Kunene governor Vipuakuje Muharukua says he has been promoting a plan to build Namibia’s first smart city in the region since taking office.
He told The Namibian on Friday that the project, proposed by Kaoko Fria Investment, aims to “unlock the region’s logistics, thereby boosting the economy of the region”.
The announcement of the project on Friday by the company was received with scepticism by some on social media, with some dubbing it a scam.
A similar grand project was announced in 2010 by a company called Desert Star.
Desert Star at the time promised to invest in a multibillion-dollar film-making industry in Namibia, to turn the country into ‘Africa’s Hollywood’.
However, the project never got off the ground due to financial constraints and operations ceased.
The latest project to build a smart city in the Kunene region is a brainchild of the Kaoko Fria Investment managing director, Michael Petrus.
Muharukua says he believes in the project. “Cape Fria is a project that has been spoken about for the longest period, and I as governor when I joined the office I have been promoting the project to unlock the region’s logistics and diversify resources in the region,” says Muharukua.
He says he is aware of ongoing conversations by various stakeholders, including the government, through the Namibia Investment Promotion Development Board in trying to solicit serious investors to bring the project to fruition.
He says the project is significant to the region’s resilience and efforts to turn the region into an attractive prospect for not only investors but also in diversifying resources for its inhabitants and Namibians at large.
He assured the public that efforts are ongoing to turn the project into a reality to benefit its people and other regions such as Zambezi in terms of logistics.
“We want to put the region higher on the map and this project is among many projects we are looking at,” he said.
In a statement issued on Friday, Petrus said the development integrates a state-of-the-art deep-sea port at Cape Fria/Angra Fria, which will be connected by railway to a dry port at Katima Mulilo.
“The railway will also serve as a major transport link for the northern region, offering residents and travellers the option of taking a smart train,” Petrus said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Martin Endjala
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: The Namibian, 17.08.2025
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