No Hope to Revive Peugeot’s Walvis Bay Assembly Plant

By: Justicia Shipena

 

The French automaker Peugeot Group is unlikely to revive operations at its automotive assembly plant in Walvis Bay, which is facing closure six years after its establishment. This was revealed by outgoing French Ambassador to Namibia, Sébastien Minot, who told The Villager that he sees no future for the plant, in which the Namibian government holds a 49% stake and French automaker Groupe PSA owns the majority 51%.

Since its official opening in 2018, the plant has faced numerous challenges, primarily stemming from a dispute over the government’s alleged failure to uphold its part of the investment agreement.

“The plant still exists, but it sadly has no future. There are many successful stories in the French-Namibia business cooperation. This Peugeot story is not one of the successful ones. I regret that,” Minot lamented.