9 November 2026 — Chrimson Consultants

What Namibia sells, and when

Each commodity has its own season, minimum order and one document that gates the shipment. Ask for that document before you ask for a price; a supplier who cannot produce it cannot ship, however good the offer looks.

Product	Season	Typical first order	Gating document
Hardwood lump charcoal	Year-round, slower January to March	One 40-foot container	Forestry harvesting and transport permits
Biochar and bush biomass	Year-round	One container of biochar in bulk bags	Forestry permits; biochar certificate where needed
Devil’s claw	Harvest roughly March to October	A few hundred kilograms to a 20-foot container	Harvesting and export permits for the lot
Marula, Kalahari melon and other oils	Pressed through the year	25 to 200 litres by air	Certificate of analysis; permits where the species needs them
Processed food and natural products	Year-round	A pallet to a container	Standards test report and health certificate
Table grapes	Late October to January	A reefer container, contracted mid-year	Phytosanitary certificate
Medjool dates	February to April; frozen year-round	A pallet to a reefer container	Phytosanitary certificate
Solar salt	Year-round	A truckload or a bulk parcel	Mineral export permit
Beef	Year-round from export abattoirs	A reefer container	Veterinary health certificate from an approved establishment
Hake, horse mackerel and seafood	Year-round, quota-based	A reefer container	Health certificate; EU catch certificate for Europe
Gemstones and mineral specimens	Year-round	A parcel	Mineral export permit and royalty paid
Granite and marble	Year-round	One block or a container of slabs	Mineral export permit and quarry rights

For the month-by-month picture, with contracting windows and transit times, see the Namibia sourcing calendar.

Step 1: write the specification first

Namibian suppliers quote against what you ask for, and a vague enquiry gets a vague offer. Before contacting anyone, write down the product and grade, the quantity per shipment and per year, packaging and labelling, the certification you need (FSC, organic, fair trade, halal, a biochar certificate), the laboratory parameters and limits, the Incoterm and port, and when you need the first load. Each of our commodity pages lists the specification points buyers in Europe, the Gulf and Asia write into their contracts, so you can start from those.

A specification also protects you later. If the first container arrives wet, short or mixed, the specification is what your claim is measured against.

Step 2: find suppliers

Namibia is a small economy of about three million people, and most export sectors have a handful of serious producers and a longer tail of small ones. They are found through:

• Industry associations and producer groups for charcoal, natural products, meat and fish, which list members but do not vouch for them.
• The national investment and trade promotion agency and the chamber of commerce, which keep exporter lists and run trade missions.
• Trade fairs in Europe and the Gulf where Namibian food, natural product and charcoal exporters exhibit.
• B2B platforms, where listings range from established exporters to brokers with no product. Treat every platform listing as unverified.
• A sourcing agent in Namibia who already knows which exporters hold permits and ship regularly.

Step 3: verify the supplier before any money moves

This is the step that decides whether a first order succeeds. A real Namibian exporter can show, without delay:

1. Company registration with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority, in the name on the invoice.
2. Registration as an exporter with the revenue agency, shown by a customs code on a previous export declaration.
3. The sector permits for your product: forestry permits for charcoal and biomass, harvesting and export permits for devil’s claw, mineral export permits for salt, gemstones and dimension stone, an approved establishment number for beef and fish.
4. Certificates you are paying a premium for, checked with the certifier on the day you sign, not taken from a PDF.
5. A previous shipment’s bill of lading and certificate of origin, with the commercial details blacked out if they wish.
6. A bank account in the company’s own name at a Namibian bank, matching the invoice.

Our guide to verifying a Namibian supplier covers each check and the warning signs in detail.

Step 4: samples and inspection

Ask for samples from the lot you will buy, not from a showroom bag. For laboratory-graded products (devil’s claw, plant oils, biochar, charcoal for retail) have the sample tested by an independent laboratory against your specification. For a first container, arrange a loading inspection: an inspector, or your agent, checks weights, moisture, packaging and seals before the container is closed and sends photographs. It costs little against the value of a container and removes most first-order disputes.

Step 5: contract and pay safely

Most Namibian exporters quote FOB Walvis Bay in US dollars or euros. FOB suits most buyers: the exporter handles inland transport, export clearance and loading, and you control freight and insurance through your own forwarder. CIF is available from exporters with a forwarder they trust; delivered terms into Europe are rare.

For a first order, a deposit against a pro forma and the balance against copies of the shipping documents is common; a confirmed letter of credit protects both sides on larger orders. Never pay a balance before you have seen the bill of lading and the certificate of origin, and never pay into an account in a different name from the invoice. Our guide to paying and contracting covers Incoterms, letters of credit and the clauses that protect a first order.

