The Dr. Frans Aupa Indongo Open Market is Oshakati’s busiest venue on Mondays and Fridays.
That is so because the town Council has declared those two weekdays as ‘market days’ for vendors who do not have permanent stalls and who mostly hail from rural areas or as far as Angola.
The open market was constructed at a cost of N.dollar 90 million and was officially opened by the late President Hage Geingob in 2016.
Today, the Oshakati open market has become the economic hub of the Oshana Region, where businesses operate at a different pace and micro-business owners are seen running around every second, making an income for themselves.
Local vendor Emilia Herman told Nampa in an interview that the market days are a good idea as they enable them to not remain idle and go around throughout the week, starting with Mondays in Oshakati, Wednesdays in Oshikuku, Thursdays in Okahao and Fridays in Oshakati again.
However, Herman indicated that the competition factor remains the same, as their Angolan counterparts acco
mpany them everywhere they go, which she says is the main challenge they face.
‘We are vendors at the Oshakati Open Market, selling various items such as flour, fruits, spinach and others. We are supplied most of these products by other vendors from neighboring Angola,’ she said.
She added that they usually buy their stock and they always sell out quickly enough to go back and get more stock on the same day. The competition has tightened and they are losing a lot of customers to their counterparts because their prices are quite cheaper.
Oshakati Mayor Leonard Hango stated that they introduced a two-day open market after they looked at the surrounding villages around the town that grow their horticulture products and livestock, and to cater for about 600 people.
Hango explained that the parking area opposite the Open Market is, for most of the week, a deserted place, but comes to life on Mondays and Fridays, days that are specially designated as ‘market days’.
According to Hango, the parking area also acc
ommodates vendors who have no stalls inside the open market, mostly those from rural areas, or those who have stalls but wish to sell items that differ from what they sell on a regular basis at their stalls.
‘There is no place for people to sell their produce at the open market; that is why we opened for our communities residing within Oshakati and surrounding areas,’ he added
Hango stated that they charge as little as N.dollar 10 for traders to sell their produce on those two days, with the response being overwhelming for them.
He emphasised that they have a policy that guides the use of the two-day open market, which includes no regulation on prices but rather having to put up their own price to meet their customer demands at all times.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency