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Shapwa Condoms – The Namibian


A MANAGER at businessman Shapwa Kanyama’s company admitted that they import condoms and surgical gloves from Malaysia and package them in Namibia.

Kanyama’s three-year-old company Amnics Trading attracted controversy last month after it scooped lucrative tenders to supply condoms and surgical gloves.

The Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN) awarded the tenders to Kanyama’s company, which employs three people, based on the fact that he is a local manufacturer, a decision which is now being challenged by his competitors.

“These gloves come from Malaysia. Same as the condoms. The condoms come in bulk and we pack them here for job creation and stock availability,” said Amnics Trading operational managing director Chen-Yen Wu yesterday, during a media familiarisation tour at the Windhoek facility.

Wu said the manufacturing process for disposable medical gloves is long and it wouldn’t make sense to produce it in Namibia because of the country’s small population.

Wu has been in Namibia for over 15 years working with organisations on HIV-AIDS awareness campaigns, such as the Ministry of Health and Social Services’ Smile condom campaigns.

Wu said the factory currently does the pouching, assembling and sterilisation of the products.

The factory was set up two years ago and has been supplying the private sector with medical supplies such as aprons, masks, linen protectors, surgical masks and medical caps, said Wu.

He confirmed that the factory only employs three permanent staff members, and occasionally calls in casual workers when there are large orders.

A medical supplier, who declined to be named to avoid victimisation, told The Namibian yesterday Kanyama’s factory was given an advantage due to manufacturing yet it does not actually manufacture anything.

“We must not confuse manufacturing and repackaging. They don’t manufacture. They just repackage. Everyone can repackage. The point here is, he was awarded the tender because he was manufacturing.

“This [repackaging] is what we are all doing. The CPBN missed the point by giving Shapwa an advantage while he was not really manufacturing.

“Most of the companies that win tenders import medical products from abroad and repackage them here. Even the biggest companies in Namibia are repackaging,” said the source.

From the outside, the plant looks nothing like a factory.

A walk through the reception area, where Wu and his secretary sit, takes you to the back where four temporary workers are busy with the packing process.

Two women manually pack linen protectors.

Through another door, two more sit on benches packing surgeon’s hats, occasionally they move to different machines.

The plant has a machine to manufacture two types of linen protectors, three condom packing and lubrication machines, two glove pouching machines, a surgical mask machine, syringe assembly machines and a sterilising machine.

Amnics Trading boss Kanyama maintains what they do is value addition.

He avoided elaborating on the exact type of manufacturing done at the plant, but said the factory was completed in the space of a year after the company was acquired.

“During Covid-19, we saw that many countries closed their doors and we decided to start manufacturing our own disposable items. That is all I can say,” he said.

Deputy executive director of industrialisation and trade Michael Humavindu said assembling products is part of the manufacturing process.

“Manufacturing is all-encompassing, first order are things like where you assemble things, you get the product from somewhere and you put them together, packing and selling them as a manufactured product. Value addition within manufacturing means you get raw materials and you process them,” he said.

Yesterday’s event also confirmed Kanyama’s links to Erongomed Health Distributors, a company that is known to dominate government health tenders.

Wu confirmed yesterday that Amnics works with Avacare.

Erongomed falls under the Avacare medical conglomerate, which has been a major distributor of antiretroviral medicine in southern Africa.

“We collaborate with the Avacare Health Group, and we export to South Africa because we also have business there. To maintain this factory, we try to get outside support,” Wu said.

The Namibian reported last week that Kanyama’s associate, Erongomed, scooped a N$20 million deal to build dialysis units at the Katutura and Oshakati Intermediate hospitals.

Kanyama is considered a Namibian ‘broker or fixer’ for Erongomed. Sources claim he is often seen with Erongomed owner Vikramkumar Naik, when the South African-based medical doctor and pharmaceutical businessman visits Namibia.

Kanyama, however, denied links to Erongomed last week.





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