Innovation lacked at Ongwediva trade fair as everywhere

Innovation lacked at Ongwediva trade fair as everywhere

By Victor Angula|

The Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) 2026 came and went, with some 455 institutions and entrepreneurs from different sectors showcasing their products and services over a period of nine days.

OATF is the biggest annual expo in the north of Namibia, and it is one of the biggest in Namibia. With 36 international exhibitors, this year’s one-week event was definitely one of the biggest events in the recent years.

While a lot of things were on display, one thing which was missing was innovation. A trade fair of this magnitude would have been a good platform for people and institutions to showcase their new “things.”

What is innovation? Innovation is the process of bringing to the market new or improved products or services. Invention is when something new which never existed before is brought to the market.

Innovation is when something that existed before is improved and then the new thing is brought to the market.

Innovation in the technology sector is the one thing which powers economies, so that in other countries there is always something new coming to the market.

And trade fairs are the opportunities to display these new products and services.

What is wrong with Namibia, such that nobody wants to innovate? Everybody wants to flow along like dead fish. It is very terrible.

No country can get ahead in the modern world if it does not want to innovate and to invent.

It does not mean that someone must reinvent the wheel. Innovation is to take the old wheel, remove some things from the wheel, put a few different things, and make it a better wheel.

At a trade fair there must be better wheels on display. Wheels made in Namibia. Without this a trade fair is not a trade fair but just an open market.

– Victor Angula is the editor of Omutumwa News Online. He can be reached at victorangula@yahoo.com