OATF at 25: Veteran exhibitor reflects on fair’s growth
For the past 25 years, Emilia Angala has brought her carefully nurtured fruit and ornamental plants to the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF), watching it grow from a modest regional exhibition into Namibia's premier business showcase.
She has seen presidents cut ribbons, exhibition halls multiply and thousands of visitors stream through the gates.
But as organisers prepare to celebrate the fair’s 25th exhibition later this month with ambitious expansion plans, Angala hopes its next chapter will also preserve the affordability, accessibility and exhibitor engagement that she believes defined its early years.
The annual trade fair, which officially launched in 2000, will host its 25th exhibition from 21 to 29 August under the theme 'A Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable Economy'.
Over nearly three decades, the OATF has evolved into one of Namibia's leading platforms for business, investment and networking.
For Angala, however, the fair’s growth has brought both opportunities and challenges.
“I have been here since the early years,” she told Network Media Hub (NMH) in a telephonic interview.
She recalls a time when exhibiting was more affordable because the Ongwediva Town Council partnered with a bank to subsidise stall fees.
“We only paid N$250. The other N$250 was paid by the bank,” she said, crediting the initiative to the late former Ongwediva chief executive officer Auguste Taanyanda.
Today, exhibitors shoulder the full cost of renting exhibition space.
“Sometimes you don’t even recover the money you paid for the stall because there are not enough visitors,” Angala said.
She believes rising entrance fees have also discouraged families from attending.
“When the trade fair started, adults paid N$10 while children paid N$5. More people came because it was affordable.”
She said fewer visitors translate directly into fewer sales for exhibitors who rely on the annual event.
Future plans
While Angala reflects on these changes from her personal perspective as a long-serving exhibitor, organisers say its popularity has never been stronger.
OATF chairperson Rebekka Hidulika said the 25th exhibition represents more than a milestone, describing it as evidence of how the trade fair has helped create partnerships, support entrepreneurs and strengthen Ongwediva’s position as a commercial hub in northern Namibia.
She said preparations are in their final stages, with businesses and institutions from Namibia and abroad expected to participate.
Hidulika said organisers have received more than 1 800 applications for 485 exhibition spaces, highlighting both the event’s continued appeal and the limitations of the current venue.
“The demand is as encouraging as it is instructive,” she said.
The long-term vision is to expand the Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre into a modern convention and exhibition facility capable of hosting conferences, exhibitions and major business events throughout the year. A concept development process has already been completed, with the next phase focusing on identifying investment and implementation models.
Hidulika said this year’s event will place greater emphasis on business-to-business engagements, networking and investment promotion, including opportunities for Namibian businesses to engage potential partners from South Africa through an existing trade facilitation partnership with Limpopo Province.
She added that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remain central to the trade fair’s objectives, with organisers intentionally allocating exhibition space to increase their visibility and market access.
The event also continues to embrace digital innovation through online exhibitor applications, electronic ticketing and a broader transition towards a paperless trade fair.
Luck plays a role
For Angala, one of the biggest changes has been the increasing number of exhibitors offering similar products.
“When I started, I was the only one selling plants. Now many others are doing the same,” she said.
While she welcomes the growth in entrepreneurship, she said increased competition means profits are no longer guaranteed.
“Only on lucky days do you make good sales.”
She believes organisers should also revive post-event feedback sessions that once allowed exhibitors to share their experiences and propose improvements.
“We used to complete feedback forms where we shared what needed to improve. Now we are not given that opportunity anymore.”
Regular consultation, she said, would help organisers better understand the realities facing exhibitors and strengthen the event for everyone involved.
Angala also wants greater consideration for elderly visitors during the official opening ceremony.
She said many pensioners attend to witness the president officially open the trade fair but struggle to follow proceedings because speeches are delivered mainly in English without interpretation.
“It doesn’t mean much to many elderly people because they cannot understand what is being said.”
She further suggested dedicated queues for senior citizens at the entrance.
“Pensioners should not have to stand in long queues with younger people. It is exhausting for them.”
Looking ahead
Hidulika said the annual event continues to deliver significant economic benefits by increasing demand for accommodation, restaurants, transport, retail businesses and informal traders, while attracting investment and raising the profile of Ongwediva and the wider northern regions.
For Angala, whose passion for plants earned her national recognition in 2019 after planting more than 400 trees at her Kuku Gwakondo Garden in Ongwediva, the trade fair remains an event she looks forward to every year.
As the OATF celebrates its silver jubilee and plans for an even bigger future, Angala hopes it will continue to grow without losing the qualities that first made it a place where small businesses could flourish alongside the country’s biggest brands.
