During the second week of February, the Ohorongo Cement Plant was fortunate enough to receive a visit from both the Zambian Deputy High Commissioner, as well as from an NHE delegation.
The Zambian Deputy High Commissioner, Ms Dorothy Nachilongo and the Zambian First Secretary Political /Administration, Mr Lome Kachingwe, visited the Ohorongo plant to check out the production facilities, and specifically the product quality pertaining to exports.
Ohorongo Cement successfully passed the required audit, ZABS, in order to be able to export to Zambia. Audits are very expensive, however, producing consistent high quality cement is of the utmost importance to Ohorongo and it prides itself in having passed various export audits.
To date, Ohorongo have also obtained its certification of having met the International Standards of ISO 14001:2009 and ISO 9001:2008, an Environmental Management and Quality Standard.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) established the Environmental Management System to encourage companies to evaluate all areas of business where its activities have an environmental impact.
The ISO 9001 – Quality Management system provides guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customers’ requirements, and to ensure that quality is consistently improved.
Some companies have strict policies in place which requires that all their suppliers must hold ISO 14001/9001 certification, which explains one of the reasons why such international standards are globally adopted.
The requirements of DIN EN ISO 9001:2008 and DIN EN ISO 14001:2009 are also fulfilled by Ohorongo Cement products.
Ms Nachilongo was so impressed with the Ohorongo Cement plant, that she expressed her desire to also erect such a plant in Zambia.
Ohorongo currently only exports small quantities to Zambia, as the main focus remains on first supplying in the needs of Namibia.
A delegation of 8 people from NHE visited the plant on Friday, 13 February for a brainstorming session on possible shared project interests in future.
However, the main purpose was to check on the Ohorongo Production facilities, the quality of the products and to ascertain constant product availability.
During the visit, both parties agreed (Ohorongo & NHE) to support Namibian businesses and products in line with the Governments’ Growth At Home Initiative to also create local employment opportunities.
During the visit, a framed limited edition celebratory bag was handed over the NHE delegation. The limited edition bags were produced specifically for the 25th Namibian Independence Celebrations.
