Niël Terblanché
The chairperson of the Erongo Regional Council, Florian Donatus, launched a fresh appeal to business leaders ahead of Friday’s Uis Investment Conference, arguing that additional capital is the missing ingredient in the settlement’s bid to regain formal town status.
“We are now set to make history in our quest to chart and correct an unequal developmental pathway in the Daures Constituency, and especially the settlement of Uis,” he said on Tuesday.
Uis once had a village council, but the town was downgraded to settlement status in 2010.
A submission to the ministry of urban and rural development seeking an upgrade is already on file, and Donatus insists the community is ripe and can run its affairs, provided it can show evidence of commercial depth and sound governance.
He said Friday’s conference and its gala dinner will double as a fund-raising drive for additional start-up capital.
“I call upon all business establishments to seek new avenues to expand their enterprises,” he said, noting that residents currently travel long distances to shop or bank.
“We need banking services in Uis. People need to transact, and there is no need to travel to the nearest towns when the town can offer such services,” he added.
According to Donatus, mining provides the most obvious anchor.
Andrada Mining has begun a second-phase expansion of the Uis Tin Mine, with a lithium production circuit scheduled to come on stream later this year.
Donatus said in his appeal that the mine’s contractors alone could sustain a range of small and medium enterprises in the settlement.
Tourism is another card on the table.
Uis sits on the so-called Western Corridor linking Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Henties Bay to Etosha National Park and the Angolan border.
“One cannot travel on this corridor without having to stop over at Uis,” said while urging investors to see the settlement as a conduit between coast and hinterland.
He urged Erongo-based firms to register in numbers for both the conference and the gala dinner.
He envisaged that should the event succeed in attracting the retail chains, banks, developers and service companies, Uis may soon be able to demonstrate the economic muscle necessary for the government to restore its municipal standing, guarantee sustainability, create job opportunities and ensure steady livelihoods.
