{"id":1559,"date":"2026-01-04T00:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1559\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T00:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T00:46:11","slug":"could-namibia-be-salmon-farmings-new-frontier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/1559\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Namibia be salmon farming\u2019s new frontier?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Three<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThree of African aquaculture’s shareholders and co-founders<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLeft to right: Barend Stander, who brings more than 20 years of aquaculture farming experience, including the production of juvenile salmon and farming salmon in the ocean off the South African coast; Torben Foss, a former partner in PWC, who has worked for many years with Norwegian and Namibian aquaculture legislation; and Helge Kr\u00f8genes CEO\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Led by\u00a0Helge Kr\u00f8genes, the former CFO of Andfjord Salmon, African Aquaculture<\/a> has been granted permits to establish offshore farms capable of producing 51,000 tonnes of salmon a year across three zones near the town of L\u00fcderitz.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the thought of farming salmon in West African waters might sound outlandish, Kr\u00f8genes notes that environmental conditions are very similar to those in Chile. \u00a0The Namibia license locations have depths of roughly 90\u2013120 metres and year-round water temperatures between 10\u00b0C and 16\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are really the sweet spot for salmon farming,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes stresses.<\/p>\n

Another key positive is that farming Atlantic salmon <\/a>has been tried and tested in the region \u2013 in the mid-2010s, a small operation in Saldanha Bay, about 900 km down the coast in South Africa<\/a>, produced them successfully for five to six years, before closing during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had very limited equipment but still the salmon was growing nicely in the Benguela Current,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes says. \u201cIt\u2019s basically the same water coming up to L\u00fcderitz.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the previous farm used relatively basic infrastructure, Kr\u00f8genes says the new venture will deploy cutting-edge Norwegian equipment, including large-scale offshore net pens, predator-resistant HDPE nets to keep the region\u2019s abundant Cape fur seals at bay, and automated feeding and net cleaning systems\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a Rolls Royce compared to what they were using,\u201d he reflects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\tShort on time? Watch this video summary<\/p>\n

As well as the biological advantage of the region, Kr\u00f8genes notes that Namibia\u2019s political and economic profiles offer strong reasons for the project to both succeed and to attract investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cNamibia\u2026 is quite an attractive country in Africa to do investments<\/a> in because of stable government, good financial systems,\u201d he notes. \u201cOur experience with the country so far is very good. We\u2019re getting a lot of support.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also sees the benefits of working with the local fishing industry for both processing and transport of their salmon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe processors are very positive to take salmon locally from Namibia,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Kr\u00f8genes adds that their lower logistics costs will also provide a strong competitive edge in sub-Saharan markets. \u201cFresh salmon into South Africa has an air transport cost of \u20ac3.00 per kilo,\u201d he says. \u201cWe think the transport cost to deliver to Cape Town is about \u20ac0.20. That\u2019s going to be an advantage. There are also tax free zones in Africa which will benefit from Namibian production of salmon.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they are also looking towards the Middle Eastern and Asian markets.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tClement Kauketu, African Aquaculture’s country director for Namibia<\/p>\n

Sourcing local smolt<\/p>\n

While the farm\u2019s equipment and feed will have to be imported from Europe, they will be able to source their smolt fairly locally \u2013 with plans to help develop an existing freshwater smolt operation in South Africa that has been producing ova and juveniles for more than two decades, for salmon farmers in Saldanha Bay and Lesotho\u2019s trout sector.<\/p>\n

The facility, which is located in Fizantakraal, is run by an African Aquaculture subsidiary called Arctic Salmon and currently has the capacity to produce around 1.5 to 3.0 million smolts each year \u2013 enough to translate to 5,000 \u2013 10,000 tonnes of market-sized salmon \u2013 and will act as a stepping stone until the company has its own hatchery in Namibia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Upgrades to the existing facility are already underway and Kr\u00f8genes would like to see the first batch of smolt stocked in the hatchery<\/a> during the first quarter of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As the project expands African aquaculture plans to build its own hatchery, closer to their cages.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to build smolt facilities in Namibia, but this gives us a start,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Environmental planning<\/p>\n

Environmental concerns need to be addressed before introducing salmon aquaculture into the region, but Kr\u00f8genes explains that the company has completed a comprehensive assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have written a 360-page environmental report for the Ministry of Environment. And there are no suitable rivers with cold enough water in Namibia, so [salmon] will not be able to reproduce if you should get some escapes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another major component of the project is the need for long-term local capacity building. The team is collaborating with universities in Namibia to develop national salmon farming expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to educate Namibia to do salmon farming the same way which has happened in Chile,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Training will combine Norwegian aquaculture modules, interactive learning platforms and hands-on systems at sea. \u201cWe are going to use expats in the beginning,\u201d he says, \u201cbut the goal is local competence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAfrican Aquaculture’s three farming licences<\/p>\n

\tA bullish financial outlook\u00a0<\/p>\n

The financial model drawn up by the company forecasts plan to raise \u20ac30 – 40 million in equity and debt for the initial phase. Thereafter the growth is assumed as a combination of reinvestment of cash-flow, debt and potentially listing of the company on the way forward to develop the 51,000-tonne capacity. And Kr\u00f8genes projects that the venture will start to turn a profit after only three years.<\/p>\n

Given these figures, it\u2019s perhaps not surprising that the venture is progressing toward financial close, with interest from both local and international investors, according to Kr\u00f8genes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some Namibian investors already\u2026 and Norwegian investors who are involved in the aquaculture industry as well as oil operations or licences in Namibia,\u201d he says, adding that negotiations with several larger entities are also underway.<\/p>\n

For Kr\u00f8genes, the appeal of Namibia can be summed up simply: it offers an unspoiled canvas for cutting-edge, efficient, salmon lice-free responsible salmon production.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a greenfield opportunity for a much higher production volume,\u201d he says. \u201cWe aim to do this as an environmentally friendly production\u2026 that\u2019s high on the priority list.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tip of the iceberg?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although African Aquaculture\u2019s plans are the most advanced in the region, it is not the only offshore salmon farming initiative proposed for Namibia. Indeed, according to Kr\u00f8genes. another operator has been granted a licence for a 35,000-tonne site further offshore, while a major oil company has applied for a 10,000-tonne licence further south.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the first out of the blocks, but we expect within 10 years [Namibia] might have a total production of about 150,000 tonnes,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes predicts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If this is the case, the clustering effect could create and support the same service-industry ecosystem that supports salmon farming in established regions today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you build salmon farming, the service industry develops,\u201d Kr\u00f8genes says. \u201cIt\u2019s easier when several initiatives come\u2026 it supports the vessels, the smolt, all the other services.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNamibia is very far away from Norway\u2026 but it\u2019s getting a huge level of support. It\u2019s a big operation, but the conditions are right, the team is experienced, and the country is ready,\u201d he concludes.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three of African aquaculture’s shareholders and co-founders Left to right: Barend Stander, who brings more than 20 years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102],"class_list":{"0":"post-1559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-namibia","8":"tag-namibia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}