Step 6: the documents each shipment needs

Document	Who issues it	Why you need it
Commercial invoice and packing list	The exporter	Customs value and contents at both ends
Export declaration	The exporter’s clearing agent	Legal export from Namibia
Bill of lading or air waybill	The carrier	Title to the goods and proof of shipment
Certificate of origin or origin declaration	Chamber of commerce or the exporter, depending on the agreement	Duty-free or reduced-duty entry under trade agreements
Sector permit	The ministry responsible for the product	Without it the goods cannot leave
Phytosanitary, veterinary or health certificate	The agriculture ministry or the standards institution	Required at destination for plants, food, meat and fish
Laboratory report and certificates	Accredited laboratory, certifier	Proof of specification, organic or FSC status

Missing or mismatched documents are the most common reason Namibian goods are held at a European port. A shipment where every document names the same exporter, consignee, weight and description clears; one where they differ waits.

Step 7: shipping from Namibia

Walvis Bay is Namibia’s main port, on the Atlantic coast with direct and transhipment services to Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Asia. Containers to Rotterdam, Antwerp or Hamburg typically take three to five weeks depending on the routing. Lüderitz handles fish and some bulk cargo. Overland, the Trans-Kalahari, Trans-Caprivi and Trans-Cunene corridors carry salt, fish and food by road to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, the DRC and Angola. Chilled beef, oysters, samples and urgent lots of oil or devil’s claw go by air from Windhoek.

Step 8: duty and landing

Namibia’s goods enter the European Union and the United Kingdom duty-free under their Economic Partnership Agreements with southern African countries, provided the origin rules are met and the origin document travels with the shipment. Inside southern Africa, goods move duty-free within the Southern African Customs Union and on preferential terms within SADC. Other destinations apply their own tariffs; your customs broker confirms the rate on the product’s tariff code before you contract. Import VAT and any excise apply at destination in every case.

What to budget, besides the goods

• Sea or air freight and insurance from Namibia, unless you buy CIF.
• Laboratory tests on samples and a loading inspection for the first order.
• Your customs broker, import VAT and any duty at destination.
• A sourcing fee, if you use an agent. Ours is 4% of the FOB value, invoiced when the documents are handed over.

Red flags

• A price well below established exporters, especially for charcoal, devil’s claw and gemstones.
• Pressure to pay the full amount before loading, or to an account in another name or another country.
• No permit numbers, or permits for a different product, quantity or company.
• Certificates that the certifier’s own database does not show.
• An offer of a product out of its season, such as fresh grapes in July.

Questions buyers ask us

Can a foreign company buy directly from a Namibian producer? Yes. You do not need a Namibian entity to import from Namibia; the exporter clears the goods out and you clear them in.

What is the smallest order Namibian exporters accept? It depends on the product: a few hundred kilograms of devil’s claw or a drum of oil by air, a container for charcoal, beef or fish. Each commodity page gives the typical first order.

Can I visit before I buy? Yes, and for a large or long-term contract it is worth it. Windhoek has direct flights from Frankfurt and regional connections through Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Is Namibia politically and commercially stable? Namibia has held regular elections since independence in 1990, its dollar is pegged one to one to the South African rand, and its courts enforce contracts. Commercial risk sits with individual suppliers, which is why verification matters more than country risk.

How we help buyers of Namibian commodities

Chrimson Consultants registers Namibia's exporters, so we know which commodities suppliers hold their permits and which do not. For international buyers we source from verified suppliers at 4% of the FOB shipment value, invoiced when the export documents are handed over. No retainer, no exclusivity, no margin on the goods. Supplier verification (business registration, exporter registration, sector permits, tax standing, a previous shipment's documents) is at our cost, and we run the export paperwork for every consignment so the documents arrive complete and the goods clear.

Send a buyer enquiry with the specification, volume, Incoterm and timing. We reply within one working day with what is available and what we have verified. Namibian producers reading this: tell us what you have; buyer enquiries are matched to verified suppliers first.

Sources

• Namibia Ports Authority: Walvis Bay and Lüderitz
• Walvis Bay Corridor Group: regional corridors
• European Commission: EU and SADC Economic Partnership Agreement
• UK Government: trading with SACU countries and Mozambique
• Business and Intellectual Property Authority
• Namibia Revenue Agency: customs and excise

Sources accessed 8 November 2026. Volumes, prices, duties and rules move: confirm with the organisation named before you commit.

Need help registering your business in Namibia?

Chrimson Consultants handles company registration, BIPA compliance, NAMRA tax registration, and tender-readiness for Namibian businesses. Contact us today.