The Spatial Development Initiative (SDI), under the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), is a project concerned with the development of projects along the Walvis Bay corridors.

These projects focus on manufacturing and are explored in partnership with the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development.

Identified as a project with potential for growth in the Automotive Sector Study in June 2015, the automotive sector in Namibia is seen as an attractive market for investment in terms of German commodity relocation. The Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development (MITSMED) through cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH assisted the Namibia Investment Centre (NIC) in developing a Pilot Investment Promotion Strategy (PIPS) and Implementation Plan for the automotive sector.

WBCG’s Project Manager for the Spatial Development Initiative, Mr Gilbert Boois, joined the Namibian Investment Centre and the Namibian Embassy in Germany on a fact-finding and promotion tour to Germany in mid-April 2016. The visit allowed contact with key decision makers for the possible distribution network of some components for the SADC market and vehicle testing of Mercedes Benz, Audi and VW along the Namibian coast for sea level testing.

Mr Boois explained, “In terms of developing regional value chains under the UNIDO Project and cross – border industrial value chain initiative between Namibia and South Africa, this meeting was significant for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group.” Prior to the visit, the companies in the Automotive Sector had no strategy in place for penetration into African markets. As a result, the NIC and the Namibian Embassy in Germany are eager to continue liaising with them.