovery has raised several procedural concerns, as Elim lies along the access route for the proposed Sukses concession.
Spotlighting Namibia explained that if the company is operating from Elim without proper authorisation, it could jeopardise the rights associated with the Sukses concession. Conversely, if authorisation was granted informally, it could undermine the integrity of the Sukses concession process.
“Compounding matters, the same company has also applied for the Sukses concession, prompting speculation among stakeholders that it may be seeking to use the second tender to validate its presence at Elim retroactively. Conservation groups warn that if procedures are not applied consistently, it could set a precedent for opportunistic development across protected areas—undermining both public trust and the collaborative governance model Namibia has cultivated internationally,” Spotlighting Namibia added.
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