Namibia’s Oshikango, Now A Graveyard of Imported Cars

The northern border town of Oshikango, which at one stage was touted as a cross-border vehicle trading hub, has now become a graveyard for imported vehicles.
 Since Angola has barred imports of vehicles older than three years in 2010, secondhand cars already imported via Namibia are now confined to bonded warehouses at the border town – they can't be sold in Namibia and they can't be exported to Angola.
 Angola's ban caught the importers off-guard and as a result they have suffered losses running into millions of dollars.

The northern border town of Oshikango, which at one stage was touted as a cross-border vehicle trading hub, has now become a graveyard for imported vehicles.
 Since Angola has barred imports of vehicles older than three years in 2010, secondhand cars already imported via Namibia are now confined to bonded warehouses at the border town – they can't be sold in Namibia and they can't be exported to Angola.
 Angola's ban caught the importers off-guard and as a result they have suffered losses running into millions of dollars.
 The dealers, who are mostly Asian or from the Middle East, still have their bond guarantee money held by the Ministry of Finance since the ban was issued in 2010.
 The dealers say they have so far lost millions of dollars and face a dilemma in finding a new market for the cars.
 Namibian dealers in secondhand imports faced a similar dilemma eight years ago when Namibia closed its borders to cars older than five years and from outside the Southern African Customs Union. A number of them closed shop at the time as a result.
 Several dealers at Oshikango say they are either exploring opportunities to export the cars to the Democratic Republic of Congo or to return them to Dubai, South Korea, Japan or Thailand. The process of re-exporting comes with additional cost.
 The cost of importing a single vehicle is about N$8 000, according to the dealers at Oshikango.
 Pacific Motors manager HabiburRahmanSadaf said his company used to sell about 140 cars a month but the number has now dwindled to 30.
 "We have seen increasing loss of profit since the ban in 2010. At the time we had 25 employees at our place, but we have now reduced that number to 17," Sadaf said.
 Pacific Motors at least has an alternative since it has a branch in the DRC where it can sell its cars.
 An official at Malik Brothers Motors, who declined to be named, said they have nowhere to sell their imports, apart from sending them back to where they were imported from.
 Another dealer said most of them have lost as much as N$3 to N$4 million on importing the vehicles, which are now just gathering dust.
 Businessmen at Oshikango at least have some hope since there are rumours that Angola would soon ease the ban to cars not older than ten years.
 "Poor people are angry there [Angola] because it means only rich people would be able to buy the cars we sell now. A car which is three years old is a new car," one dealer said.
Sadaf of Pacific Motors said there is little communication between them and the Angolan authorities since they have no visas to enter that country.