Otavi Cement fights for Ohorongo
Otavi Cement Group has called on industrialisation minister Modestus Amutse to withdraw his approval of a merger between Whale Rock Cement and Ohorongo Cement, arguing the deal would create a monopoly in the country's cement industry and that the process used to approve it broke the law.
The Tsumeb-based company's board met on 4 July and unanimously resolved to reaffirm its long-standing opposition to the merger, which the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) originally prohibited in July 2025.
Otavi Cement said the review that led to Amutse's approval only began some eight months after the NaCC's ruling, a delay it says is not permitted under Sections 49(1) and 49(2) of the Act, read with Rule 32(1).
"The Act does not contemplate or permit the commencement of a ministerial review process approximately eight months after the Commission's decision," the company said, adding that it believed the process was procedurally defective.
Objection raised, ignored
Otavi Cement said it had formally opposed the merger throughout the NaCC proceedings and had twice written directly to the minister, first in July 2025, then again on 19 March 2026, asking to meet him and setting out its competition concerns. It said it received no response either time, and would now write to him again to request an audience.
"Otavi Cement Group believes that the Namibian nation should be afforded the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the acquisition of the 69.83% shareholding in Ohorongo Cement that has been offered for sale," it said.
The company said it remained committed to "the rule of law, procedural fairness, transparency and the proper administration" of the Competition Act, and wants the minister's decision reversed pending a properly conducted review.
A Namibian alternative
Rather than see the Ohorongo stake pass to Whale Rock, Otavi Cement wants to buy it itself. It has appointed EOS Capital as financial adviser and plans to open formal talks with Schwenk Namibia on acquiring the 69.83% shareholding.
Its plan envisages a broad-based Namibian ownership structure, inviting the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF), other pension funds, banks, institutional and private investors, and members of the public to take part. Otavi Cement also intends to list around 30% of Ohorongo's total shareholding on the Namibia Securities Exchange (NSX), giving ordinary Namibians the chance to hold shares in the industry.
This route, the company says, would advance "Namibianisation" of the cement sector, deepen local capital markets and preserve competition, while avoiding the concentration risk it associates with the Whale Rock deal.
Otavi Cement, which last year explored building a third cement plant near its existing operations in the Otavi-Tsumeb-Grootfontein area, said it would continue pursuing "all lawful avenues" to challenge the merger while pressing ahead with its own ownership proposal.
The merger
Whale Rock Cement, majority-owned by China's Hong Xiang Holdings and trading under the Cheetah Cement brand, applied to the NaCC in February 2025 to buy Schwenk Namibia from its German parent, SCHWENK Zement International. Schwenk holds a controlling 69.83% stake in Ohorongo Cement, Namibia's other major producer.
Combining the two firms, the only two cement producers in Namibia, would have given Whale Rock effective control of the domestic market. The Commission blocked the deal in July 2025, citing risks of higher prices, reduced competition and choice, and knock-on effects for housing, construction and the wider economy.
Whale Rock has operated at a loss for several years and was fined N$5 million in 2024 for previously implementing a merger without NaCC approval. Since the prohibition, the company has said it plans to wind down operations and cut around 87 jobs, blaming the blocked deal, weak local demand and export restrictions to markets such as Botswana and Zimbabwe.
