In the austere expanses of eastern Namibia, far from the fluorescent glare of stock markets and venture capital circles, a quieter kind of capitalism is taking root pragmatic, deeply local and no less ambitious.
The Old Mutual Foundation unveiled the top three entrepreneurs from the Omaheke Region in the final round of its flagship Sustainable Economic and Empowerment Drive (OM SEED) an initiative that has steadily emerged as one of southern Africa’s most compelling case studies in rural enterprise development.
Selected from a competitive field of 116 regional entries, Venencia Olobilwe, Ehrenfriede Mbaha, and Ndiwedha Kaxumba were named the standout winners.
Their businesses ranging from community retail and catering to sustainable farming and meat processing signal a shift in how development capital is being reimagined in Africa: not as parachuted aid, but as patient, participatory investment in people with deep roots in their economies.
Grassroots Growth with National Significance
Old Mutual’s approach blending seed capital with technical mentorship and hyper-local business development support hints at a more adaptive model for private sector-led rural development. It’s less Silicon Valley and more Sahel-savvy, calibrated not for unicorn valuations but for resilience, employment creation and regional market integration.
“This is not about doling out money,” said Mignon du Preez, Group Marketing, Public Affairs and Sustainability Executive at Old Mutual Namibia.
“This is about laying economic bedrock in communities that have historically been bypassed. The winners demonstrate that entrepreneurial potential is not the privilege of geography, but the product of opportunity.”
Du Preez’s sentiment rings particularly true in Omaheke a region better known for its arid cattle posts than scalable SMEs. Yet here, innovation is manifesting not in apps or algorithms, but in adaptive agriculture, smart supply chains and inclusive retail models tailored to local consumption and production patterns.
Three Faces of Emerging Enterprise
Venencia Olobilwe’s Vena Trading CC is more than a rural retail and catering outfit it is a logistical backbone for food access in underserved areas.
Ehrenfriede Mbaha, through Tjijandjeua Garden CC, is rethinking agriculture in semi-arid conditions, using integrated farming to maximize yield and community nutrition.
Ndiwedha Kaxumba’s Cattle Country Meat Masters bridges primary livestock farming and finished meat products localizing both value addition and job creation.
In a region where access to markets and capital is often fragmented, these ventures are not merely businesses they are micro-economic stabilizers, anchoring rural livelihoods while demonstrating profitability beyond urban centers.
Capital Reimagined
Launched in 2022, OM SEED has now supported over 100 entrepreneurs across Namibia, functioning under Old Mutual’s broader Community Development pillar. But its significance extends beyond balance sheets.With partnerships including the Financial Literacy Initiative (FLI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), OM SEED combines financial inclusion with institutional credibility, mobilizing a form of blended finance that doesn’t just bet on ideas but builds ecosystems.
As Namibia grapples with high youth unemployment and regional income disparities, the initiative stands as a private-sector-led blueprint for decentralized economic growth. It also raises the stakes for what corporations in Africa can and arguably must do to move beyond CSR rhetoric toward measurable, scalable development impact.
Beyond Omaheke: The Journey Continues
The 2025 OM SEED competition spanned four regions: Omaheke, Otjozondjupa, Omusati and Kunene. Winners in the remaining three regions are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, as Old Mutual concludes this year’s edition under the theme, “Rooted in Growth for Sustainability.”
What remains clear is that the challenge of growing Namibia’s economy does not rest solely on trade missions, fiscal policy or foreign direct investment. It is equally about enabling people like Olobilwe, Mbaha and Kaxumba who are building, brick by brick, a new narrative of rural economic agency.
In a global economy increasingly defined by volatility, Namibia’s entrepreneurs may be offering a different kind of investment thesis: one based not on scale alone, but on staying power and sustainability.
