Mega-city planned near Cape Fria
A Namibian businessman plans to build a massive city of utopian proportions in the Skeleton Coast National Park near Cape Fria. Michael Petrus, founder and managing director of Kaoko Fria Investment, announced in a media release on Friday that he intends to establish Namibia’s largest city. His company, registered with the Ministry of Trade in July 2022, also plans to develop a green hydrogen project at Puros.“Kaoko Fria Smart City, a groundbreaking megacity with a deep-sea port on the coast near Cape Fria, is based on decades of vision, research and consultation. It will be a smart city with a modern highway network,” Petrus said in the release.
The planned deep-sea port will facilitate imports and exports and serve as a dry port for Katima Mulilo. Industrial zones for energy generation, water desalination, and an unspecified manufacturing centre are envisioned around the city. Commercial areas are also planned for mining and mineral processing, as well as agriculture to produce food. Housing and educational centres are included in the blueprint. A railway line will connect the megalopolis eastwards across the Kaokoveld to Outapi, forming part of the government’s planned railway expansion to Katima Mulilo.
An Ovahimba tribal leader is reported to have already given written consent to the construction project, offering to surrender more than 40 000 hectares of tribal land. The company commissioned an environmental study in November 2023. According to the Namibian Chamber of Environment’s (NCE) EIA Tracker, the study has not yet been completed. The NCE records all environmental studies on a dedicated website.
Plans for a deep-sea port and associated facilities in the area date back to the early 1980s. In 2008, a pre-feasibility study for a future port near Cape Fria was prepared. However, the port authority NamPort opposed the development of a third port, noting that Walvis Bay remained underutilised.