The Brief

A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing

NAMIBIANS HOLD 90% OF FISHING RIGHTS

President Nangolo Mbumba says Namibians own 90% of fishing rights in the country, as the government moves to localising resource ownership.

“The promotion of Namibianisation is progressing well, and to date, the sector employs about 18,000 Namibians, which is good progress,” said Mbumba while delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“This is a sustainable job opportunity initiative, addressing the challenges of joblessness experienced by former fishermen since 2015. In addition to job creation to secure livelihoods, the Government facilitated the placement of 1,350 jobseekers in different sectors under the Namibia Integrated Employment Information System,” he said.

NCCI PUSHES FOR USE OF LOCAL CAPACITY

The Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) says utilisation of local capacity in development projects would significantly boost economic activity by stimulating money circulation within the country.

“We urge businesses given the opportunity to be involved in such projects to be fair and reasonable in their pricing practices as a strategy to be competitive. Additionally, to adhere rigidly to ethical practices and professionalism when it comes to executing public sector tenders,” said NCCI President Bisey /Uirab.

“It is encouraging that the views and concerns raised, and the recommendations made by NCCI in consultative sessions are and have been accommodated. It is also worthy of singling out NCCI’s advocacy efforts that have resulted in the tax relief programme for individual, business and corporate tax. The Chamber started negotiating this in 2019, long before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said /Uirab.

“We must be ever mindful of our responsibility as businesses, to meet our tax obligations, and thereby contribute to the development and sustainability of our nation. So please, let us give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”

GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR EXPEDITED IMPLEMENTATION OF 5G NETWORK

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Emma Theofelus has called for the swift implementation of the fifth-generation (5G) mobile network, acknowledging that the global focus has already started to shift towards the deployment of even faster 5.5G and 6G networks.

“Whether in education, health, manufacturing, transportation, communications, or any other sector, the enhanced benefits to be derived from 5G is a game changer, and as indicated earlier, it is now upon us to embrace this technology and derive the best out of it,” she said.

Meanwhile, at the event. MTC Managing Director Licky Erastus highlighted that the company is not yet prepared for the commercial rollout of 5G plans.

He added that in the upcoming months, MTC will be deploying their field service consultants to various industries to promote 5G and, hopefully, onboard them with service offerings aimed at enhancing connectivity solutions for enterprises across different sectors.

NAMIBIAN STOCK EXCHANGE CELEBRATES WOMEN IN FINANCIAL MARKETS

The Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX), in collaboration with the CFA Society South Africa, recently hosted an event aimed at raising awareness about gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace and beyond.

The annual gathering, known as Ring the Bell for Gender Equality , marked International Women’s Day.

The theme of this year’s event, “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress,” echoed the ongoing commitment to advancing gender equality and empowering women in all facets of life.

MIT TRAINS 2000 ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH EMPRETEC

About 2000 Macro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been provided with entrepreneurship training by the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) since the inception of the EMPRETEC Namibia programme in 2019.

The programme, undertaken in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aims to address the very low entrepreneurial outcomes of our country by training MSMEs and larger enterprises in appropriate entrepreneurial behaviour to ensure that they can create sustainable businesses going forward.

“This intervention was delivered by our trained 25 business mentors and coaches, consisting of half the Ministry’s regional staff and the rest from the private sector and academia. Today’s training is a rollout of the muchvaunted Entrepreneurship Training Workshop (ETW), which is the standard training provided globally. Along with our partner EMPRETEC Ghana, we aim to ensure that we complete the necessary training to train up to 180 trainees. We also aim to work with both UNDP and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to ensure that EMPRETEC Namibia is certified as a global center by the end of this year,” said Minister of Industrialisation and Trade, Honourable Lucia Iipumbu.