Namibian tycoon Sven Thieme's Model returns to Walvis Bay with $2 million investment

Namibian tycoon Sven Thieme's Ohlthaver & List Group has invested N$33 million ($2 million) to bring its Model supermarket brand back to Walvis Bay, the country's main port, with a Model Food store at Seagulls Mall.

Thieme is the executive chairman and chief executive officer of the family-controlled group, whose retail arm now trades under the Model name across Namibia.

The site has a history with the group. O&L, as the company is known, closed the Pick n Pay supermarket it ran at the centre, then called the Pick n Pay Centre, in a realignment that cost 37 jobs. At the time, the group said the economy of the Erongo region could not support three of its stores.

From Pick n Pay to Model

O&L ran Namibia's Pick n Pay franchise for decades before ending the arrangement with the South African retailer. From July 1, 2025, it began moving its supermarkets to its own Model brand, a name it first used for its stores before Pick n Pay arrived in Namibia. Since then, it has opened new formats, including a Model Food Market at Auas Valley in Windhoek, and has set out plans to take Model stores and its Hartlief meat business into South Africa.

The Walvis Bay store adds to the group's presence in the Erongo region, where it also runs fishing operations through Hangana Seafood.

The Thieme family business

O&L traces its roots to 1919 and is one of Namibia's largest privately owned companies. Its interests span food retail, meat processing, fishing, property, hospitality and farming. The group developed Wernhil Park, the Windhoek shopping centre that has traded for more than 35 years.

Thieme, who runs the group as both chairman and chief executive, is one of Namibia's best-known business figures. The group is controlled by his family.

Figures were converted at N$16.6 to the dollar. The Namibian dollar is pegged one-to-one to the South African rand.