Witvlei abattoir listed on the market
The Agricultural Bank of Namibia is placing its Witvlei Abattoir, which has been dormant for several years, on the market for a reserve price of N$51.7 million. In a bid outlining its disposal, Agribank said it will only accept a full payment for the facility, while prospective bidders will be able to access it on 25 August.Bids for the sale of the abattoir will close on 2 September.
The Witvlei abattoir was established in 2006 under the operation of Witvlei Meat and gained export approval for the European Union market in 2007.
Over the next decade, the facility supplied beef to Europe and the Scandinavian region and employed over 200 people at its peak. Its closure in 2015 was linked to the reduction of Namibia’s Norwegian beef quota, which had sustained much of the company’s export business.
Following the closure, a legal dispute emerged between Witvlei Meat and Agribank over the right to purchase the facility. Witvlei Meat claimed it had a contractual right to buy the abattoir for N$15 million and took the matter to court. Various judgments, appeals, and public statements followed in subsequent years, but the legal questions appear unresolved to date.
The facility has remained idle since.